LinkedIn ProFinder locates freelance candidates

Setting aside the hyperbole of the headline (with media coverage by the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and Dallas Morning News, it simply isn’t true that “nobody” noticed LinkedIn’s entry into the “freelancer-for-hire” marketplace), John Nemo offers an interesting analysis of the new LinkedIn ProFinder.

“With 420 million members in over 200 countries, and adding two new members every second, LinkedIn is already one of the best places online to locate, engage, and sell your products and services to your ideal clients and customers. But things are getting even better.”

Originally rolled out in the San Francisco Bay Area, LinkedIn ProFinder is now being tested in my market (Medford, Oregon).

LinkedIn ProFinder matches customers with freelance prospects for a variety of services, including accounting, writing and editing. It utilizes information from applicants’ LinkedIn profiles and can match clients with candidates from within their LinkedIn networks.

My impression so far (based on suggestions by someone affiliated with the service) is that LinkedIn ProFinder relies on words like “freelance” and “consultant” in applicants’ profile headlines to match them with prospective clients.

LinkedIn’s “LinkedIn ProFinder - Keys to a Successful Profile” include making sure that your LinkedIn headline matches the service you selected in ProFinder.

If that’s not where you choose to place your emphasis, LinkedIn ProFinder may not work for you. But speaking as a person who earns income at least in part through contract editing and social media, I will certainly follow with interest as LinkedIn ProFinder advances in its markets.