LinkedIn & Microsoft: eMeeting Before the Meeting

Almost one year ago, Microsoft bought LinkedIn at the sticker price of $26.2 billion. As a result of the purchase, Jeff Weiner and Satya Nadella, CEOs at LinkedIn and Microsoft respectively, published some of their future plans on blog posts:

• LinkedIn identity and network in Microsoft Outlook and the Office suite
• LinkedIn notifications within the Windows action center
• Enabling members drafting résumés in Word to update their profiles, and discover and apply to jobs on LinkedIn
• Extending the reach of Sponsored Content across Microsoft properties
• Enterprise LinkedIn Lookup powered by Active Directory and Office 365
• LinkedIn Learning available across the Office 365 and Windows ecosystem
• Developing a business news desk across our content ecosystem and MSN.com
• Redefining social selling through the combination of Sales Navigator and Dynamics 365

LinkedIn is a data giant for recruiters and salesmen alike. Prospecting and building deeper connections has never been so easy, and with this integration, it’s now much more accessible.

Last week, the two announced the union of LinkedIn’s data into Microsoft’s Profile Cards. No matter who you email through Outlook, you’ll be able to see the recipient’s picture, title, experience, and education right on the screen.

For talent acquisition professionals, they can snag snippets of their applicants during all communication exchange to maintain a positive candidate experience long before that first interview.

Ahead of the dawn of the internet, recruiting headhunters had to filter through a mess of paper résumés to find the right person, get them on the phone to discuss their background, and then meet them to establish a foundation of who they are.

Today, and especially with this new LinkedIn + Microsoft release, personalizing the meeting with the perfect candidate before that first outreach is expected of everyone – recruiter and candidate equally.

Often times, we interact with people before we officially meet them through emails, phone calls, social media, texting, etc. We continue to find ways to ‘emeet’ someone before that handshake.

This update is only the beginning of what’s to come. Pairing LinkedIn’s massive professional network data with Microsoft’s suite of business products, the future of prospecting and recruiting will continue to grow and seemingly at a faster rate than we originally anticipated.

Stay tuned as we watch the LinkedIn and Microsoft relationship!