LinkedIn Can Now Estimate Your Chances of Getting Hired

Signing up for professional networking site LinkedIn has become something of an internet rite of passage. You probably have an account, and you’ve probably gotten an invitation to “connect” with someone you vaguely remember—but only about a quarter of the site’s 400 million-plus members use it on a monthly basis.

That number could change thanks to an appealing new feature. According to Forbes, the site has just introduced a series of metrics that can estimate your chances for successfully filling an advertised job opening. Paid subscribers will be able to search positions with the best prospects—measured as the user being in the top 50 percent of applicants—while free accounts can be notified if prior school or work alumni are currently with a business they’d like to work for.

The Job Seeker features also allow users to direct message recruiters outside of their circle and “highlight” their profile when employers search for potential candidates.

If you’re really into fine-tuning your prospects, consider wearing eyeglasses in your profile photo: One small study at Erasmus University in the Netherlands indicated that people looking at pictures felt the bespectacled applicants had more “expertise.”

[h/t Forbes]