Yahoo is launching a LinkedIn style service for college students to connect with employees at companies which are recruiting called Yahoo Kickstart.
Harrison Hoffman at CNET says that Yahoo is currently surveying college students about the social network, asking the participants; Wish you had an ‘in’ to find the job of your dreams? Kickstart is all about finding that “in.”
Yahoo Kickstart connects college students with alumni at the companies that they are interested in. As you can see in the screenshot above, this student’s “in” at Nike is an alumni named Dave Bottoms. Dave has expressed an interest in helping out students and connecting with alumni. He also knows one of your friends, went to your school, and shares a common interest with you. That’s a really powerful networking tool. Presenting specific connections like this really adds a whole new value to this job network.
Aside from showing your “in,” company pages also provide some useful information about the company as a whole, broken down into key points such as industry, size, location, contact, and description. Anyone who is connected in any way with that company is also displayed.
The Web services report covers news, opinions, and analysis on Web-based software from Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and countless other companies in this kind of thinks.
Don’t you think that this is somewhat like linkedin.com? I understand its geared more towards professionals, but there is no reason you can’t link up with professors and find other people from your school just as easily? What do you think?