Microsoft Word's new 'Resume Assistant' uses LinkedIn to make your resume better
Microsoft and LinkedIn are teaming up to make one of the most important parts of job-hunting easier: writing your resume.
The companies introduced a new Resume Assistant feature that puts LinkedIn data directly in Microsoft Word to help users write better resumes.
The feature, which will begin rolling out to Microsoft Insider this week, pulls in relevant LinkedIn data as you're writing a resume based on your industry and what type of job you want. It automatically detects the job descriptions you've written and highlights what people with similar experience have put on their resumes. For example, it will show you how people who've worked in similar roles in your industry describe their job experience and skills.
The idea, according to the companies, is to help provide more inspiration to people who aren't sure the the best way to describe their experience and skills.
The feature also ties into some of LinkedIn's job-finding tools: It will pull in job listings from LinkedIn's database, which should help you further customize your resume, and you can opt-in to LinkedIn's feature that tells recruiters you're interested in a new job.
The update is the latest way Microsoft and LinkedIn are working to tie their two services closer together following Microsoft's $26.2 billion acquisition last year. Though the LinkedIn data is available to anyone outside of Resume Assistant too, it shows how the two companies are combining their data to make their platforms more personalized to each user.
After first rolling out to Office 365 subscribers that are signed up for Microsoft's Insider program, resume assistant will be available to all Office 365 subscribers "over the coming months."
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
