Using LinkedIn to track company changes

Jeff Sonderman of Poynter.org writes about how journalists can use changes on LinkedIn to track company moves.

Sonderman writes, “You can use LinkedIn’s company pages to stay up-to-date on companies on your beat. Company pages aggregate information from all LinkedIn members who are employees of a particular firm.

“Track hiring trends. The company page shows job postings. You might learn about a new strategic initiative by seeing what types of jobs the company is adding.

“Get quick company backgrounds. On any company page, click the link on the right side that says “Check out insightful statistics…” Here you’ll see breakdowns of the job functions, years of experience, and educational backgrounds of employees, all with comparisons to industry averages. This can help you understand a company you haven’t dealt with before.

“See where employees tend to come from, and leave to. On the right side of that same company statistics page, you’ll see lists of the most common companies that current employees came from, and the employers they leave for most often. You may find a trend story about who is poaching a company’s employees.

“If you’ve found this useful, you can learn more and keep up with the latest changes on LinkedIn in a few ways. Follow the official blog and press center, test out beta features on LinkedIn Labs, or join the LinkedIn for Journalists group for more tips and advice.”

Read more here.