Fish where the fish are

14.06.2011
The world's largest professional network with more than 100 million members, LinkedIn opened its in Singapore just last month. We caught up with the man heading it, Arvind Rajan, for a private chat. The newly anointed LinkedIn MD and VP for Asia Pacific and Japan, shared with us his thoughts on the needs of the market that his network's offerings serve and what developments he expects to drive in the near future.

We're excited about the growth we've experienced in APAC over the past year; according to ComScore, our visitors were up 132 percent from March 2010 to March 2011. We now have over 18 million members in the region.

However, this isn't a new phenomenon. Back in 2009, we began seeing early signs of accelerating growth in APAC, and we decided to establish offices in India and Australia, ahead of any other overseas markets except for the UK.

Professionals in Asia are joining LinkedIn for the similar reasons as professionals in the rest of the world. Through LinkedIn, they are managing their professional brand online, building and leveraging their professional network, and gaining business opportunities and insights.

Economies are booming across Asia, and demand for skilled talent is on the rise. Hiring sentiment amongst companies is strong, but conversely the ability to find skilled talent and retain staff is a major concern. For recruiters, LinkedIn connects talent with opportunity at massive scale. It allows them to fish where the fish are by targeting 'passive' talent--those professionals who are currently employed who may not be actively seeking a new job opportunity, but might be the best suited for key roles.