Career stories: Welcoming LinkedIn’s largest engineering class

As we welcome our largest class of experienced engineers to date, we sat down with LinkedIn’s head of global engineering recruitment, Chris Jenkins, to hear more about his own career journey to LinkedIn, engineering’s tremendous growth, and tips for engineering recruits.

What brought you to LinkedIn?

Throughout my career, I’ve sought purpose-driven companies where I can make a difference. LinkedIn’s vision—creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce—ultimately sparked me to join the company in Nov. 2019. I love that my work directly helps job seekers, business professionals, and learners maximize their potential. How many companies can say that they’re giving their employees that kind of personal impact, at a scale of nearly 800 million members (i.e., LinkedIn users) worldwide?

As someone who’s been recruiting for 20+ years, I was already an avid user of our LinkedIn Talent Solutions products: the gold-standard suite in the recruiting industry. However, as a LinkedIn employee, what excites me most is seeing first-hand the impact of our five-product ecosystem (i.e., consumer experience, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn Talent Solutions, LinkedIn Learning Solutions, and LinkedIn Sales Solutions). 

Our work is providing people around the world with access to economic opportunity, whether it’s helping a first-generation college graduate find her dream job, a small brick-and-mortar business owner go digital mid-pandemic to save his business, or a career changer learn to code virtually, as she pivots to a career in tech. Having that kind of impact in today’s world is incredibly rewarding.

Why join LinkedIn now?

There’s never been a better time to join LinkedIn. We’re welcoming our largest class of experienced engineers this year, and we’re experiencing unprecedented growth as a company, having just surpassed US$10 billion in revenue. In parallel, we’ve launched a new office in the Seattle area (Bellevue); are scaling our B2B marketing team, among others, as the product has grown 3x year-over-year; and are expanding our hybrid and remote-work opportunities.

Our team continues to accelerate hiring worldwide in LinkedIn’s other major engineering hubs, too (i.e., Bangalore; Dublin; New York City; Omaha, Nebraska; San Francisco; Silicon Valley [Sunnyvale, Calif.])—across our five products, and 10+ engineering career paths, including Artificial Intelligence, Applications, Frontend (UI), Mobile, Systems & Infrastructure (e.g., distributed, graph systems, etc.) and Trust & Safety engineering (see also Who we're looking for section here).

It’s been especially exciting to expand the reach of our engineering recruitment because our community of 7,500+ LinkedIn engineers is at the heart of our company. Our engineers are the reason why LinkedIn’s members trust us more than any other platform. 

From day one here, our engineers are an integral part of a cross-functional and collaborative LinkedIn team focused on ethically shaping our products—overseeing often sizeable product scopes (vs. widgets). As an engineer, LinkedIn offers that once-in-a-career opportunity to play an active role in reinventing an industry like B2B marketing, B2B sales, learning or recruiting/talent from the ground up.

Advice for engineering recruits?

If you’re thinking about an engineering career at LinkedIn, I’d first recommend connecting with an existing LinkedIn engineer or employee—whether that’s via a first/direct connection, former colleague, or fellow university alumnus, or a second connection through a family member or friend. Learn about our collaborative culture; ask about our meaningful, technical work; and inquire about the mentors/coaches they’ve had here.

As you’re actively interviewing with us, definitely maximize the resources your LinkedIn recruiter offers, too. For instance, our emerging Prep[in] program offers engineering recruits the opportunity to connect with peers at LinkedIn as they walk through sample coding problems, dive into LinkedIn’s culture, and share valuable insights about their growth/development here, so that you can find the best fit for you.

Our interview process typically includes an introductory conversation with an engineering recruiter and a technical interview, followed by interviews with a few LinkedIn engineers and leaders. It’s designed to explore your communication, coding, craftsmanship, engineering design/architecture and/or leadership skills, among others. Our recruiters have a vested interest in you, and will guide you through the process to help set you up for success.

As a recruiter at heart, my top recommendation is to maximize your recruiter as a strategic career advisor/coach along the way. Their role is to help you find the perfect job match, and succeed in the recruiting process—so share with your recruiter what’s important to you in a position, and what things you’d like to change in your next role.

Today, LinkedIn has hundreds of engineering job openings across three continents, five products, and 10+ engineering career paths, including both individual-contributor and management engineering positions. LinkedIn is growing rapidly with a ton of opportunities across different teams, and our recruiters are here to help you find that ideal job.

We also recognize your needs change over time, sometimes even mid-interview. Keep your recruiter informed as your search evolves (e.g., your timeline, preferred location[s], other opportunities, etc.) so we can help craft a memorable recruiting experience to best meet your needs.

Final thoughts?

Our aim as both engineering recruiters and engineering leaders here at LinkedIn is to help you achieve your personal and professional goals. At LinkedIn, we’re connecting nearly 800M job seekers, business professionals, and learners, and empowering 57 million companies globally to launch and grow. We’re just getting started, and we look forward to hopefully having you on this transformational journey with us.

About Chris 
Based in Chicago, Chris is a vice president and global head of engineering talent acquisition. Before joining LinkedIn, he was the global director of experienced-professional and tech recruiting at McKinsey & Company. Chris has also worked as an executive recruiter and recruiting leader in various executive-search firms, management/tech consultancies, and software companies, including Deloitte and Relativity. He has a bachelor’s in health administration from Indiana University Bloomington. He enjoys hiking and Peloton Power Zone challenges, and cheering on his alma mater alongside his wife, Kim, two Labradoodle dogs, Piper and Kramer, and two cats, Brutus and Turtle.

Editor’s note: Considering an engineering career at LinkedIn? In this Career Stories series, you’ll hear first-hand from our engineers about real life at LinkedIn—including our meaningful work, collaborative culture, and transformational growth. For more on engineering careers at LinkedIn, visit: lnkd.in/EngCareers.