LinkedIn's new search filter aims to protect you from suspicious job postings

Finding a job through LinkedIn can be tricky, especially if you're unfamiliar with the company posting the ad. To help you find the right employers, the site will assign a verified badge to those considered legitimate. Now, LinkedIn is making it easier for you to find jobs from those verified companies.

With summer ending and many people revving up their job search, LinkedIn has kicked off a new search filter that can narrow the results to verified employers. Rohan Rajiv, product lead for LinkedIn's Jobseeker, said in a post on Friday that by applying this filter, you'll see only jobs with verified information about the company and job poster.

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To run this type of search, head to LinkedIn's Job page. At the top, enter the job title or skill you're seeking and your preferred location. With the results on display, click the button for All Filters, swipe down the right pane, and turn on the switch for "Has verifications." Click the button to show the new results, and your job search will now include only verified companies.

You should also see a verification badge on verified job postings, which now make up about half of the jobs on LinkedIn, according to Rajiv.

Exactly what does verification mean, and why is it important?

A verification badge on a job post indicates that LinkedIn or a trusted third party has confirmed the stated information about the company or job poster. Selecting the badge displays all the verifications related to the job post, including the company's government-issued ID, the job poster's employer, and the company's official LinkedIn page.

Since verification badges are still in the pilot stage, not all legitimate employers will have them. A job without such a badge doesn't mean that the information is incorrect or suspicious; the job poster may simply not have access to the feature yet or has yet to set up the verification process.

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But the feature shouldn't be treated as a catch-all solution. "It is always a good idea to conduct additional research about the company and position before applying for a job or engaging with a company," LinkedIn said on its verification badge support page. "Some best practices include researching them online, visiting their official website, and reviewing their social media profiles."