A study by LinkedIn details the five skills necessary for career growth, including the ability to adapt to industry changes, to upskill and to establish oneself as a thought leader, writes Karen Gilchrist. It also reveals younger people are more optimistic about the job market, while older workers are more concerned about disruption by automation.

LinkedIn has announced that it will be combining hiring products Recruiter, Jobs and Pipeline Builder onto one platform called the Intelligent Hiring Experience. The company has created a new data set that makes recommended matches to recruiters based on inferred information about job candidates and recruiter needs.

Social media serves career growth best when we focus on our brand with professional posts, writes Vanessa Vallely, managing director of WeAreTheCity. Build more substantive business relationships by sharing interesting content from others and asking a contact you have in common to recommend you as a connection.

Google plans to invest $13 billion in more than a dozen states to expand data centers and offices, CEO Sundar Pichai says. The expansion is crucial to finding talent, Pichai says.

Asking certain questions during an interview projects a heightened level of seriousness about a position, writes career strategist Adunola Adeshola. Job candidates should inquire about what would be expected of them in the first quarter, if there are any concerns about their background and how to assimilate with the team quickly.

You'll impress interviewers with comments that convey you've thoroughly researched the company, including how to handle demanding clients, writes recruitment consultant Nicky Irving. She offers a list of questions to anticipate being asked, such as "What work of ours do you most admire and why?" and "Why do you want to work for us?"

One way to realize our negative thoughts are often exaggerated is by examining a written list of them, writes psychologist Aaron Karmin. Compose a positive alternative to each one and refer to this list when negativity seizes thought patterns, Karmin suggests.

A new app has emerged for UK cattle farmers to use known as Tudder, essentially a dating site for cows and bulls in order to find breeding partners. The app, which functions similarly to the human dating app Tinder, is supposed to be a real resource for farmers, but it also disclaims that the app is "meant to be a bit of fun."