The Future of Professional Networking: Read.cv’s Acquisition by Perplexity and What It Means for Recruitment Marketing

Recently, the professional networking platform Read.cv announced its acquisition by Perplexity.ai, an AI-powered search engine.

While Read.cv will soon wind down and allow users to export their profiles, messages, and other data, it’s fascinating to see an emerging social network for professionals joining forces with an AI-driven company. This news points to several trends impacting recruitment marketing and job postings—and there are key insights we can gather for our own talent attraction strategies.

LinkedIn’s AI will have to step up!

Let’s be honest: LinkedIn has long been the dominant player in professional networking. The emergence—and now acquisition—of Read.cv signals a desire for platforms that offer a more interactive, design-forward user experience. For recruitment marketers, this means it’s more important than ever to stay hungry for new AI platforms that will put your job and company culture in front of fresh eyes every day.

Why Read.CV is The Bomb for EB Folks.

Read.cv stood out by allowing users to build sleek profiles, showcase their work, and sort of act as a platform to get recognized.  These features allow employer brand folks (like me) to brag about their work in ways that can’t be on LinkedIn without having to pony up a lot of cabbage.

What LinkedIn Needs To Do Stop Perplexity.AI from Dipping Into the Gig Job Search Space.

Encourage recruitment marketing teams to share more than just job titles and start showcasing employee journeys and authentic videos, as you can on Read.cv

But Employer Branders Need To Speak Up First!

Let LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Indeed know that you’re not going to take it anymore. You need them to consider adding design elements or personal touches to your job ads so that it’s relevant to the target audience and the right job seekers.

Maybe We Need To Consider Perplexity in Job Search.

Perplexity’s involvement underscores the rapid integration of AI in search and sourcing. If you post jobs and don’t optimize them for AI-powered platforms or explore using AI tools for sourcing, this acquisition might be your wake-up call.

Sourcing isn’t as challenging as it used to be. However, sourcers and recruiters must become more AI efficient and tech-savvy, using the right keywords and providing structured data in their postings so they can get picked up by job seekers who use AI for job searches.

Is this the End or the Beginning?

In the end, the acquisition of Read.cv is a reminder that the professional world is changing fast. If you’re in recruitment or employer branding, now is an opportune moment to keep an eye on AI-driven apps, tools, and niche sites that may help you reach specialized talent pools.

LinkedIn and others really, really, really need to set up and focus on a storytelling feature so that recruitment marketers can provide company culture along with job descriptions.

As we see AI continue to disrupt the job search market, those who stay agile, creative, and authentic in their recruitment marketing strategies will stand out—and attract the best talent.

Join our newsletter, or feel free to share your thoughts about what changes you are seeing in the world of recruitment marketing and how you plan to adapt.