While other social networks like Facebook and MySpace have gained popularity by opening their doors to anyone and everyone, LinkedIn has carved out its own niche by catering to a very specific audience. And while LinkedIn is already widely popular for professionals looking to network, the website has made a few changes to make it more popular among those who might be looking for jobs in a bad economy.

The most basic changes include an auto-fill for searching out names and contacts, similar to Facebook's search. A new tool, persistent search, lets users set up alerts notifying them of an addition to a company's executive roster, according to TechCrunch. The tool also lets users know when a job candidate is available.