LinkedIn, the professional network on the Internet, has launched the beta release of LinkedIn Skills, a new product that helps members discover up-and-coming expertise areas that professionals need to succeed.

LinkedIn Skills is designed to surface the top people, top locations, related jobs, and groups associated with thousands of skills which LinkedIn members have identified as areas of expertise.

Members can use LinkedIn Skills to discover hot skills professionals are adding to their profiles. It also provides top related skills for a given industry with trending information on which skill is growing or declining in that industry.

For the professional looking to break into a new industry or expand their expertise areas, LinkedIn Skills offers the ability to add new skills to their profile, surface the top professionals who have similar expertise and related companies where the desired expertise will have the most impact. Hiring managers can also benefit from the ability to identify top candidates and talent who possess the specific skills the professional organization needs.

“With today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, LinkedIn is offering the unique ability to pinpoint top experts for a particular skill set, in addition to providing relevant and actionable insights about trending skills that can help professionals manage their careers,” said DJ Patil, LinkedIn's chief scientist.