career-advice

How to Keep Your LinkedIn Job Search Confidential

Matt Glodz
How to Keep Your LinkedIn Job Search Confidential

We explain how keep your employer from seeing your LinkedIn #OpenToWork settings

If you're using LinkedIn to search for a new role while you are still working, you'll naturally want to keep your efforts hidden from your current employer.

You can let recruiters know that you are open to new opportunities while keeping your job search discreet in the following two ways:

Method 1: Adjust Your Privacy Settings

You can let recruiters know you are open to new opportunities by adjusting your privacy settings.

To do so, click on Me next to your photo in the top ribbon and select Settings & Privacy, as shown below.

LinkedIn Job Search Privacy Settings

On the privacy tab, select job seeking preferences.

LinkedIn Job Seeking Preferences Privacy

Toggle the button under let recruiters know you're open to opportunities to yes, and you're all set!

LinkedIn-Privacy-Settings

Method 2: Enable the #OpenToWork Work Feature

The second way to let recruiters you are open to new opportunities and provide them with specific details regarding the types of opportunities you would consider is located right on your home page.

To enable it, simply click Add profile section and select Intro.

Looking For A Job LinkedIn

You'll then see the edit job preferences options shown below.

When looking for potential candidates, recruiters typically filter by both location and job title.

To maximize your chances of appearing in their searches, be sure to fill this section out with as much detail as possible.

Most importantly, make sure to select share with recruiters only under the choose who sees you're open tab as shown below if you want to keep your search private.

Otherwise, all of your connections will be able to see that you are looking for a new role, and LinkedIn will automatically add a banner to your profile picture.

Edit Job Preferences LinkedIn

If you don't make your #OpenToWork preferences visible to all LinkedIn members, LinkedIn will only share your information with relevant recruiters.

What information can recruiters see on LinkedIn?

According to LinkedIn, the information recruiters will be able to see includes:

  • The fact that you are open to hearing about new opportunities
  • The job titles or roles you're interested in
  • Whether you're open to full-time or contract opportunities
  • The date you flagged yourself as open to new opportunities

How can I ensure my colleagues won't see that I'm open to new opportunities?

To help keep your information hidden from colleagues, make sure that each of your work experiences on LinkedIn is associated with the official company page.

In other words, if you work for a large organization, you should be able to see the company's logo alongside your position name and description.

Recruiters also affiliated with that company would then not be able to see your preferences.

Is the LinkedIn #OpenToWork setting 100% confidential?

Bear in mind that although LinkedIn makes an effort to keep your job search discreet, it does mention that privacy is not absolutely guaranteed:

To protect your privacy, we take steps to prevent LinkedIn Recruiter users who work at your company and related companies from seeing your shared career interests, but we can’t guarantee complete privacy.

In Summary

By taking the steps above, you'll be able to leverage LinkedIn to search for jobs without your employer's knowledge.

If you are especially worried about discretion, consider also removing your profile from search engine results.

However, don't forget to write a strong LinkedIn headline and summary section for those who do get to see your profile.


About Resume Pilots

Resume Pilots is an award-winning executive resume writing firm and a proud member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. Our previous clients include CEOs and senior executives at the world's leading companies.

As a professional services firm, we take your reputation seriously. We are committed to delivering writing excellence and superior service while operating with integrity and discretion. Recruitment firms we partner with also trust us to consistently deliver quality documents for their clients.

Our writers have studied in the Ivy League and other top-tier universities and have strong writing backgrounds coupled with industry experience.

Here's how we can help you:

Resume, Cover Letter, and LinkedIn Writing Services: If you are looking for end-to-end support, hire one of our professional resume writers to rewrite your documents from the ground up.

Executive Resume Template Downloads: If you plan to prepare your own resume, consider using one of our classic, ATS-friendly resume templates for Microsoft Word.

To learn more about our services, book an introductory call with our founder here or email team@resumepilots.com.


About the AuthorMatt Glodz


Matt Glodz is the Founder and Managing Partner of Resume Pilots and a Certified Professional Resume Writer.

After studying business communication at Cornell University, Matt worked within Fortune 500 companies, where he noted that qualified candidates were frequently denied interview opportunities due to poorly written documents.

At Resume Pilots, Matt combines his business and writing background - which includes prior work for a Chicago Tribune publication - to craft resumes that give his clients the best chance of landing interviews. He works with clients ranging from CEOs to recent graduates and has been writing resumes for over 10 years.

He has been quoted on numerous business and career-related topics in outlets including Business Insider, CNBC, Fortune, Glassdoor, The Ladders, and Thrive Global.


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