Quiet job search on LinkedIn: what your employer can see

What can your employer see on LinkedIn?

Your employer can see the public parts of your profile, like your headline, your About section and what you post. LinkedIn says your job-search activity is private by default, and it tries to hide Open to Work from recruiters at your company when you pick Recruiters only.

Which LinkedIn settings should you check?

Check five things before you change anything else on your profile: who sees Open to Work, your current job, the green frame, “Share profile updates”, and the words in your headline and About.

1. Open to Work: Recruiters only

   When you turn on Open to Work, LinkedIn asks who should see it. Pick Recruiters only. People using LinkedIn Recruiter can still see it, and nothing shows on your photo (LinkedIn Help: Open to Work).

2. Your current job: marked current

   LinkedIn uses the job marked “I am currently working here” to decide whose Recruiter accounts to hide your Open to Work from (LinkedIn Help: Open to Work). Check that your job is on your profile with that box ticked.

3. No green frame

   The #OpenToWork frame on your photo comes with sharing Open to Work with all LinkedIn members, so everyone on LinkedIn can see it, people at your company included. If yours has the frame, switch to Recruiters only.

4. “Share profile updates”: off

   While it’s on, your network can be told about job changes, education changes and work anniversaries (LinkedIn Help: Share profile updates). Turn it off before you change a job or a school on your profile.

5. No job-hunt words in your headline or About

   Words like “open to opportunities”, “seeking my next role” or #OpenToWork tell everyone who reads your profile, your employer included. Keep them out while you search quietly. LinkedIn doesn’t notify your network when you edit your profile’s Introduction section, where your headline sits (LinkedIn Help: Edit the Introduction section), but anyone who opens your profile sees the new one.

How does The Fitting Room’s free Fit Check score a quiet search?

If your profile shows a current job, The Fitting Room’s free Fit Check starts in “Quietly open” mode, and you can switch modes anytime. If it can’t tell whether you have a job, it starts there too. In that mode:

• Open to Work earns its 10 points only when it’s set to Recruiters only. On with the public frame, it scores zero and you get a warning.
• Job-hunt words in your headline or About get flagged.
• It asks you about the green frame and “Share profile updates”, because a profile PDF can’t show them. It never signs in to your LinkedIn to check.
• The point for posting in the last 90 days becomes a reminder with no points: keep posts to your field, with no hints that you’re looking.

The Fit Check works only from the PDF or text you give it. The free Fit Check runs in your browser. Here is every item the free Fit Check scores, with its points.

Can a job search on LinkedIn be completely private?

No. LinkedIn says it can’t guarantee complete privacy, even with Open to Work set to Recruiters only, and no setting or checklist can promise your employer won’t find out. What the settings above do is help keep the public parts of your profile quiet.

Opinion If your employer finding out would cause you real trouble, weigh that before you turn on Open to Work at all.

Check my profile for a quiet search