LinkedIn "open to work" badge

[YonBonnieBanks]

I'm very active on LinkedIn and do everything I can on there to raise my profile. Have sent some InMails to make people aware I'm job searching and I have a premium account. I'm trying to do everything I can to aid my job searching without my current employer knowing.

I've seen the new "open to work" badge but I'm not sure about it.

LinkedIn say that recruiters from your current company will not see it, but cannot guarantee complete privacy, which means members of my team (not doing the recruiting) could see it.

I don't know whether to take that risk. Would my chances of getting approached / noticed increase? Has anyone else got this badge and can tell me more?

Any other tips to raise my profile would help too! I've updated my CV. I'm doing some free online courses during lockdown. I'm doing some volunteering. I'm searching on every job site I can think of but everything is temporary / other side of the country / lower paid. I'm being very badly bullied and desperately want a change.

How about approaching an agency to look for work for you?

Recruiters in your business definitely can't see it and it's unlikely anyone else would go to the effort of looking. I'd advise anyone to have it set to open...always worth keeping an ear to the ground even if happy.
If there are companies you particularly want to work for, make sure you connect with them. When a recruiter searches they'll often filter by people connect as they'll more likely to engage.

I think having it on is a good idea.

Your managers won’t be able to see it, and I doubt your colleagues would notice even if it was visible to them.

Even if one of them did and on the very unlikely off chance asked you about it - you could just shrug it off and say you didn’t know you had it on as you barely use LinkedIn.

has anyone else tried it and did it make any difference?

I've tried it, it made no difference at all. Best go with a couple of recruitment agencies you know and trust.

Also - my HR team did end up seeing it (but they knew I was looking).

I find the linkedin jobs function really good too though!

I work for a very large company who have recently announced plans for wide scale redundancies. I've been tidying up my LinkedIn profile just in case.

I am not in recruitment.I was able to see that other people in my company on the site were showing as 'open for work'

Anyone who is officially employed at your current employer on LinkedIn will not be able to see it. Example: Natwest UK

However, if someone has decided to not be attached to the official employer page and has 'Natwest - Exeter Branch' for example, they would be able to see IF they have LinkedIn Recruiter.

LinkedIn Recruiter accounts are extortionately expensive so I doubt any of your colleagues would have that unless it's a direct part of their job.

@ErickBroch I don't have a recruiter account yet I can see my connections have their "Open for Work" badges?

@FlameFartingDragon do you have LinkedIn premium though? It's not available with just the standard account. To be honest I don't think it makes much of a difference to have it on - better to just contact recruiters directly.

I've approached several agencies. The second they hear I have a disability I hear nothing further.

And linkedin jobs is rubbish as the majority of the jobs that come up are nothing to do with my experience or qualifications yet they show as a match.

TBH the premium function has been useful for networking and raising my profile but not for job searching. So I wont renew it.

@ErickBroch Yes I do (work pay for mine as they like me networking, I am shit at networking it seems)

I've approached several agencies. The second they hear I have a disability I hear nothing further.

Well that's shit and almost certainly illegal. How are they even aware? Are they explicitly asking you if you have any disabilities or are you proactively offering up this information?

I have to tell them in advance because of the nature of my disabilities.

I am hearing and visually impaired so when they ask (as they always do) to call me to discuss my areas of interest, or an application, I have to explain that I can't do telephone calls easily. I have to ask for email, text message, or the text relay service.

I also need adjustments if I go to an interview.

They say "oh that's fine, I'll keep you in mind / keep you updated" then absolutely nothing. So I can't prove it, but that is absolutely why.

What kind of roles and location are you looking at?

That's absolutely disgusting of the recruitment agencies.

Oh on Linkedin I have found that commenting and posting raises your profile - are you in your local networking / field networking groups and do you follow people who you can interact with?

I would go for it. It can't hurt, and in the unlikely event that anyone queries it - just play dumb and say you didn't realise :)

[quote FlameFartingDragon]@ErickBroch I don't have a recruiter account yet I can see my connections have their "Open for Work" badges?[/quote]
Not quite right

There are two settings, one for recruiters only and one for all. You don’t need a premium to see the latter

I’ve used it twice in last couple of years and I’ve gone from radio silence to recruiters flooding in so it’s definitely made a difference to me. Maybe it’s industry dependent?

I am interested in roles such as education support, HR etc. I am particularly interested in working in a university or college.

Yes I've joined LinkedIn networking groups and I actively post and comment.

I'm a headhunter (currently on mat leave). I would very much advise to turn it on... I will contact anyone "open to opportunities" re roles, if they fit the candidate spec. It's very unlikely your current work would see, and even if they did, it's not a bad thing at all - it's showing you're proactively open to bettering yourself.

@Bentley111

I had a manager last year questioning why I was doing an OU degree (which I was doing in my spare time and with my own money). He was actively noseying at my linkedin (I could tell cause of the premium feature). He is now blocked but that is one of the reasons I am so paranoid (and part of the reason I want to leave!)