Does ‘Open To Work’ On Your #LinkedIn Profile Attract Recruiters?

Updated December 2023.

A LinkedIn colleague of mine @AndyFoote recently asked his network to respond to an opinion poll about the ‘Open-to-Work’ photo frame on LinkedIn headshots.?

The results confirmed something I already knew to be true: recruiters are looking for the right candidate, not the right job seeker.?The new “green ring” does not serve as a “green light” to contact someone about open positions. Rather, recruiters are using LinkedIn’s immense database of professionals with specific searches relying on relevant keywords, skills, titles, industry and work experience to source top candidates.?

How Your “Green Ring” Appears Within LinkedIn Recruiter Paid Subscription

This recruiter is constructing a keyword search for “Account Manager” which offers 4MM candidates world-wide. And your #ONO selection is contained within its own category.

Using another filter, the recruiter is now able narrow the selection of viable professionals to 85,000 when adding geography. And #ONO is its own category.

Adding another filter, the candidate pool drops to less than 30,000 professionals. LinkedIn Recruiter has many options to trim the number of candidates using education institutions, previous employers, and more to identify the best matches to a smaller list of best candidates.

"I'm getting responses from my network that at my senior level, the green ring was distracting. Instead, I decided to proactively reach out to 10 individuals each week for networking purposes and remove the green ring altogether," says @TinaMarieBaugh, CIO. "In fact, being proactive and reaching out to my warm network has delivered better results plus posting frequent updates."

There Is A Better Way!

LinkedIn already allows you to display a more discreet notification meant for recruiter’s eyes only on your profile page, which can help explain your ideal work preferences without the "green ring."

Your first priority for attracting recruiters to your LinkedIn page is?making your profile SEO optimized?and packed with relevant information that attracts the right viewers. Think of your profile as your online reputation that?reflects?your past experiences, but also?qualifies?you for the future position you desire. This is pivotal if you are looking to make an industry or career shift—you want to attract decision-makers searching within those industries. Use your “About” section within your profile to get this done.

Forbes agrees, stating “In fact, employers or recruiters may actually be turned off by the open-to-work designation because of the well-known preference for “passive candidates” who are fully employed, have an optimized LinkedIn profile and don’t seem to be actively looking or potentially working at the competition."

Key Takeaways

• Instead of adding ‘Open-to-Work’ to your profile photo, having the right information in your header and an impactful profile can help you stand out as a qualified candidate for recruiters. This is something I have seen work so much better for my clients using LinkedIn when landing their dream job.?
• Your headline should be optimized with keywords and titles, not using #ONO. Example: Data Science Consultant | Professor of Accounting | Providing Strategic Insight using AI and Machine Learning Analytics for Strategic Finance Consulting and New Product Launches
• Your Top Skills are SEO for recruiter searches so be sure to max out on all 100 possible (new in 2024, was 50) possible which may include more characters than before. Example: Finance Account Manager in Telecom.
• Network like you mean it. Approach connections within your network, add strategic connections and comment on your newsfeed updates to demonstrate your expertise.
• Another best practice we teach our clients is coaching them on how to reach out to strategic people within their network. This is already a much “warmer” interaction than simply changing a setting and hoping that somebody sees it. It also makes a good impression on hiring managers when a candidate reaches out with a digital handshake asking for a conversation, instead of including a résumé right away. Your goal should be to line up meetings with people who can help identify opportunities now, or even down the road.

Use this link to adjust your skills and update them to your current top 100.

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#linkedinprofile #jobseekers #resumelinkup #opentowork #dreamjob