Job hunting using LinkedIn, but don't want your current employer to find out?

Last night in a group-coaching call for 'Executive Edge' online I was posed a question I've been asked many times before – a question where the answer can be somewhat confusing particularly given recent changes to LinkedIn's desktop interface.

Developing a personal brand on LinkedIn is an essential ingredient in uncovering executive job opportunities that exist in the 'hidden market'. If you've not read any of my previous blog posts or Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search, the hidden market is the place where high-probability career opportunities always exist before ever being advertised on executive job boards or placed with executive search firms. There are a number or reasons for this, including speed, an implicit recommendation and the desire to avoid paying a recruitment fee.

LinkedIn has put the most powerful recruitment database in the world in the hands of those who are prepared to invest the time to use it properly. As a former professional recruiter I can tell you that although my company had its own database, we placed much more reliance and spent far more time on LinkedIn. Employers too can use the platform to identify and approach talent without engaging the services of executive job boards or recruitment companies. As an executive jobseeker, whether you're found or not is down to two principal factors:

1. How good is your 'shop window' – how focused and engaging is your profile? If it speaks to and is likely to resonate with your target employer then great. If it's a general message to a general audience then it's time to think again.
2. How proactive are you on the platform – does your profile just sit there or are you using LinkedIn as a 'proactive engagement tool'? Employers can now reach you directly, but the same is true in reverse. In my experience this is something executive jobseekers either forget or find difficult – despite having a wealth of skills and abilities reaching out to someone you don't know can involve a step out of an existing comfort zone.

There's no doubt that LinkedIn is an important tool in your arsenal and should be an important part of any successful executive job search strategy, but there is a delicate balance to be struck. This comes back to the question I mentioned at the start of this blog post.

'If you're in a permanent position, but are now gearing up your LinkedIn profile as part of your strategy to find a new job, how do you stop this coming to the attention of your current employer?'

On the one hand you want your activity to be as visible as possible – after all this is how you get your message out in the hidden market and in front of employers / recruiters who might be interested in talking with you. On the other hand you don't want to alert your current employer that you're exploring what the world might look like outside of his or her organisation. Managing this dilemma begins with understanding how the activity feeds now work on the LinkedIn platform.

Recent activity – is the place on your LinkedIn profile where others can see what you've been up to (see image below) and sits prominently under the summary on the home page of your LinkedIn profile.

Recent activity comprises:

Articles – this is where your published posts / long-form articles will show up (to the left in the above image).

Posts – this is where short-form content you've created and posted will be visible, where you share an article, photo or update (to the right in the image above).

All activity – this feed combines the articles you've written and the posts you've made. What's more, although not visible in the activity summary on your profile's home page your likes, comments and shares are visible here (see below where I discuss things you can't hide).

Here's my top four tips to reduce the probability of your current employer finding out you're looking externally while remaining visible and proactive on the platform:

1. Hide your profile updates – making changes to your profile can be perceived as a signal that you're active in the executive job market and likely to be on the move soon (this was a signal I used as a professional recruiter to identify candidates I should be talking to and organisations that might find a hole in their team in the not-too-distant future). Any profile updates you make will show up in your activity feed and may be broadcast to your connections through the LinkedIn feed.

To turn this off click the 'Me' icon (top right of your profile), 'Settings & Privacy', the 'Privacy' tab and then turn 'Sharing profile edits' to 'No' (see below).

Having set this to 'No' your network will be none the wiser when you change your profile, make recommendations or follow companies.

2. Choose the visibility of your LinkedIn feed posts –when sharing your own posts you can choose whether it's just to your 'Connections', the 'Public' or the 'Public + Twitter'. This is selected from a dropdown menu at the bottom of your share next to the 'Post' button.

The challenge here is that as part of any successful executive job search strategy you should be sharing helpful and educational content to gain the attention of your target employer. The distinction I make in the Career Codex methodology is that this messaging should never be about your need for an executive position, but instead be about positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry sector.

If you are currently employed your employer may view an increased level of activity as suspicious and a clue that you might have one eye on the market. Forward-thinking organisations now recognise that marketing and brand building are the responsibility of everyone in the organisation, which means personal branding and thought leadership by all.

3. Hide who you're connecting with – successful executive job search means building connections with people you don't currently know (primarily employers and 'marketmakers' who are influential individuals in a particular profession, industry sector or geography).

If in your 'Privacy' settings 'Who can see your connections' is set to 'Your connections' when you add a new connection your connections will receive an update. You can easily stop this happening by setting to 'Only you' (see below).

One other precaution you can take is to not connect directly with your boss on LinkedIn. In organisations that are less LinkedIn savvy this may not prove too much of a challenge, but if your boss has a LinkedIn profile and sends you a connection request, not accepting can be difficult!

4. Prevent updates when you join a group – groups are one of the best ways to build rapid visibility and connectivity with like-minded individuals. If LinkedIn is the ocean, groups are individual ponds, which are home to people with a similar profession, industry sector or interest. As a professional recruiter and to continue the analogy, I used to fish in these ponds to find candidates with specialist skills and experience.

I have a private LinkedIn group for my 'Executive Edge' online and one-to-one coaching clients, but joining such a group while currently employed could send the wrong signal.

To circumvent this problem click the 'Me' icon (top right of your profile), 'Settings & Privacy', the 'Communications' tab and then turn 'Group notifications' to 'No' (see below).

Another thing you'll want to do is remove the visibility of groups on your profile. Click the 'Me' icon (top right of your profile), 'Settings & Privacy', the 'Privacy' tab and then 'Edit your public profile'. In the 'Customise Your Public Profile' section untick 'Groups'. The groups you are a member of will now be hidden from your profile.

There are two kinds of groups – 'Standard' and 'Unlisted'. If you have your groups visible, unlisted groups will only be visible to fellow group members. [For any of my clients reading, The Career Codex 'Executive Edge' Programme LinkedIn group is unlisted.]

Things you can't hide:

When you like, comment on or share content, which someone else has created you can't hide your engagement or endorsement of this content no matter how your activity settings are configured.

At the extreme, liking a post entitled 'How to leave your current job' might be a red flag to your current employer. Similarly commenting on or sharing content produced by senior decision makers in competitor organisations could gain you unwanted attention closer to home.

Anything you like, comment on or share will be seen in your feed and as a rule of thumb assume that people reading content on your profile will assume you created it.

Summary:

There is always a risk of discovery when you begin to search for a new executive position while currently employed.

This risk is not just confined to LinkedIn either – when you register with an executive recruitment company or put your CV / resume on an executive job board there is a chance that your current employer will find out.

Above I've highlighted four ways you can maintain your visibility to executive recruiters and prospective new employers while at the same time removing some of the notifications that could be directly associated with your search for a new executive position.

I hope you found this article useful and in the spirit of LinkedIn, please feel free to connect with me directly on the platform and let me know what you thought.