‘#Open to Work’ LinkedIn Photo Frame – Yes or No?

I am asked this question a lot at the moment by job seekers, and there is a lot of heated debate in the career industry currently about how job seekers, and those who are Covid-impacted, should indicate their availability for new opportunities. Specifically, there is a lot of differing opinion around if job seekers should be using the LinkedIn ‘#Open to Work’ green photo frame feature. Here’s my take, from both a recruitment and career transition coach perspective.

Should you use the ‘#Open to Work’ LinkedIn Photo Frame?

In my opinion, no. I agree with the majority of career practitioners on this one. You could use it briefly and temporarily, to signal to your network that you are available, but I don’t believe this is your best strategy. Here’s why and my thoughts on alternative strategies that might serve you better.

Firstly, it groups you with a large group of job seekers and therefore, in a way, commoditises you. Commodities are never as desirable as strong brands; people do not seek them out and they don't pay a premium for them. This is the first tenet of personal branding. The ‘#Open to Work’ frame may seem an obvious feature to use, but I do not believe it sends the right message or positions you well, and in some cases, it makes job seekers complacent; they have indicated they are available and so their work on LinkedIn is finished.

How Recruiters and Line Managers Actually Search

As a recruiter I am unlikely to be searching for 'open to work' as a search term, and if I am, the LinkedIn Recruiter package that I - and every recruiter and line manager - will be using allows me to see if you are ‘open to work’ without the photo frame.

Unemployment Bias

Evidence shows unemployment bias is grim reality. Although a lot of allowances are being made at the moment, there is no need to feed into this bias by offering up the fact you are out of work as your positioning statement, either with the ‘#Open to Work’ photo frame or ‘looking for new opportunities’ as your headline.

So How Do You Update Your LinkedIn Profile If You Are Unemployed?

There are a number of strategies you can employ to position yourself more effectively than using the ‘#Open to Work’ photo frame, or similar phraseology, as part of your LinkedIn headline:

 o  Optimise your LinkedIn headline with your key words, job titles and skills. Make it future-focused (geared towards the job you want). You will also want to key word optimise your entire profile. Make sure your skills section is updated and that your top three skills are what you want to be known and searched for. (You can reorder them if not).

o  Set your LinkedIn settings to ‘Let recruiters know you are open to opportunities’, you can add ‘open to work’ here as a back-end term, and you can also list the jobs and skills you want to be approached for. Recruiters search for job titles and skills primarily, not availability.

o  Keep your employment listed as your current organisation’s title (as many recruiters will also search by company name and it is a way to avoid unemployment bias), or consider starting a new employment section listing yourself as a consultant. List your achievements and expertise as you would in an employment section. (Only do this if you actually are in the position to consult in some way and you can indicate in your settings that you are open to consulting as well as full-time work).

According to LinkedIn Hiring Solutions, 87% of passive and active candidates are now ‘#Open to Work’. There are many ways to draw recruiters and line managers to your profile, but your headline and photo are both key, as well as your activity. (In my next post I will provide examples of LinkedIn activity that will attract recruiters to your profile).

An authentic and accessible photo is a must - you’ll get 9-times more connection requests and 36-times more messages! - but I would argue, without the frame!