9 Tips for A Confidential Job Search on LinkedIn

Is It Possible to Job Search on LinkedIn Confidentially?

You’re presently employed and job searching, so you want to use LinkedIn to find new opportunities (or be discovered by recruiters), but you’re concerned that your current employer or someone you know will see your updated profile and catch on to what you’re doing. Is it possible to job search on LinkedIn without being “found out”? After speaking with a potential client this week who wanted us to write his LinkedIn profile for him but was nervous that his connections would figure out what he was up to, I decided to do a little research of my own. Here’s what I found:

You can actually turn off your network updates. Great tips for using LinkedIn for a confidential job search from Meg Guiseppi: http://executivecareerbrand.com/using-linkedin-for-confidential-executive-job-search/

You can adjust who can see your activity and connections: http://www.careerthoughtleaders.com/blog/keeping-your-job-search-confidential/

You can change your profile settings so you can browse profiles of target companies you want to work for, career experts you want to engage, or HR contacts you want to connect with and no one will know (even the person whose profile you’re viewing): Here’s how:

– Go to your profile settings and click privacy settings.

– Under privacy settings click profile views.

– Under the last setting click that you want to be completely invisible to users that you’ve viewed.

Here are a few additional tips to remember:

– Don’t post you’re in a job search on your status update or anywhere else in the profile. (duh!, right?)

– Don’t check the box on your profile indicating you’re open to new job opportunities.

– Be careful about what you post and reply to in job search-related groups and how you answer questions in discussion groups.

– Do make sure your profile is 100% complete.

– Do ensure that it’s a branded representation of who you are as an employee, keyword-rich, and SEO-optimized.

– Do engage yourself by sharing your expertise within the industry, posting relevant content to your field, and contributing to group discussions.

Need help creating a keyword-rich, search engine-optimized LinkedIn profile? Collaborate with one of our expert LinkedIn profile writers. We’ll create, brand, and completely set up your profile for you; all you need to do is chat with your writer about your background, experience, and job search goals. Find out more about the number-one tool recruiters are using for finding candidates here.

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