Home » What Does ‘Open to Work’ Mean on LinkedIn? – Should I Use It?

What Does ‘Open to Work’ Mean on LinkedIn? – Should I Use It?

LinkedIn has changed the whole game of recruitment over the past few years. Today almost 80% of job hunters are using this platform to find better opportunities, and recruiters are also using it to find better and more desirable candidates. Thus the platform is benefiting both parties.

The platform has also initiated an “open to work” feature where a job hunter can depict that they are available to work and are looking for a job.

How Does The “Open to Work” 0ption Work?

How Does The “open to work” 0ption Work?
Image source: interoadvisory.com

The new feature of LinkedIn, “open to work,” is straightforward to use. Simply clicking on the option or enabling the “open-to-work” option in your profile will help you to add a photo frame to your profile picture. One doesn’t have to be very technology-friendly to use this option.

So whenever a recruiter comes across your profile, they can see the “open to work” badge in your profile picture. This benefits the job hunter and the recruiters, as they don’t have to go through a long process of shortlisting and finding candidates.

Bonus Read: How To Use LinkedIn To Get A Job

Who Can Use LinkedIn’s Open To Work?

The “Open to work” option is available for everyone with a valid LinkedIn profile. This can benefit everyone, especially those searching for a job on the platform. Anyone can enable this option by simply following the steps listed in the next section.

How to Tell Recruiters You’re Open to Work on LinkedIn?

You can tell the recruiters that you are open to work by enabling the “open to work” option. Some steps must be followed to enable this option in the platform. You can enable this option by following the below-listed steps:

Step 1: Click on your profile picture and “view profile.”

Step 2: Click add a profile option.

Step 3: Click on the intro and then on “looking for job opportunities”

Step 4: Fill out all the information that has been asked.

Step 5: If you want to make this option public, you can select all the LinkedIn members, or if you like this option to be seen by the recruiters, you can choose only the recruiters.

Step 6: After completing step 5, you can see the “open-to-work” photo frame in your profile photo.

When you make your profile picture public to only recruiters, only a particular section of the reporters can see this option on LinkedIn, especially those organizations that have paid to the platform. Any other recruiter cannot find your “open to working” badge. So above listed steps are the simple steps you need to enable this option.

Bonus Read: How to Reach Out to People on LinkedIn? #Tips Every Beginner Should Learn

What Are the Risks of Enabling the “Open to Work” Option?

What are the Risks of Enabling the "open to work" Option?

Before going with the ‘open to work’ option for public view, you need to consider a few of the following points:

  • You can quickly get the wrong attention, as the fraudsters can contact you.
  • Either you will be contacted plenty of times, or no one will reach you.
  • There are many ways to maintain contact or network with people, so if you don’t want to grab the wrong kind of attention, you should avoid using this option.

LinkedIn generally acts as a resume to the recruiter, and no one attaches or adds a line of “please hire me” in the traditional kind of resume.

Hence, it is always better to keep everything in mind and decide whether you want to make the ‘open to work’ option a public view or just the recruiters whose organizations have paid to the platform.

What Happens Once You’re Using Open To Work?

What Happens Once You’re Using Open To Work?
Image source: timesnownews.com

LinkedIn has emerged as one of the most powerful tools to connect or create a network among people in the same industry. The new option has enabled it to be much better at finding a job, which provides better opportunities to the job hunters, and makes the work of recruiters easy.

The most crucial advantage of using the “open to work” option is that whenever you use it, it will ask you what kind of workplace, job location, or profile you are searching for. It also asks specific questions like whether you are looking for a full-time job, part-time job, freelancing job, temporary job internship, or a contract job. So whatever your requirement is, it will ask you every piece of information and thus will help you to get better job opportunities.

It notifies the recruiters about your availability, thus benefiting you. It will not only send you the notification of the job vacancies but will also help you to connect with the recruiters searching for the candidates like you.

If the recruiter wants to connect with you, they can also use the in-mail feature of LinkedIn, which makes your responding process much easier, and you don’t have to go to the platform to check for your messages. Afterward, even if you are not very active in the mail, LinkedIn will ask you if you are interested in the job profile or if you are not.

So there are multiple ways in which a job hunter can easily track the hiring process and help you be active on the platform whenever a recruiter approaches you. But every forum has its advantages as well as disadvantages. Before making a particular decision, you must also learn about the benefits or risks of using this feature.

What Are the Disadvantages of Enabling the “Open to Work” Feature?

As mentioned earlier, this feature also has a few disadvantages, so job seekers have to be much more careful while using it. A few of the examples are listed down below:

  • It will notify you when you are not even interested in the job.
  • If you are a freelancer or a contract worker, it will always be a difficult choice for you to use this option. As you are already working for a client, your client will never expect you to work for another client, especially when they are paying you good money.
  • You will also not want your client to come across your profile where you mentioned being “open to work.” As a freelancer, your client can also have questions about sharing their confidential information with anyone.
  •  Furthermore, the traditional work type is always a full-time job. But if you are working as a freelancer apart from your full-time job, it can be a drawback for you. Your organization can see your profile and know that you are also working for other clients. This can make them doubt your intentions of making money. This can be a much bigger issue if you have signed a confidential contract with them.
  • There is also a high possibility that you can be a victim of scammers, so always be aware and do some research on the platform or the Internet about the recruiter contacting you.

So, after reading these disadvantages, if you have decided that you don’t want to make your open-to-work batch public to everyone, you can always use the LinkedIn job search option, which is already a part of the platform.

So whatever your requirements are, LinkedIN always tries to enhance its experience for the people looking out for a job and the recruiters looking for people. So using the “open to working “option is a personal choice, and we can not make a universal statement. But we can let you know how you can make the most of it.

How Can You Make the Most Out of it?

How Can You Make the Most Out of it?

As we have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the platform, it’s a personal choice to use it or not to use it. Every person is different, and we cannot recommend anything to the person that is opposite to their personality or will. So if you are using it, we would like to discuss how you can make the most of it. Below are a few points to keep in mind:

  • The first point will always be to have a clear-cut idea of what you want to do or the job industry, location, working hours, or the type of employment.
  • Secondly, your LinkedIn profile should demonstrate your work history and experiences while highlighting your specific skills. For example, if you have taken any course, you can list them.
  • If you have no experience, you can mention other details of college projects you have been a part of and your role. This will help the recruiter to connect with you.
  • Whenever a recruiter messages you regarding a job, always respond to them. Always ask them if they can connect in the future, and you should always maintain better contact with them to get better opportunities.
  • Don’t be too inactive on the platform, as LinkedIn will not promote your profile. Whenever you are not interested, let them know the specific reason and thank them for their offer.

Pro Tip For Open to Work

Whenever you enable the option “open to work”  to the recruiters or public, ensure that you make your intro much more impactful. This will be your robust chances of getting connected with the recruiters.

Most of the time, the candidates cannot make a significant impact, even after a great working history,  because their intro lacks the essential details. Due to this, the recruiter just glances at the profile and moves on without researching the candidate enough. So to avoid such situations, research your industry and make your intro much more attractive and better.

Conclusion

In this competitive world, using LinkedIn has become very convenient. The platform has helped people from the same industry to connect and make a network. The platform is adding new features to enhance the experience of its users.

Whenever you use this “open to work” option in your profile, LinkedIn promotes your profile. It also sends them a notification about your availability. Even when you are not interested in a job, you can thank them for considering your profile. So use the platform, and you will be able to get better opportunities in the future.