Should you turn on LinkedIn's Open to Work? Here’s what to know.

Written by: Harvey Dunsire, TYG Director

It’s always a bit of a nerve racking moment deciding to switch on Open to Work on LinkedIn.

But it’s definitely becoming more common. We’re seeing a 35% year-on-year increase in professionals actively signalling they’re open to new job opportunities, whether that’s a full job search or just quietly exploring what’s out there.

We’ve had a few people recently ask how the different LinkedIn Open to Work settings work, so here’s a quick breakdown of which option to pick and why, especially if you’re considering a career move.

How to turn on LinkedIn's Open to Work

To turn on the Open to Work feature, go to your LinkedIn profile and click the Open to button just below your profile picture/name, then select Finding a new job. You can choose to show this to All LinkedIn members or Recruiters only.

What are you really showing when you turn it on?

The Open to Work feature on LinkedIn gives you control over who can see that you’re open to new opportunities. You can choose who sees your job search preferences directly on your LinkedIn profile:

• All LinkedIn members: This includes recruiters, hiring managers, and people at your current company. It also adds the #OpenToWork photo frame by default, although you can remove this if you’d rather keep things a bit more low-key.

• Recruiters only: This is only visible to people using LinkedIn Recruiter. LinkedIn also takes steps to prevent people at your current company from seeing your status, making it a much more discreet option.

Just to clarify, this setting is ONLY visible to recruiters with LinkedIn Recruiter access. It’s a more private version of the feature compared to the public #OpenToWork banner, and it’s what we recommend if you’re exploring the job market rather than actively advertising it.

Worried about who might see it?

This is probably the biggest concern we hear. “Will my employer or friends see that I’m open to work?” If you’re using the recruiters only setting, your profile won’t suddenly announce it to your network.

Unless your friends or colleagues have LinkedIn Recruiter access, which is unlikely, they won’t see your status.

It’s designed to be a low-risk way to explore new opportunities without drawing attention.

If you're "kind of open", should you still switch it on?

This is where people hesitate. If you’re fairly happy in your current role but think there might be something better out there, is it worth it?

Short answer, yes.

By turning on Open to Work, you put yourself on the radar of recruiters and talent acquisition teams who are actively searching LinkedIn for candidates. It’s not a guarantee you’ll get the perfect role landing in your inbox, but it significantly increases your visibility for relevant job opportunities.

If you’re even slightly open to a new role, it’s a simple way to keep your options open without committing to a full job search.

Getting messages already, who's worth replying to?

Once it’s on, you’ll probably notice an increase in messages. And not all of them will be relevant.

The best approach is to take a quick look at the recruiter, their agency, and the market they specialise in before replying. It gives you a much better idea of whether it’s worth your time.

Also, location isn’t everything.

Just because a recruiter isn’t based in your city doesn’t mean they don’t know your market. In more niche areas like MEP engineering recruitment or landscape architecture jobs, recruiters often work nationally or even internationally (like us!).

Is this enough on it's own, or should you still apply?

It’s not one or the other, it’s both.

Applying directly to jobs is still important, but a lot of roles never make it onto job boards or company websites. Recruiters often have access to exclusive roles and hidden job opportunities through their networks.

It also takes a lot of the admin off your plate. A good recruiter will manage the process, line up interviews, and guide you through the hiring process, and it doesn’t cost you anything as a candidate.

Still feeling unsure?

If you’re not 100% sure about updating your LinkedIn profile but you’re open to exploring your options, that’s completely normal.

If you want a second opinion on the job market or just a confidential chat about what’s out there, feel free to reach out. We’re always happy to help. For more information, LinkedIn has a useful article about Open to Work too.