LinkedIn has become one of the most popular platforms for professionals to build their online presence and connect with others in their industry. With over 740 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is also increasingly being used by recruiters and hiring managers to find and evaluate job candidates. This has led many LinkedIn users to wonder – can employers see my LinkedIn profile? What exactly is visible to them? And how can I control the information potential employers can access?
The short answer is yes, employers can see your LinkedIn profile and resume. However, the level of access they have depends on your LinkedIn account settings. By adjusting your privacy and profile visibility settings, you can control how much of your LinkedIn information is available to employers who are not directly connected to you.
In this article, we’ll explore what parts of your LinkedIn presence recruiters and hiring managers can view, even if they are not connected to you. We’ll also provide tips on limiting employer access to certain sections of your profile and optimizing your privacy settings.
What Employers Can See on Your Public LinkedIn Profile
When you create a LinkedIn account, your profile is set to public by default. This allows anyone on LinkedIn to search for and view your profile. A public profile on LinkedIn means that anyone, including recruiters and potential employers can see:
– Your profile photo
– Your name
– Your current position and company
– Your industry
– Your location
– Your connections
– Your public groups
– Your public posts and articles
So even without connecting with you, employers have access to a good amount of information through your public profile. They can also see a preview of your profile summary. However, they won’t be able to see your full summary or any other section that you set to private.
Profile Photo
Your profile photo is fully visible to anyone, which gives employers their first impression of you. Choosing a polished, professional headshot gives recruiters a sense of how you would present yourself in an interview or workplace. Make sure it’s an updated picture and portrays you in the best possible light.
Name
Your full name is displayed so employers can easily identify you and search for you online. It’s typically advisable not to use nicknames here. Stick to your full legal name for consistency across professional platforms.
Current Position and Company
Your current job title and company are completely public. This gives recruiters instant insight into your level of experience and industry. If you’re open to new opportunities, ensure your position is up-to-date. If not, you can exclude your current role but run the risk of appearing inactive.
Industry
Your industry is also public information. Along with your current company, it helps hiring managers determine if you would be the right fit for any openings at their organization. Choose your industry carefully, keeping in mind the types of jobs you are targeting.
Location
Your city and country are visible to all. Especially when applying for local roles, this helps employers know if you’re in close enough proximity for an in-person interview. If your location changes, keep it updated for networking and job search purposes.
Connections
Employers can see your connections and their names and positions. This offers clues about who you know and the industries/companies you’re connected to. The number of connections you have also demonstrates an active presence on the platform.
Public Groups
The groups you join publicly reveal your interests and communities. For example, belonging to certain professional associations, company groups, or alumni groups can work in your favor by showcasing relevant backgrounds and networks.
Public Posts and Articles
Anything you post publicly either on your own profile or in groups is fair game for employers to access. They can get a sense of your thoughts, ideas, and how you communicate through your public posts and articles. Keep this in mind and maintain a professional presence with your public sharing.
Profile Summary Preview
While employers can’t read your full profile summary if it’s not set to public, they can still see the first few lines. These opening lines are crucial first impressions, so craft an informative but intriguing summary.
What Employers Can’t See on Your LinkedIn Profile
Now that we’ve covered what employers can see from your public profile, let’s go over what they won’t have access to with a private profile:
– Your full summary
– Your experience descriptions
– Your education descriptions
– Your skills
– Your accomplishments
– Your volunteer work and causes
– Your test scores
– Your certifications
– Your courses
– Your contact info
– Your connections’ list
– Your groups list
– Your posts and articles
Essentially, employers cannot see the meat of your LinkedIn profile if your settings are private. All of the sections that convey your background, expertise, and selling points will be inaccessible. All they’ll have to go on is your limited public information.
Full Summary
With a private profile, employers cannot read beyond the first few lines of your summary. This section is crucial for providing an overview of your professional background and goals, so limiting access is recommended.
Experience Descriptions
The detailed descriptions of your work experiences will be hidden from employers. This prevents them from seeing info about your specific responsibilities, skills, and achievements in each role.
Education Descriptions
Similarly, your education section descriptions will be off limits to employers on a private profile. Any details on activities, specialized coursework, projects, and accomplishments during your education will be unavailable to them.
Skills
The skills you list on your profile will also be hidden. These skills are intended to be searchable for your network, so keeping them private makes sense. Employers won’t be able to search for candidates based on skills.
Accomplishments
Major accomplishments like publications, patents, certifications, awards, and projects will all be private. These can really sell your strengths and achievements to employers, so limiting access is recommended.
Volunteer Work and Causes
Information about any volunteer work or causes you support will also be restricted when your profile is private. These demonstrate your interests and what you care about.
Test Scores
Any SAT, GRE, or other standardized test scores you add will not appear in a private profile. These tend to be optional but can influence some employers depending on the field and role.
Certifications
You can showcase professional certifications on LinkedIn, but these will be hidden with a private profile. These credentials are often quite meaningful to employers, so concealing them is likely the best option.
Courses
The courses you’ve taken, including on LinkedIn Learning, will not be visible to employers without a connection. These demonstrate continued learning and development, which can make candidates more attractive.
Contact Info
Important contact details like your email address, phone number, Twitter handle, portfolio URL, and contact info will not appear. Employers will have no way to contact you directly.
Connections’ List
While employers can see your number of connections, they won’t see who you are actually connected with if your profile is private. You control who can see your connections.
Groups List
Similarly, your group memberships will be completely invisible to employers if your profile is private. They will have no insight into the professional communities you engage with.
Posts and Articles
Any posts or articles you’ve shared publicly will disappear from employer searches of your profile. You have full control over who sees your thoughts and content.
How to Adjust Your LinkedIn Profile Privacy Settings
Now that you know what employers can and can’t see on your LinkedIn, let’s look at how to adjust your privacy settings to limit employer visibility and access. Here are the key settings to manage:
Profile Visibility
Your overall profile visibility determines what non-connections can see. You have 3 options:
– Public: Everyone on or off LinkedIn can see your full profile. This is the default setting but not recommended if you want to limit employer access.
– Connections only: Only 1st-degree connections can see your full profile. Employers would have to connect with you first to gain full access. A safer option.
– Private: You control who can see your full profile, including all content and info. Employers would see minimal information only. The most private option.
Most LinkedIn experts recommend keeping your profile either connections-only or private. Public profiles attract too much spam and give employers unlimited access.
Customizing Visibility By Section
You can also customize visibility section-by-section as needed. Options include:
– Your connections
– Connections of your connections
– All LinkedIn members
– Only you
For each section like education, skills, and recommendations, you can select the specific audience. You may want your experiences visible to recruiters but keep your recommendations just for your network, for example.
Activity Broadcasts
Activity broadcasts allow your network to see your profile edits and additions. Turn these off under Profile Privacy & Settings for complete control over your latest updates.
Profile Viewing Options
You can see who has viewed your profile under Privacy & Settings. Switch this option off to keep your profile views private. Note that even with profile viewing off, premium account holders can still see who viewed their profile.
Search Engine Visibility
You can block your public profile from appearing in Google or other search engines under Privacy & Settings. For maximum privacy, preventing search engine indexing is recommended.
By leveraging these profile visibility controls, you can find the right balance between professional networking and privacy from employers snooping around. Just keep in mind—the more private your profile, the less visible you’ll be to recruiters. You’ll have to expand your networking and job search outside of LinkedIn.
Should I Keep My LinkedIn Profile Public or Private?
With all the profile visibility options, you might be wondering whether you should keep your LinkedIn public or private. Here are some pros and cons of each approach:
Public Profile Pros
– More discoverable to recruiters and hiring managers searching LinkedIn
– Appears higher in LinkedIn search engine results
– More opportunities for networking connections
– Gives full picture of your background to employers
Public Profile Cons
– Much more accessible to spam contacts
– Employers can see all profile details even without connecting
– Existing employer may monitor your activity if concerned about retention
– Limited control over how your information appears to employers
Private Profile Pros
– Complete control over what employers can see
– Ability to customize visibility by section as needed
– Less unsolicited outreach from recruiters or salespeople
– Current employer will have limited internal visibility
Private Profile Cons
– Much less discoverable for recruiters, especially contract/agency recruiters you’re not connected with
– Must rely on networking, referrals, and applying directly
– Harder for recruiters to evaluate fit compared to public profiles
– Need to keep LinkedIn activity limited to maintain privacy
Generally, most career experts recommend keeping your LinkedIn private if you are not actively job searching. This lets you control your profile and maintain privacy. However, when you are looking for a new job, carefully consider which sections (summary, skills, etc.) you choose to make public again. This opens up visibility to recruiters just enough to aid your search while limiting overexposure.
Customizing Your Public Profile for Your Job Search
If you do opt to make parts of your profile public again during a job search, here are some tips on showcasing your best professional self:
– Write a compelling, keyword-rich profile summary emphasizing your value proposition for employers or clients. Highlight only your most relevant skills.
– Showcase your most impressive past positions. Edit descriptions to focus on tangible achievements, skills, and special projects you worked on.
– Get recommendations from managers, colleagues, professors, or collaborators. Pick ones that authentically endorse your qualifications.
– Share thought leadership content like posts and articles to display your subject matter expertise. Participate actively in industry conversations.
– Join local professional chapters, alumni groups, and niche industry groups relevant to your target roles. Engage regularly.
– Follow target companies to get insights on their culture and values directly from their own posts. Familiarize yourself with their business offerings and challenges.
Remember, you want to strike the right balance of being discoverable but also judicious. Be selective about what content best spotlights your personal brand and value to your target employers. Keep it focused, consistent and professional.
Always double check your profile through the lens of a recruiter before making any part of your profile public. Scrub for any unsavory images, typos, grammar errors, or unprofessional posts that could reflect poorly on you. You want to put your best foot forward during the high stakes job search process.
Key Takeaways
– Employers can see your public LinkedIn profile information like your name, title, company, location, and connections even without connecting.
– With a private profile, employers only see minimal data. You control access to detailed background sections like skills, education, and recommendations.
– Customize your profile visibility through settings like public/private, viewing options, and activity broadcasts based on your preferences.
– When job searching, selectively choose sections to make public again for discoverability. But maintain control over what content employers can see.
– Keep your profile updated and consistent with your resume. Monitor employer engagement for any reputation risks.
Conclusion
Your LinkedIn presence is a major factor for how employers evaluate you in the recruiting process today. By understanding what’s visible to them and adjusting your profile privacy settings, you can thoughtfully shape your professional brand and online identity. For most professionals, the ideal balance is keeping a private profile by default for control. Then strategically opening up access again during a job search to attract the right opportunities. With some thoughtful curation of content, profile visibility, and networking engagement, you can make LinkedIn work effectively for your career progression.