Adding a new job to your LinkedIn profile is an exciting milestone to share with your professional network. However, not everyone wants to broadcast a job change before they’ve settled into their new role. The good news is that LinkedIn offers options to update your employment information without blasting it out to all your connections.
Quick Answers
Here are the quick answers to whether you can add a new job on LinkedIn without notifying your entire network:
- Yes, it is possible to add a new job on LinkedIn without automatically sharing it in the network update feed.
- When adding a new position, simply toggle off the “Share with network” option.
- With this setting disabled, only you can see the job change on your profile.
- You can still individually choose connections to share the update with through messages.
- At any time, you can go back and enable sharing the job update with your whole network.
Adding a New Job Without Immediate Sharing
Here are step-by-step instructions for adding a new position to your LinkedIn profile without notifying all your connections right away:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile page and click “Add profile section” next to the Experience section.
- Select “Add position” and fill in the details of your new job: company, title, employment dates, etc.
- At the bottom, make sure the “Share with network” toggle is off. This prevents an update from being posted.
- Click “Save” to add the new position to your profile.
With the share toggle disabled, your new job will now be visible on your profile but will not get shared in the LinkedIn feed or notifications.
Limiting Sharing to Individual Connections
If you want to selectively share the news with just a few close contacts, here’s how to do that:
- In the “Share with network” section, choose “Customize” instead of “Off.”
- Select individual connections you want to share the update with.
- Click done and save the position update.
This will send a personalized update to just those selected connections without posting the news publicly.
Enabling Full Network Sharing
At some point, you’ll likely want to share the job change with your whole network on LinkedIn. To do this:
- Go back to your profile and click “Edit” on your new position.
- Under “Share with network,” toggle the setting to “On.”
- Save the change.
Your new role will now appear in the activity feed on your connections’ home pages. It will also show up on your own profile as a shared update.
Additional Points
Here are some additional things to keep in mind when adding a job without notifying your network:
- Even with sharing disabled, your new position will still be visible on your profile to anyone who views it.
- The update will only appear in the activity feed if you enable full network sharing.
- You can wait to share the news later after adjusting to the new job.
- The customized sharing option lets you notify close contacts individually.
- You can tweak the audience for sharing the update even after posting.
Pros of Delaying the Notification
Postponing the profile update notification can offer a few benefits:
- Avoid oversharing before settling in: Gives you time to adjust to the new role before broadcasting the change.
- Prevent distracting questions: Allows you to focus on the job transition without a flood of messages.
- Control the narrative: Lets you shape how you present the new job situation.
- Keep it low-key: Prevents having your career moves become public conversations.
Cons of Delaying the Notification
However, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:
- Reduced engagement: Limits interactions and congratulations from your network.
- Appearance of inauthenticity: An outdated profile can seem disingenuous.
- Missed opportunities: New contacts may not know your latest experience and skills.
- Harder to recall: You may forget to share the update down the road.
Best Practices for Sharing
If you decide to postpone sharing a job change, keep these best practices in mind:
- Don’t wait too long before enabling sharing. A few weeks or months is reasonable.
- Let close contacts know individually about the new role.
- Keep your profile updated with other changes even if not sharing the job move yet.
- Set a reminder to enable sharing the update when ready.
- Routinely check your profile visibility settings.
Alternatives to Delay Sharing
Other than postponing the notification, you could also:
- Edit the job details before sharing to control how much is disclosed.
- Customize sharing to limit visibility only to certain groups.
- Turn off comment capabilities when you do share it.
- Craft your post language to convey it’s not open for discussion.
Questions to Ask Yourself
When deciding whether to delay sharing your job update, ask yourself:
- How ready do I feel to broadcast this change?
- Am I equipped to handle the inbound attention right now?
- Is my profile optimized to capture opportunities from this news?
- What’s my priority – minimizing disruption or maximizing engagement?
- How can I share this on my own terms when I’m ready?
Example of Sharing a New Job Update
Here is an example of how sharing a new job update may appear on LinkedIn:
The job change appears in the experience section as well as a post in the activity feed customized to connect with the audience.
Key Takeaways
- You can add a new position without automatically sharing it across LinkedIn.
- Simply toggle off “Share with network” when adding the job.
- At any point, you can update the visibility settings to share it later.
- Be thoughtful about the pros and cons of delaying the notification.
- Use customized settings to limit sharing only to certain connections.
Conclusion
Adding a new job on LinkedIn without immediately notifying your entire network can be a smart approach in the right circumstances. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s customizable profile and activity feed settings to control who sees the update right away. While you may want to limit the initial exposure, don’t wait too long before sharing the news more broadly to maximize opportunities from your new role. With the right strategy, you can share your career news on your terms and timeline.