LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 740 million members worldwide. As such, it has become an invaluable tool for recruiters and hiring managers looking to source and attract top talent. One of the main ways recruiters use LinkedIn is by posting job ads on the platform. However, LinkedIn doesn’t allow just anyone to immediately start posting jobs. There are certain restrictions in place for new accounts to prevent spamming and abuse. So how long do you actually have to wait before you can post a job on LinkedIn?
The 30 Day Waiting Period for New LinkedIn Accounts
If you’ve just created a new LinkedIn account, you’ll have to wait 30 days before you’re able to post any jobs. This 30 day waiting or “aging” period applies to both individual and company pages that are new to LinkedIn. It’s essentially a probationary period that allows LinkedIn to assess the legitimacy of the account and make sure it’s not being used for spam or other unauthorized activity.
Some key things to note about LinkedIn’s 30 day waiting period:
- The 30 days start counting from the day the LinkedIn account is created
- It applies to free basic accounts as well as premium accounts
- You’ll be able to do everything else on LinkedIn like making connections, joining groups, etc. except for posting jobs
- The 30 day rule applies even if you pay for job posts or LinkedIn Recruiter access
- If you try posting a job before 30 days, you’ll get an error saying “Your account is unable to post jobs at this time”
This 30 day waiting period can be frustrating for recruiters who want to urgently hire. However, it’s LinkedIn’s policy across the board for new accounts. The idea is to establish trust and prevent misuse early on. Some recruiters try getting around it by using an existing company account or repurposed employee account to post jobs sooner. But this goes against LinkedIn’s terms of service.
Why Does LinkedIn Have a 30 Day Waiting Period?
LinkedIn started enforcing the 30 day waiting period several years ago to crack down on job spam and other unauthorized activity. Here’s why they saw the need for this policy:
- Prevent spam and abuse: Spammers often create lots of new accounts to be able to quickly post irrelevant jobs and other disruptive content. The 30 day rule acts as a speed bump to stop this kind of abuse.
- Ensure legitimate job posts: Requiring accounts to be 30 days old before posting jobs reduces the likelihood of fake or fraudulent job posts being published.
- Maintain quality of platform: Inundating LinkedIn with spam and irrelevant content could degrade the overall user experience. The waiting period protects against this.
- Establish credibility: Genuine recruiters invest time in building up a LinkedIn presence. The 30 day period validates that new accounts seeking to post jobs are credible.
Essentially, LinkedIn decided the 30 day waiting period was necessary to protect the integrity of their platform and community. The costs of limiting some new legitimate accounts was outweighed by the benefits of reducing spam, fraud, abuse, and poor quality content.
How to Post a Job on LinkedIn After 30 Days
Once your LinkedIn account crosses the 30 day threshold, you’ll be cleared to start posting jobs. Here are the steps to post a job on LinkedIn after 30 days:
- Click on the “Jobs” tab and select “Post a job” – This will open the job posting page.
- Enter the job title, location, description, responsibilities etc.
- Select the job type (full-time, part-time, etc) and category that fits.
- Choose if you want to make the job anonymous or attributed to your company.
- Decide if you want to target the job to specific LinkedIn members.
- Select the job poster or paying account.
- Choose a LinkedIn job listing package (single job or bulk packs).
- Go through the posting confirmation and pay for the job ad.
- Preview and post the job on your LinkedIn page and company career page.
The process is very similar even if you are using LinkedIn Recruiter to post and manage jobs. One thing to note is that if you have multiple LinkedIn accounts, the 30 day rule applies independently to each account. Just because you have 1 old account doesn’t mean a new one bypasses the waiting period.
Tips to Prepare During the 30 Day Waiting Period
While you wait out those first 30 days, here are some ways to make the most of the time on LinkedIn:
- Flesh out your individual profile completely with job history, education, skills etc.
- Reach out and connect with potential candidates for upcoming job openings.
- Join relevant industry and interest groups to build connections.
- Follow and engage with companies you want to recruit from.
- Build your brand by sharing content and participating in discussions.
- Use search tools to identify and shortlist candidate profiles.
- Set up customized job alerts to engage passive candidates.
- Use LinkedIn’s analytics to gain insights on your target talent pools.
Essentially, leverage the 30 days to establish your presence on LinkedIn. This will pay off when you are finally able to start posting jobs and engaging candidates. The more primed your LinkedIn account is, the quicker you can tap into the platform’s recruiting power after day 30.
Alternative Options to Post Jobs Before 30 Days
While LinkedIn doesn’t make any exceptions to their 30 day policy, some alternatives can still help you post jobs sooner if you need to urgently hire:
- Use another existing company account: If your company already has an established LinkedIn account, use that to post jobs right away.
- Post on free job boards: Sites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Monster don’t have posting restrictions. You can use them to advertise jobs immediately.
- Leverage social media: Promote your employer brand and job openings on Facebook, Twitter etc. right away to attract candidates.
- Network directly: Tap into your personal and company networks to surface potential candidates through referrals and word-of-mouth.
- Post on your company site: Your own career site and job portal doesn’t have any waiting periods. Use it to advertise roles.
These supplementary options can help attract job seekers and candidates until your LinkedIn account crosses 30 days. However, LinkedIn should still be a big part of your recruiting strategy given its unmatched reach and candidate database.
Does LinkedIn Ever Waive the 30 Day Period?
Will LinkedIn ever make an exception and allow certain accounts to post before 30 days? Unfortunately, waiving the probation period is extremely rare if not almost non-existent nowadays. Some key points:
- In the past, some companies with existing LinkedIn relationships were able to get the waiting period waived through their LinkedIn account representative.
- However, this has changed and LinkedIn has become strict about applying the policy universally.
- Getting an exception approved requires escalation to LinkedIn’s trust and safety team.
- You have to demonstrate major extenuating circumstances like emergency response recruiting.
- Even long-time corporate accounts usually can’t get exemptions to the 30 day rule anymore.
So for all practical purposes, every LinkedIn account created after May 2018 will have to complete the 30 day waiting period before posting jobs. While it may seem unreasonable if you urgently want to hire, it’s the tradeoff for LinkedIn’s desire to maintain quality and prevent abuse.
Does the 30 Day Rule Apply When Upgrading Accounts?
What happens if you already have a free personal LinkedIn account and then upgrade to a Recruiter account? Will you still have to wait 30 days before posting jobs?
The answer is no – you can post jobs immediately after upgrading without waiting another 30 days. Here are some key points on how account upgrades work:
- If your individual account is >30 days old, you can upgrade and instantly post.
- Upgrading from free to premium individual accounts has no restrictions.
- Switching from personal to company Recruiter accounts also avoids further waiting.
- However, if you create a new Recruiter account, the 30 days applies even if you pay.
- So upgrading lets you bypass 30 days but new accounts don’t get that privilege.
Therefore, one way to expedite posting jobs on LinkedIn as a company is to have an individual employee first create a profile. After 30+ days, convert that to a Recruiter account tied to the company page. This avoids the 30 day waiting wall for new accounts.
Does LinkedIn Do Any ID Verification?
To further reduce spam and build trust, LinkedIn does have some ID verification steps before allowing certain actions like posting jobs.
- Phone number verification via SMS – For some new accounts, LinkedIn will prompt you to verify your phone number.
- Email verification – You need to click a verification link sent to your email to activate your account.
- Manual ID check – In some cases, LinkedIn may require you to submit ID documents to verify identity.
- Legal name policy – Accounts need to reflect your real personal or company name.
While these verifications generally happen during account creation, LinkedIn can also trigger identity checks later on if they suspect any suspicious activity. Failing any required ID checks can get accounts banned from posting jobs and other features.
Is the 30 Day Rule Enforced for All Countries?
LinkedIn operates in over 200 countries and territories globally. But does every country have to follow the 30 day waiting period rule? Here are some key notes on geographical variations:
- The 30 day policy is enforced universally for individual LinkedIn accounts in all locations.
- However, in some countries, company accounts may not face restrictions for posting jobs.
- For example, in India and Singapore, companies can post jobs right away in some cases.
- But for most major countries like the US, UK, Canada etc. corporate accounts also have to wait 30 days.
- Some locations may have different thresholds like 60 days instead of 30.
- But the policy applies broadly even if specific rules differ by country.
So regardless of where you are, you should assume the 30 day waiting period exists in most scenarios. While exceptions apply for a few specific countries and account types, they are not very common.
Does the 30 Day Policy Also Apply to LinkedIn Ads?
LinkedIn not only allows posting job listings, but also running job ads to increase visibility and engagement. Does the 30 day waiting period for jobs also extend to these Sponsored Job Ads?
The answer is no – LinkedIn Ads related to jobs can be launched right away without any 30 day waiting restrictions. This applies to features like:
- Sponsored Jobs – Pay to promote specific job postings.
- Job Slots – Buy guaranteed slots to advertise open roles.
- Recruiter Lite – Entry-level job ad packages.
The reason these job ads don’t have restrictions is because you aren’t actually posting full job descriptions. You are just promoting existing generic job content, so spam risks are lower. This makes job ads an effective workaround to market openings before you can natively post jobs after 30 days.
Closing Recommendations
Here are some final tips on navigating LinkedIn’s 30 day waiting period for posting jobs:
- Be patient and don’t try “hacking” ways to bypass the rule, which violate Terms of Service.
- Use the 30 days to establish your brand presence and make connections.
- Consider paid job ads as they don’t have 30 day limits.
- Maintain existing company accounts where possible to post quickly.
- Use other sites like Indeed and social media to supplement your reach.
- Plan and prepare listings in advance so you’re ready to post on day 31!
While the 30 day waiting period can be an obstacle, in the long run it helps LinkedIn reduce spam and maintain a trusted platform. Focus on using the time productively to build anticipation for your employer brand and job opportunities!