LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 810 million members globally. As a recruiting and job hunting platform, LinkedIn allows members to view and apply to millions of jobs posted by companies. One useful feature for job seekers on LinkedIn is the ability to set job preferences that tailor job recommendations to your interests and experience.
But who exactly can see your configured job preferences on LinkedIn? Understanding the visibility settings around this feature can help job seekers use it more effectively.
What are LinkedIn job preferences?
LinkedIn job preferences allow you to specify details about the types of jobs you’re interested in. This helps LinkedIn’s algorithm provide better job recommendations tailored specifically to you when you browse open positions.
Some of the job preferences you can set include:
- Job titles
- Companies
- Locations
- Job types (full-time, part-time, etc.)
- Desired salary
Setting detailed job preferences makes your LinkedIn job search more efficient. Instead of sifting through irrelevant opportunities, you can focus on jobs that closely match your professional goals.
Who can see your job preferences on LinkedIn?
By default, the job preferences configured in your LinkedIn account are visible only to you. They are not public and cannot be viewed by others on LinkedIn.
The only exception is if you choose to let recruiters view your job preferences. LinkedIn gives you the option to toggle on “Let recruiters know I’m open to job opportunities.” Enabling this makes your preferences viewable to recruiters so they can reach out about relevant openings.
Here is a summary of who can see your LinkedIn job preferences:
User Type | Can View Your Job Preferences? |
---|---|
You (yourself) | Yes |
Your LinkedIn connections | No |
General LinkedIn members | No |
LinkedIn recruiters (if enabled) | Yes |
So in most cases, the job preferences you configure within your LinkedIn account are fully private and accessible only to you when browsing and applying for opportunities.
How to control visibility of job preferences
As mentioned above, the main setting that controls the visibility of your LinkedIn job preferences is “Let recruiters know I’m open to job opportunities.” Here are some pointers on managing this setting:
- By default, this setting is disabled, so no one else can view your preferences.
- You can enable it in the Jobs section of your account settings. This makes your preferences viewable to any recruiter.
- Once enabled, recruiters will see a notice that you are open to opportunities relevant to your preferences.
- You can disable it at any time to again hide preferences from recruiters.
Beyond recruiters, no other LinkedIn members like connections or hiring managers can see your configured job preferences. They remain fully private.
A few other tips on managing the visibility of job preferences:
- Double check your settings anytime you update your preferences.
- Disable recruiter visibility if you are employed and not interested in opportunities.
- Consider enabling recruiter visibility when actively job hunting to surface relevant openings.
Pros and cons of letting recruiters view preferences
Are there any downsides to enabling recruiter visibility for your LinkedIn job preferences? Here are some potential pros and cons:
Pros
- Recruiters can reach out about jobs that closely match your interests.
- More relevant job opportunities sent directly to you.
- Passive way to explore openings while employed.
- Get head start connecting with recruiters before active job search.
Cons
- Potentially more recruiter messages to manage.
- Current employer may be notified you are passively looking.
- Have to remember to disable when no longer interested.
- Recruiters may reach out about jobs that still don’t match preferences.
Overall, the pros seem to outweigh the cons in most cases. Just be mindful of any potential downsides.
Best practices for managing job preferences
Here are some best practices as you configure and manage your LinkedIn job preferences:
- Set detailed preferences around job titles, skills, locations to attract opportunities that closely match.
- Disable recruiter visibility if happy in current role to avoid unnecessary messages.
- When exploring new roles, enable recruiter visibility to get relevant openings.
- Review preferences regularly and update as your career interests evolve.
- Use anonymous browsing if concerned current employer will be notified.
Frequently asked questions
Can my connections see my job preferences?
No, your configured job preferences are not visible to your LinkedIn connections or any other members beyond recruiters (if enabled). They are private to just you.
What if I’m just passively looking while employed?
You can browse jobs anonymously if concerned your current employer may be notified. You can also disable recruiter visibility on your preferences to avoid attention.
Do I have to let recruiters view my preferences?
No, it is completely optional. You can benefit from tailored job recommendations without enabling recruiter visibility.
Can I select which recruiters see my preferences?
No, it is all or nothing. You can’t select specific recruiters to show preferences to.
Conclusion
To summarize, the job preferences configured in your LinkedIn account are by default visible only to you. The only exception is optionally allowing recruiters to view them as well by toggling the appropriate setting.
Job preferences are a useful feature for tailoring opportunities to your goals. Understanding the visibility settings allows you to use them most effectively while job hunting.