You're on the hunt for a new role... but you don't necessarily want to advertise that to your existing company.
It's easy to make changes to your profile without your connections being notified.
Understanding LinkedIn Profile Visibility
By default, most of your LinkedIn profile is public, meaning that anyone can view your name, headline, summary, experience, and education. However, you have control over which updates get shared with your network.
LinkedIn notifies your connections whenever you make changes to your profile, such as updating your headline, adding a new job position, or editing your education details.
These notifications can flood your connections' newsfeeds and potentially alert your current employer about your job search activities. To maintain privacy and discretion, you'll need to adjust your visibility settings.
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile Without Notifying Contacts
The first step in updating your LinkedIn profile without notifying contacts is to adjust your profile activity settings. Here's how:
Click on the "Me" icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
Select "Settings & Privacy" from the dropdown menu.
Click on the "Visibility" tab on the left-hand side.
Under "Visibility of your LinkedIn activity," click on "Share profile updates with your network."
Toggle the switch to "Off" to stop sharing your profile edits with your network.
By turning off this setting, your profile edits will no longer generate notifications for your connections, providing you with the privacy you need during your job search.
Maximising Privacy with LinkedIn Profile Settings
In addition to discreetly updating your profile, LinkedIn provides various privacy settings to further customise your profile's visibility.
Here are some settings to consider.
Controlling Who Can See Your Activity Feed
By default, your LinkedIn activity feed is visible to your connections. However, you can limit its visibility to yourself only. Here's how:
Go to your LinkedIn settings by clicking on the "Me" icon and selecting "Settings & Privacy."
Click on the "Privacy" tab.
Under "How others see your LinkedIn activity," click on "Visibility of your activity feed."
Select the option "Only You" to ensure your activity feed remains private.
By making this adjustment, you can browse LinkedIn without your connections seeing your engagements and updates.
Adjusting Search Visibility
LinkedIn allows you to control how your profile appears in search results. You can choose to make your profile more discoverable or limit its visibility to a select audience.
Here's how to adjust your search visibility settings:
Go to your LinkedIn settings and click on the "Privacy" tab.
Under "How others see your LinkedIn activity," click on "Edit your public profile."
Toggle the switch to control the visibility of your public profile.
You can choose to display your full profile, a limited profile, or hide your public profile entirely.
Customising your search visibility settings gives you greater control over who can find and view your profile.
Exploring Job-Seeking Preferences
If you're actively looking for new job opportunities, LinkedIn offers a "Job seeking preferences" feature. This allows you to discreetly signal to recruiters that you're open to new opportunities.
Here's how to access and utilise this feature:
Go to your LinkedIn settings and click on the "Privacy" tab.
Under "Job seeking preferences," click on "Let recruiters know you're open to work."
Turn on the toggle switch to indicate your openness to job opportunities.
You can specify your job preferences, such as job titles, locations, and more.
LinkedIn will discreetly notify recruiters about your job-seeking status while blocking visibility to recruiters at your current company
Optimising your LinkedIn profile is crucial for attracting recruiters, building your personal brand, and exploring new career opportunities.
By following the strategies outlined in this guide, you can discreetly update your profile without notifying contacts, ensuring privacy and control throughout your job search.