It’s no secret that we’re facing a challenging job market, but the good news is people want to help members of their community who are looking for work. According to a recent survey we conducted, 84% of people would be willing to help someone in their network who has lost their job due to COVID-19 find a new role.*
We’re seeing this on LinkedIn, too. Thousands of people are asking for help and their community is responding by offering advice and resources, making connections and sharing job listings. Earlier this year, we introduced an update to our #OpenToWork feature, making it easy for job seekers to indicate to the broader LinkedIn community of more than 722 million professionals that they are open to new opportunities through a simple LinkedIn profile photo frame.
I often get asked if being unemployed positions job seekers unfavorably compared to those currently in a role. Results in our data and feedback from hiring managers suggests it does not. In fact, when we surveyed hiring managers, nearly all (96%) said they would hire a candidate who was laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what our data and our latest survey reveal:
#OpenToWork Increases Your Likelihood of Hearing from a Recruiter
Our #OpenToWork feature gives job seekers the option to share their career preferences and indicate they are open to new opportunities, either privately to recruiters or to the broader LinkedIn community through a simple LinkedIn profile photo frame. Our data shows that turning on Open to Work on your LinkedIn profile increases your likelihood of getting a recruiter message by 2X. That means twice as many job opportunities.
When using the #OpenToWork feature, you can specify the types of jobs you’re interested in (job titles, remote location, start date and job type). This will also improve your job recommendations and turn on job alerts matching your preferences, enabling you to be one of the first to apply when a relevant job is posted. Applying early can increase your chances of hearing back by up to 4X. More than three million members have chosen to add a public #OpenToWork photo frame since launching in June, and our data show that they are, on average, 40% more likely to receive InMails from recruiters.
Tens of thousands of recruiters use LinkedIn Recruiter to find top talent every day, and have access to a powerful people search tool where they can use advanced filters and type in keywords to find the best candidate for open roles. As part of this process, recruiters can easily narrow down their search by filtering for candidates who are #OpenToWork that fits their search criteria.
#OpenToWork Connects You to People Who Can Help
If you choose to let the broader LinkedIn community know that you’re open to new jobs by adding an #OpenToWork photo frame to your profile photo, when someone sees your profile photo on LinkedIn (for example, when you post to your feed or show up in a search result), they’ll know you’re open to new opportunities and can connect you to open jobs they know of. Early results show that members who choose to add a public #OpenToWork photo frame are 20% more likely to receive messages from their community.
Here are a few examples of people successfully leveraging the feature:
Jefferson Negus told us: “Making my network, and those looking for talent, aware of my situation gives me the transparency to have great conversations without people wondering what’s up with me. Another, perhaps unintended, benefit of the #OpenToWork feature is the ability to lend support to others looking for work. It’s really helpful to have conversations with those sharing your experiences and be able to trade tips, contacts, and stories.”
Roslyn Wint told us: “I have been truly inspired by so many stories since using the #OpenToWork tool. With the help of LinkedIn and some great recruiters, it has connected me with an amazing opportunity I could never have imagined to have found, especially in the year 2020!”
Danielle Turner shared an #OpenToWork story on LinkedIn about her job search and asked her network for help connecting her to roles in the Underwriting field. A recruitment manager at One American Mortgage replied to Danielle’s post, and soon after, she secured a job as a Mortgage Underwriter with One American Mortgage.
Also, if you see an open job at a company where you know someone, consider asking them to refer you to the open role - almost 90% hiring managers surveyed said referrals are important when filling an open position.
Increase Your Chances Once You’ve Turned on #OpenToWork
Once you’ve turned on the Open to Work feature, here are few tips to increase your chances of getting discovered and contacted by a recruiter:
Spotlight your skills: 87% of recruiters consider skills to be a critical factor when it comes to vetting candidates. List both hard and soft skills on your LinkedIn profile that are applicable to the type of jobs you want for better chances of being discovered by recruiters. Try to map these skills to the job descriptions of the roles you’re interested in, so you’re using the same keywords recruiters would search for.
Highlight your experience: It helps if you use a standard job title and headline that recruiters would search for, or that you might see in relevant job postings. For example, instead of “Data Ninja,” consider “Data Analyst.” Recruiters also use keywords and filters to search for candidates, so writing two or three sentence bullets about your work experience on your profile will help you appear higher in recruiter search results. If you’re a student, have a gap on your resume, or are currently unemployed, you may not have recent experience to add to your LinkedIn profile. Think about adding other experiences like volunteering or internships as a way to highlight the skills you learned that can be transferable to other roles.
Respond to recruiter messages: If recruiters message you, accept their message or click “no thanks.” This signals that you’re an engaged job seeker and helps you rank higher in recruiters’ search results. This way, recruiters can discover you more easily and quickly.
We’re wishing you all the best with your job search!
PS: For more job seeking tips and resources, follow our Get Hired Newsletter and visit opportunity.linkedin.com.
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*Survey methodology: Censuswide conducted the survey for LinkedIn from October 7-20, 2020 among 2,000 survey respondents ages 18-74 across the U.S. who became unemployed within the last eight months, 2,000 working professionals, and 1,000+ hiring managers.