Promoting your job search discreetly and effectively on LinkedIn
By Ken Pelczarski, Contributing Editor | TLT Career Coach March 2025
Follow these different scenarios to successfully create or update your profile.
LinkedIn is a valuable social media website for professionals where you can greatly enhance your job search through open or subtle means. There are countless ways to create your profile and communicate with other professionals on LinkedIn. How you construct your profile will largely depend upon the goals you want to accomplish. Your goals may be any or all the following:
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Increase your industry visibility.
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Stay connected with professionals in your field.
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Provide updates on your job status.
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Share recent accomplishments or awards.
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Promote an active or passive job search.
Your LinkedIn profile can be created by including your complete work history, detailed job responsibilities, volunteer roles, hobbies, awards, career aspirations and your contact information. On the other hand, you may choose to provide only limited information and stay “under the radar.”
If you are conducting an active or passive job search, it will likely fall into one of the following two categories:
1)
It is a highly confidential situation in which you do not want your employer to be suspicious of your intentions to leave the company.
2)
You believe there would be no serious ramifications if your current employer became aware of your job search. Perhaps you have little or no concern because of one or more of the following:
a)
You have already spoken with your boss about your dissatisfaction.
b)
Your employer fully realizes that you are being underutilized.
c)
You are in a “temporary” position.
d)
You do not care if your employer learns about your job search.
e)
You are unemployed.
f)
You plan to turn in your departure notice shortly.
In this article, we will discuss each of the two above scenarios as it relates to constructing your profile and communicating with other professionals on LinkedIn.
Promoting your job search on LinkedIn discreetly:
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Work experience/resume. It is widely accepted in the industry for individual professionals to post information from a resume on their LinkedIn profile. There should be little or no negative consequences from your current employer by doing so. It is advisable to be brief and post only select highlights from your resume. Be sure to say enough, though, to stimulate interest from prospective employers and recruiters in your field.
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Career summary. Your career summary statement will usually be posted above your work experience on your profile. This is the place to describe briefly what you have done in your career by using key buzzwords about your skill set that are most relevant to your career goals.
If you desire total confidentiality in your job search, it will be difficult to outwardly state that you are searching for a new position. However, your career summary is an excellent place to make one or more subtle statements that convey enough to encourage professionals in your field to contact you about job opportunities.
Here are some examples of statements that are subtle enough to avoid drawing suspicion from your current employer:
a)
I am always looking for ways to improve myself.
b)
I am passionate about my work and am always looking for ways to advance my career.
c)
I would like to continue along my established career path and advance in responsibilities in the same type of work.
d)
I love my current job but always like to learn what is going on in my field and the job market.
e)
I enjoy networking and exchanging important information with other professionals in my field.
f)
I place high value on helping other industry professionals and would be happy to provide referrals for job opportunities.
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Connecting with other professionals. Encourage others to connect with you. Target those in your field with whom you can exchange information for mutual benefit. Send invitations to connect with these industry professionals and be quick to accept such invitations. You can then consider having a confidential dialogue about your job search with some of these connections.
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“Open to work” feature. If you utilize this feature on LinkedIn, it will convey firmly that you are open to new job opportunities. Avoid using this feature if your job search is confidential.
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Contact information. If you are job searching, consider making it convenient for prospective employers and recruiters to reach you. Be prepared to potentially receive a large volume of phone calls if you list your phone number. It may be best to list your personal email address and not your phone number.
Promoting your job search on LinkedIn effectively in a non-confidential scenario:
• Work experience/resume: I would advise that you post a condensed version of your resume on your LinkedIn profile that focuses on the last 10-15 years of your career. If you are trying to be aggressive in your job search, I recommend that you post a link to your full resume as well.
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Career summary. Describe briefly your skill set including how it relates to your career goals and a possible job change.
This is an excellent place to outwardly state that you are searching for a new position. You may also want to encourage professionals in your field to contact you about job opportunities.
You will be able to make stronger statements about being open to new career opportunities than if your job search was highly confidential. Here are some examples:
a)
I am looking to increase my leadership responsibilities in the short term.
b)
I am excited to consider new job opportunities for the next chapter of my career.
c)
I am passionate about my work and am looking to advance my career with a new employer.
d)
I am open to learning about new career opportunities.
e)
I enjoy networking and am interested in discussing the current job market with professionals in my field.
f)
I love my current job but am happy to discuss attractive new opportunities.
g)
I am always interested in hearing how I can expand upon my skill set.
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Connecting with other professionals. Networking is the most common way to find a new job opportunity, so be sure to make the most of both new and existing contacts. Reach out to established contacts to let them know you are looking for a new opportunity and mention what kinds of positions you are targeting. Send invitations to connect on LinkedIn with other industry professionals, especially those with whom you have mutual connections. Schedule networking conversations with contacts you think could be helpful and offer to reciprocate in any way you can.
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“Open to work” feature. You may want to consider utilizing this feature on LinkedIn because it will get the word out that you are open to new job opportunities. You will likely hear from many prospective employers and recruiters, both legitimate and spam, so be prepared to manage a large volume of contacts.
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Contact information. If you are job searching, I recommend that you list your personal email address to make it easier for people to reach you. You may want to list your phone number as well if you are prepared to manage a large volume of calls.
Items to promote on your LinkedIn profile in the same manner whether your job search is confidential or not:
• Accomplishments. List your proudest accomplishments from the past 10-15 years of your career. Be sure to emphasize accomplishments that have potential benefit to the types of employers you are targeting in your job search.
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Formal education. List your undergraduate and graduate formal education including schools attended, major areas of study and degrees obtained. Consider omitting dates of degrees that were at least 20 years ago.
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Seminars and webinars. List seminars and webinars, especially from the last few years, that are highly relevant to your career.
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Professional certifications. List certifications such as STLE Certified Lubrication Specialist™ (CLS), STLE Certified Oil Monitoring Analyst I and II™ (OMA I and II), STLE Certified Metalworking Fluids Specialist™ (CMFS), NLGI Certified Lubricating Grease Specialist (CLGS) and Machinery Lubrication Technician (MLT) that tend to be valued by most employers.
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Publications, presentations and patents. Your LinkedIn profile is not the venue to offer details in this area, although you can certainly mention the numbers of each of these.
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Awards. Awards display a history of achievement. List awards, especially from the past 10-15 years, that are most relevant to your career goals.
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Volunteer activities. To keep your LinkedIn profile at a reasonable length, list only volunteer leadership roles and the corresponding organizations.
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Military record. You may want to include your military record, especially if it is recent and/or involves technical training or leadership experience relevant to your career goals.
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Recommendations from colleagues and past employers. Whether you are searching actively for a new position or are 100% satisfied with your current job, it is a good idea to consistently request and post recommendations from industry professionals whom you know well. Be sure to offer recommendations to others as well.
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Upcoming meetings and conferences. To promote networking with both new and existing contacts, list upcoming meetings and conferences you will be attending, including those at which you will be presenting.
In addition to optimizing your LinkedIn profile, I recommend that you initiate and participate in LinkedIn group discussions such as with STLE group members. This practice will result in the expansion of your network, and your comments and input will be a testament to your experience and knowledge.
Whether you are looking for a new career opportunity actively or not, I recommend that you keep your LinkedIn profile updated and stay visible in your field by consistently promoting your experience, skill set, interests, career goals and job status.
Ken Pelczarski is owner and founder of Pelichem Associates, a Chicago-based search firm established in 1985 and specializing in the lubricants industry. You can reach Ken at (630) 960-1940 or at pelichem@aol.com.