---
url: "https://taplio.com/blog/open-to-work"
title: "Open to Work on LinkedIn: what it means and how to use it"
description: "Open to Work on LinkedIn lets you control who sees your job search: recruiters, everyone, or no one. Here is what each setting shows and how to turn it on."
type: blog
h1: "Open to Work on LinkedIn: what it means and how to use it"
author: "Virgile Donadieu"
date_published: "Sep 17, 2026"
date_modified: "Sep 16, 2026"
lastmod: 2026-07-17
image: "https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/695b9ec3eda25c5e9d732e90/6aa7a8beeccb1d6563c2b3ff_6aa7a85dd4089533ae54e0bb_open-to-work-cover-v3.avif"
fetched_at: 2026-10-06T09:08:14.759Z
---

[Blog](https://taplio.com/blog)[Best LinkedIn Practices](https://taplio.com/blog)[Open to Work on LinkedIn: what it means and how to use it](https://taplio.com/blog/open-to-work)

# Open to Work on LinkedIn: what it means and how to use it

![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/695b9ec3eda25c5e9d732e90/6a16eebc91ce79a3d49b13a1_1762982557251.jpeg)

Virgile Donadieu

Lead Growth @Taplio

![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/695b9ec3eda25c5e9d732e90/6aa7a8beeccb1d6563c2b3ff_6aa7a85dd4089533ae54e0bb_open-to-work-cover-v3.avif)

## Key Takeaways

1.  **Adding Open to Work:** Open your LinkedIn profile, click the "Open to" button, select "Finding a new job", fill in job titles, locations, employment types and start date, then choose one of the 3 visibility levels and save, which takes under a minute.
2.  **The exact UI path:** On desktop go Me icon, View profile, "Open to", "Finding a new job", Save; on mobile tap your profile photo twice then the "Open to" button; the Jobs tab, Preferences, arrow next to "Open to work" opens the identical form.
3.  **The figure that decides:** Only 1 of the 3 visibility levels, "All LinkedIn Members", adds the green #OpenToWork ring to your photo, while "Recruiters only" and "Visible only to you" add no frame at all.
4.  **Check before saving:** Confirm the "I am currently working here" flag points at your real employer, select every employment type you would accept, update your headline and experience section, and, if searching in India, fill the notice period and expected salary fields that go to recruiters only.
5.  **Decision rule:** Choose "All LinkedIn Members" once you are between jobs or your search is public, "Recruiters only" while still employed, and "Visible only to you" to sharpen job recommendations without signaling anything.

Open to Work is a LinkedIn setting that tells recruiters, your whole network, or nobody at all that you are looking for a new job. You pick one of three visibility levels, and only the widest one adds the green #OpenToWork ring to your profile photo.

This guide covers what each level shows and to whom, how to turn the feature on in under a minute, whether it helps or hurts your search, and how to turn it off once you sign.

## What open to work means on LinkedIn

Open to Work is a job-search status you add to your LinkedIn profile. Once it is on, you state the job titles, locations, location types, employment types and start date you want, and LinkedIn uses those preferences to surface your profile when a recruiter searches for a matching candidate.

The feature lives in two places: the "Open to" button under your introduction card, and the Preferences panel in the Jobs tab. Both open the same form and save to the same status, so where you start makes no difference.

The "Open to" button offers more than one option, and "Finding a new job" is the one that creates the Open to Work status. The other choices on that menu cover hiring and offering services, so pick "Finding a new job" if you want recruiters to find you as a candidate.

Setting it does two things at once. It fills in structured preferences that LinkedIn uses in recruiter search and in your own job recommendations, and, depending on the visibility level you pick, it adds a public signal to your profile photo.

If you are searching in India, the form also asks for your notice period or availability to join and your expected annual salary. Those two fields go to recruiters only, whatever visibility level you choose for the rest of the status.

The status is different from a one-time announcement post. A post reaches whoever is scrolling the day you publish it, then sinks as newer posts push it down. The status is a standing, searchable field: a recruiter running a search a month from now still matches on your preferences, as long as the status is on.

Setting it does not apply you to any job. It changes how discoverable and how well recommended you are, nothing more, so you still search and apply to postings the same way you would without it.

## Who can see your open to work status

LinkedIn gives you three visibility levels, not the two most guides describe. Each one trades reach for privacy differently, and only the widest one changes how your profile photo looks.

| Visibility setting | Who sees it | Photo frame added | Pick it when |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| All LinkedIn Members | Your entire network, recruiters, and people at your current company | Yes, the green #OpenToWork ring | Your search is public, or you are between jobs already |
| Recruiters only | LinkedIn Recruiter users. LinkedIn tries to hide it from recruiters at your current employer but cannot guarantee complete privacy | No | You are searching discreetly while still employed |
| Visible only to you | Nobody. LinkedIn uses your preferences only to shape your own job recommendations | No | You want sharper job recommendations without signaling a search to anyone |

![Diagram of the three open to work visibility settings shown as nested audience rings, from all LinkedIn members down to visible only to you](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/695b9ec3eda25c5e9d732e90/6aa7a8beeccb1d6563c2b40f_6aa7a62c4c1cadceace0e6b0_open-to-work-v2-visibility-diagram-v2.avif)

The three visibility levels are nested, not separate switches: each one narrows who can see your status, and only the widest ring adds the photo frame.

"All LinkedIn Members" fits someone who has already left a role, or whose search is common knowledge, and who wants referrals from connections as much as inbound recruiter interest. "Recruiters only" fits someone still collecting a paycheck at a company where a public search would be awkward or risky. "Visible only to you" fits someone not applying yet who wants sharper job recommendations while they think it through.

"Recruiters only" is the level most people mean by a discreet search, and it is close to private but not guaranteed. It shows your status only to people using LinkedIn Recruiter, the paid hiring product, so a hiring manager browsing your profile without a Recruiter seat sees nothing. LinkedIn's help page states it takes steps to hide your status from Recruiter users at your current company, but it does not promise complete privacy.

The "current company" LinkedIn hides your status from is whichever employer you have marked as "I am currently working here" in your experience section. If that flag is out of date, or still points at a company you have left, the filter checks the wrong employer, so confirm your current role before you turn the status on and again after you change jobs.

"Visible only to you" is the level nobody talks about, because it shows nothing to anyone. Use it when you want better job recommendations in your own feed without telling LinkedIn's search index, your network or any recruiter that you are looking.

None of the three is a permanent choice. You can switch between them at any time from the same edit screen, without deleting and recreating the status.

## What the #OpenToWork frame looks like on your photo

The #OpenToWork frame is a green ring around your profile photo, with #OPENTOWORK written in white along the bottom of the ring. It appears only when your visibility is set to "All LinkedIn Members", and LinkedIn adds it the moment you save that setting.

![Anatomy of the OpenToWork green photo frame rendered on a LinkedIn profile photo at the native 400 by 400 pixel size, with callouts for the ring, the text band and the safe zone](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/695b9ec3eda25c5e9d732e90/6aa7a8beeccb1d6563c2b406_6aa7a85ed4089533ae54e18b_open-to-work-v3-frame-anatomy-v3.avif)

The ring replaces your photo border and the text band covers the bottom of the circle, so a photo framed tight on your face and shoulders keeps the most visible detail once the frame is added.

Because the ring and the band sit at the outer edge of the circle, a photo already cropped close to your face and shoulders loses little. A photo shot from further back, with more body or background in it, loses proportionally more under the ring.

Removing the frame does not touch your original photo file. Deleting the status, or switching visibility away from "All LinkedIn Members", removes the ring and leaves the underlying photo unchanged.

The frame has one fixed design. There is no color or style option, so every member who turns it on gets the same green ring and the same #OPENTOWORK text, which is why it reads as a recognizable signal in the feed and in search results.

The frame travels with your photo, not only your profile page. Anyone who sees your photo in the feed, in search results, in a comment thread or in a message list sees the green ring too, which is what makes "All LinkedIn Members" a network-wide announcement rather than a profile detail.

## How to turn on open to work on LinkedIn

Turn on Open to Work from the "Open to" button on your profile: the form is the same on desktop and mobile, both paths end at the same visibility choice, and the whole thing takes under a minute.

![Step flow diagram showing how to turn on open to work on LinkedIn desktop and mobile, ending at choose visibility and save](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/695b9ec3eda25c5e9d732e90/6aa7a8beeccb1d6563c2b40c_6aa7a62e6e8a0db991bfd876_open-to-work-v4-settings-path-v2.avif)

Both the desktop and mobile paths land on the same final step: choose your visibility level, then save.

On desktop, click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage, then View profile. Click the "Open to" button and select "Finding a new job". Fill in your job titles, locations, employment type and start date, choose your visibility level, then click Save.

On mobile, tap your profile photo, then tap it again to open your full profile. Tap the "Open to" button in your introduction card, select "Finding a new job", fill in the same fields, then tap Save.

The three visibility options are identical on mobile and desktop, and a status created on one device shows up on the other immediately, because it is stored on your profile rather than in the app.

The Jobs tab is a second route to the same form: open Preferences, then the arrow next to "Open to work", and fill in the same settings. Some accounts see the option labeled "Choose what you need in your next job" instead of "Open to Opportunities": it is the same feature under a different label.

The form asks for job titles, locations, location types, employment types and a start date, plus the visibility level. Fill every field deliberately: if you would take contract or part-time work alongside a full-time search, select every employment type that applies, because listing only "full-time" narrows the searches your profile can match, whatever visibility level you pick.

Editing the status later does not mean starting over. Open the same "Open to" box on your profile, click the Edit icon, update whichever field changed, and save. Your visibility choice carries over unless you change it.

If the "Open to" button is not where you expect it on your profile, the Jobs tab path is the fallback: it opens the identical form from a different starting point.

## Should you turn on open to work

Turn it on if you are actively searching, and choose the visibility level by how much your current employer is allowed to know: "All LinkedIn Members" once the search is public, "Recruiters only" while it is not.

![Split panel diagram comparing what turning on open to work buys you against what it costs you](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/695b9ec3eda25c5e9d732e90/6aa7a8beeccb1d6563c2b409_6aa7a62fd3c3e4d661f31732_open-to-work-v5-pros-cons-v2.avif)

Recruiter search visibility and structured job preferences are the upside. No guaranteed privacy from your current employer and an automatic removal if you stop replying to recruiters are the trade-offs.

"All LinkedIn Members" makes the most sense once you are between jobs, or once your search is not a secret at work. The public frame signals your availability to your whole network at once, which turns connections into referrals.

"Recruiters only" is the better fit while you are still employed and want to stay findable to LinkedIn Recruiter users without a visible change to your profile. Pick it if a public status would put your current role at risk before you are ready to leave.

LinkedIn does not leave the status running unattended either. If it notices you have stopped responding to InMails from recruiters, it emails you to confirm you are still searching, and without a reply it removes the #OpenToWork feature until you turn it back on yourself.

Whether a visible badge helps or hurts is a live debate among job seekers and recruiters: some hiring managers read a public frame as a red flag, others treat it as the normal way to get found. No published LinkedIn statistic settles it, so treat it as a judgment call based on your industry and how public you want the search to be.

A common middle path is to start on "Recruiters only" while still employed, then switch to "All LinkedIn Members" once the search becomes public anyway, for example after giving notice. That sequencing keeps the discreet phase private without giving up the wider reach once discretion no longer matters.

Before you switch to "All LinkedIn Members", check that your experience section is current and your headline says what you want next. The frame sends people to your profile, and the profile does the persuading.

Industry norms shift the calculation too. In fields where public job hunting is routine, like sales, marketing or recruiting itself, a visible badge is unremarkable. In smaller, tighter networks where a search is likely to reach your current manager directly, going public deserves more caution.

Whichever level you pick, the setting only controls who sees the badge and the preferences behind it. It does not change how your profile ranks in unrelated searches, and it does not replace the rest of your profile as the thing a recruiter reads once they find you.

## How to turn off open to work on LinkedIn

Removing the status is as fast as adding it: open your profile, click the Edit icon on the Open to Work box, then click Delete. The frame disappears, and your previous preferences are not saved if you turn the feature back on later.

If you only want to pause rather than quit, switch the visibility to "Visible only to you" instead of deleting. Nobody sees the status, your job titles, locations and start date stay saved, and you can widen visibility again in one edit when the search resumes.

For the full desktop and mobile walkthrough, see [how to remove Open to Work on LinkedIn](https://taplio.com/blog/remove-open-to-work-linkedin).

## Other ways to show recruiters you are job searching

Open to Work is one signal among several. A complete [optimized LinkedIn profile](https://taplio.com/linkedin-profile-optimization) does more of the work than the status alone, because it is what a recruiter reads once your profile shows up in a search.

Your headline is the first thing a recruiter sees next to your name in search results, before they open your profile. A headline built around the role and skills you want, rather than your current job title alone, moves you into more of the searches that matter. This [LinkedIn headline guide](https://taplio.com/blog/linkedin-headline-examples) breaks down what a job-seeker headline should include.

Your skills section feeds recruiter search too. Recruiters filter candidates by the skills listed on a profile, so list the skills that match the roles you set in your Open to Work preferences, not only the ones from your current job. A mismatch between the two surfaces your profile for the wrong searches.

Posting about your search is a separate lever from the profile setting. A short, specific post naming the roles, industries and skills you are targeting reaches your existing network directly, instead of waiting for a recruiter to search and find you. See [how to write an open to work post on LinkedIn](https://taplio.com/blog/open-to-work-linkedin) for the structure that works.

Recommendations add social proof a status setting cannot provide. A recruiter reading two similar profiles is more likely to reach out to the one with recent, specific recommendations from former managers or colleagues. This guide to [LinkedIn recommendations](https://taplio.com/blog/linkedin-recommendations) covers how to ask for one and what makes it worth reading.

Staying active matters as much as any setting. A profile that has not posted, commented or updated its experience section in a year reads as dormant even with Open to Work on. Regular posts and comments keep you visible in feeds beyond search results, and give a recruiter evidence that you are engaged in your field right now, not only listed as available.

None of these replace each other. The status feeds recruiter search, the headline and profile convert the click, recommendations back up what your profile claims, and a post reaches people who are not searching for candidates at all.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is open to work on LinkedIn?

Open to work is a LinkedIn profile setting that tells recruiters, your network, or nobody that you are looking for a new job. It stores your target job titles, locations, employment type and start date, and depending on the visibility level you choose, it can add a green photo frame to your profile. It sits alongside your profile rather than replacing any part of it, so a recruiter still reads your headline, experience and recommendations once they find you.

### Is it a good idea to say "open to work" on LinkedIn?

It depends on your situation. If you are unemployed or your search is not a secret from your current employer, the public "All LinkedIn Members" setting extends your reach to your whole network, and lets connections refer you directly. If you need to stay discreet, "Recruiters only" keeps the status mostly private, though LinkedIn does not guarantee complete privacy from your current company, so weigh that risk against how urgently you want recruiter reach.

### Is open to work a red flag?

There is no published LinkedIn data showing the status hurts candidates, but the debate is real among recruiters and job seekers. Some hiring managers see a public badge as a normal part of a modern job search, others read it more cautiously and weigh it alongside the rest of the profile. Choosing "Recruiters only" or "Visible only to you" avoids the question entirely by keeping the public frame off your profile while still feeding recruiter search or your own recommendations.

### Is it better to keep open to work on or off?

Keep it on, with the visibility level that matches your situation, for as long as you are actively searching, and delete it once you accept an offer. LinkedIn removes the status itself if you stop answering recruiter InMails, but deleting it the day you sign keeps your profile accurate for anyone still browsing it. If you expect to search again soon, switching to "Visible only to you" keeps your preferences saved while hiding the status from everyone.