Is Revamping My LinkedIn Profile a Dead Giveaway that I Want to Change Jobs?
A client recently expressed concern that if he made meaningful changes to his LinkedIn profile, he might tip off his current employer that he's considering a move.
I'm not surprised that this thought crossed his mind. After all, going from a sparse LinkedIn profile to one that is fully fleshed out and contains many accomplishments and contributions to his firm and its clients is a valuable change.
There are a few things to keep in mind that should provide some comfort about taking this important step:
There's no need to be so self-conscious. It's easy to feel that others are overly focused on you when you are at a social function. What are you wearing? Have you worn it before? To whom are you talking? Will they notice you showed up a little late, etc? People tend to exaggerate the amount of attention others pay to them, especially about the little things. Relax! It's improbable that people are checking your profile daily to detect changes.
LinkedIn makes it easy to suppress broadcasts to your network that you've made changes to your profile. While there may be situations where you'd like to share news of a job change, you can easily turn off notifications about profile updates. Go to Account > Setting and Privacy > Visibility > Visibility of your LinkedIn activity > Share profile updates with your network and change this setting to "No". You can always turn it back on later.
Your LinkedIn profile is key to your visibility in the job market. LinkedIn is typically the first place where a recruiter or prospective employer will look to check you out. You owe it to yourself to have a polished, tight profile that includes the keywords that will make you findable by those searching for, say, a "machine learning" expert. Career opportunities hinge on your visibility and the clarity with which you convey your value proposition. To let concern about telegraphing your interest in improving your face to the world hold you back is doing yourself a disservice.
When modifying your LinkedIn profile, don't be reluctant to back up your achievements with hard numbers. For example, go ahead and say, "Beat sales quota by an average of 27% a year over the last five years" (if it's true!) It may feel boastful, but as the adage states, "if you've done it, it isn't bragging!"
Don't let little fears get in the way of fulfilling your career dreams. Be proud of your accomplishments and let your best self shine through!
I offer individualized career coaching and advising (remote and in-person) along with text, email, and phone support to help job seekers succeed. I've hired more than 100 people and interviewed over 500 candidates. I've worked at large global companies like Morgan Stanley and a company that is now part of Bank of America Private Bank and founded/worked at six startups. I welcome you to contact me and join my mailing list and receive my free guide, "Top 5 Young Adult Job Search Myths."