Should You Turn On "Open to Work" on LinkedIn? Weighing the Public Banner Against Staying Private

Just like a local shop, people are only going to visit your profile if they know you are "Open" to work

A lot of times when skimming through a page, our eyes tend to focus on colors and images quickly, as opposed to the written content that will take time to get through. So if you are like me, you may go on to your LinkedIn feed and see people’s posts and profile pictures before noticing the name or content. You see the green ring around their profile picture before you see anything else.

That green ring is becoming ever more common to see on my feed. It’s usually accompanied by a detailed explanation of how the person has been affected by a corporate restructure and is reaching out to their network for assistance in finding a new role.

That green ring on their profile picture is the “Open to Work” banner feature in LinkedIn, the feature that announces to the world that the worst has happened to you and that you are seeking help to get back on track.

If you’ve been laid off, you’ve probably gotten conflicting advice about LinkedIn’s green “Open to Work” banner. Some recruiters say it makes you look desperate. Others say it’s the single fastest way to get noticed. Both sides have a point, and the right answer depends on your situation, not on a one-size-fits-all rule.

Here’s what most people don’t realize: “Open to Work” isn’t one setting. It’s two separate options, and they behave very differently. You can make your status visible to everyone on LinkedIn with the public green photo frame, or you can keep it visible only to recruiters using LinkedIn’s Recruiter tool (often called “recruiters only” or “Private” mode). Understanding the difference is the first step to deciding which one (if either) is right for you.

Option 1: The Public “Open to Work” Banner

This is the green ring that wraps around your profile photo, visible to anyone who looks you up, including your network, former coworkers, and recruiters at every company (your current employer included, if you have one listed).

Personally, I think this is the option if you are a “super user” of LinkedIn. If you are posting relevant articles pertaining to your field of work, have a large network of both former clients and coworkers you interact with, or have posts that show lots of emotional resilience and positivity, then the “Open to Work” banner works in your favor.

If you are still on the fence, here are some pros and cons:

Pros

•        It significantly increases recruiter outreach. LinkedIn’s own data shows members with the public frame are considerably more likely to receive InMail messages than those without it.

•        It widens your reach beyond recruiters. Your first-degree connections can see it too, which means former colleagues, friends, and acquaintances might think of you when they hear about an opening (something a private setting can’t do).

•        There’s no real stigma attached to a layoff right now. Given how many rounds of layoffs have hit tech, finance, and media in recent years, recruiters generally understand that a banner doesn’t mean something went wrong with you personally.

•        It’s especially useful for new grads or entry-level candidates who need all the visibility they can get, since they’re less likely to show up in recruiter searches otherwise.

Cons

•        Some hiring managers do still view it negatively (to which I say, I hope karma doesn’t come for you in the form of your own layoff). Survey data on the topic shows a meaningful minority of hiring managers see the badge unfavorably, even if most don’t.

•        If you’re still employed (consulting, freelancing, or quietly job hunting on the side), the public banner broadcasts your search to your current employer, your manager, and anyone else in your network, which can create an awkward conversation you’d rather avoid.

•        It can read as a volume play rather than a targeted search, especially for senior or executive roles, where a more selective, relationship-driven approach tends to perform better.

•        The badge alone won’t do the work for you. Without an optimized profile, clear keywords, and an active presence, it can sit there generating views that never turn into interviews.

Option 2: The Private “Recruiters Only” Setting

This setting feeds the same “open to new opportunities” flag into LinkedIn Recruiter’s search filters, but there’s no visible banner. Only people using LinkedIn Recruiter can see it, and LinkedIn takes steps (though not a guarantee) to hide your status from recruiters at your current company.

This is the option that I used when I was job searching but didn’t want my current coworkers to find out that I was looking (and even if they had, with how things were going at the company, I think they would have understood why I was looking).

This is a great option if you aren’t wanting to blast the news of your layoff to your entire network, but do want recruiters and hiring managers to see that you are looking for work.

Pros

•        You still get most of the recruiter-facing benefit. Both modes feed the same recruiter search filter, so you’re surfaced in searches either way, just without the public display.

•        It protects you from an uncomfortable situation with a current employer, manager, or coworkers, since there’s no green badge for them to notice.

•        It avoids any chance of a hiring manager forming a negative first impression based on the badge alone, since they won’t see it before they’ve already reviewed your profile.

•        It’s generally the safer default if you’re not sure which way to go (you can always switch to the public banner later if you’re not getting enough traction).

Cons

•        You lose the visibility boost from your own network. Former colleagues and connections won’t know to think of you when they hear about openings, since they can’t see the status.

•        “Not 100% private” means exactly that. LinkedIn relies on the employer field in your profile to filter out your company’s recruiters, and it doesn’t catch third-party agency recruiters who still have ties to your employer.

•        It can feel like a smaller signal boost overall, since you’re relying entirely on recruiters proactively searching rather than on the added discoverability the public badge provides.

This is the option if you don't want word to get out to the "wrong" people.

Option 3: Not Using “Open to Work” at All

It’s easy to forget this is even an option, but you don’t have to turn on either setting. You can leave both off and rely on your profile, your network, and direct outreach to do the work instead.

I believe that many take this option so as not to feel the “embarrassment” of others knowing that you were laid off. Honestly, since there is the private option to not notify your entire network, I don’t think there’s ever a good reason not to turn it on. There is little harm, once you are looking for work, in notifying recruiters that you are looking (and no matter what LinkedIn influencers are writing, LinkedIn’s primary function was supposed to be about finding work, not your thought piece on how hard of a worker you are).

If you are still on the fence, take a look at the pros and cons below:

Pros

•        There’s zero risk of anyone, recruiters or hiring managers, forming a negative impression based on a banner, since there’s nothing for them to see.

•        It keeps full control over your narrative. You decide exactly who hears about your search and when (for example, reaching out to specific contacts directly), instead of leaving it to a setting.

•        It works well if you already have a strong network, a recruiter relationship, or a referral pipeline, where the LinkedIn search filter isn’t doing much of the work for you anyway.

•        It avoids any chance of LinkedIn surfacing a feed notification (such as “[Name] is open to work”) to your connections, which can occasionally happen even with the private setting.

Cons

•        You miss out on a meaningful chunk of recruiter outreach. Both Open to Work settings feed the “open to new opportunities” filter recruiters actively search, and without it, you’re invisible to that filter entirely.

•        It puts more pressure on you to be proactive. Without the algorithm working in the background, your search depends almost entirely on applications, outreach, and networking you initiate yourself.

•        For new grads or entry-level candidates especially, skipping the feature can mean missing out on visibility that’s hard to make up for through networking alone, since you likely have a smaller professional network to lean on.

•        If you’re recently laid off, leaving the setting off can sometimes work against you, since recruiters searching specifically for available, ready-to-start candidates won’t find you through that filter.

How To Turn On and Off "Open to Work" Banner in LinkedIn

If you are ready to take the plunge, turning on the option is easy.

Go into your profile on LinkedIn and navigate to the "Open to" section of the profile and "Finding a new job"

Fill out the information about what type of jobs you are open to, and then at the bottom the option for the "Public" or "Recruiters Only" will be available for selection.

If you want to turn it off for any reason, right below the "Open to" button there will now be an "Open to Work" box underneath. If you click the pencil icon, you will be able to edit and remove this setting by clicking "Delete" in the bottom left.

So, Which One Should You Choose?

A simple way to think about it: if you’re currently unemployed (as many readers here are after a layoff), the public banner is usually worth turning on. There’s little to lose, and the added visibility from your network and from casual browsers (not just recruiters) can genuinely speed up your search. If you’re employed and job hunting quietly, or you’re going for a senior or executive role where a targeted approach matters more than volume, the private “recruiters only” setting is usually the smarter move. Skipping the feature entirely only makes sense if you already have a strong referral network or recruiter relationships doing the heavy lifting, and you’d rather control the narrative yourself than rely on an algorithm.

Some people split the difference: they start with the private setting while they quietly prepare their search, optimize their profile, and gather references, then switch to the public banner once they’re actively applying and want maximum visibility. That phased approach (private while you prepare, public once you’re ready) can give you the best of both options. This was my personal choice of path, although I did not need to turn on the public option, as I was able to find a new job, using the private setting, before the layoffs hit my team.

Whichever setting you choose, remember that the banner (public or private) is a signal, not a strategy. It works best alongside a complete, keyword-rich profile, an updated resume, and active outreach. The setting alone won’t land you a job, but paired with the rest of your search, it can meaningfully shorten the time it takes to find one.