Don’t use the “Open to Work” badge on LinkedIn

A former Google and Amazon recruiter has advice for job seekers. Don’t use the “Easy to Work” badge on LinkedIn. The platform introduced this feature to help recruiters connect with potential candidates, but the feature may prevent job seekers from getting better opportunities or better pay. they said.

“That’s the biggest red flag” for job seekers, said Nolan Church, a former Google recruiter and current CEO of salary data company FairComp. CNBC Make It. “It’s a truism in recruiting that the best people aren’t looking for a job,” he said, adding that recruiters recognize that such people won’t advertise that they’re looking for a job. added.

Church, who worked at Google for about three years, told the magazine that a green “Available for Job” badge on a profile picture suggests a person is considering taking on any role.

“It actually feels like desperation for recruiters,” he said, adding that “recruiting is like dating” and “you have to make the other person feel exclusive.” he added. In a post about X, Church also called it “the worst social media feature ever put into production.”

Lindsay Mustaine, a former Amazon recruiter and current career coach, agreed with him, saying it’s all about power dynamics when it comes to recruiting.

Recruiters want you, not the other way around. With the “Open to Work” banner enabled on LinkedIn, “if you need something from me, that means I have authority in this conversation,” she says. , added that banners can be a nuisance.

Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato, expressed similar sentiments in a podcast last November, saying food delivery companies don’t hire people who are looking for work because they said that the candidates they want to hire are usually not unemployed.

“The type of workforce we hire is very different. Ideally, we don’t hire people who are looking for work, because the kind of people we need are not looking for work. Deepinder Goyal, who co-founded Zomato with Pankaj Chaddha in 2008, said: “We want good people. Then we work on them…at least from intermediate to senior level. Our recruitment process is very long.”

Zomato and its rival Swiggy are the country’s two major players in restaurant aggregation and food delivery services.