Linkedin Question

[NastyWoman]

A friend of mine wants to look for another job and he asked me whether linkedin offers an option where you can block certain people from seeing his profile on linkedin. Specifically, he does not want the people at his current company to know that he is looking. 
I have no experience with this but I hope the YM gang may have some hints/tips.  TYIA

[andi9899]

If that is an option, I don't know how to do it. I don't believe it is. If so, someone let me know. This girl I have a beef with keeps looking at my LinkedIn profile. Just because he has a LinkedIn profile doesn't mean he's looking for a job.

[Rob Base 2.0]

I know u can block people like u can on FB.

[Deleted]

I agree with andi- just because you have a profile on LinkedIn doesn't mean you're looking.  I suppose it means he MAY be interested in other opportunities but he shouldn't let that hold him back.  I've reconnected with former coworkers and people I went to college with, as well as a lot of relatives.  It's just another way to stay connected.  There are occasionally good business-related articles, too.

Anyone can view his profile but he has to accept invitations to connect.  It WILL be hard for him to hide the fact that he's on LinkedIn, though.  LinkedIn will suggest connections to people and some of the ones I've gotten indicate that they mine my Gmail account (they suggested two people I worked with when I planned DS' wedding rehearsal dinner and we'd e-mailed back and forth) and once they suggested a guy I had a one-nighter with when I was in college in the early 1970s.   If you work at Company X, they'll suggest others from Company X (which means if his boss is on LinkedIn, boss may get a suggestion to connect to your friend).  He should NOT let them use his e-mail list to find connections- if you consent to this I believe it takes your entire e-mail address book and sends invitations to connect to everyone on it.

I think he should be prepared with an explanation ("Hey, this is the 21st century and this is what people in business do to stay connected in the 21st century") but put up a full profile and see what happens.  A friend who runs a small CPA firm said he's gotten many good hires from LinkedIn.

[andi9899]

And if you have the app, it will go through your contacts and suggest people.

[NastyWoman]

Thank you for your responses. I'll pass it along

[chiver78]

when I was looking last time, the website said that job searching activity would not be visible to anyone but yourself.

andi, one former boss keeps looking at mine periodically too. I wish he would just go away. how do we block?

[Deleted]

Mar 29, 2017 10:44:54 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

when I was looking last time, the website said that job searching activity would not be visible to anyone but yourself.

That's an important distinction. The boss may find out you have a profile on LinkedIn, but let's say someone from another company contacts you via LinkedIn because they think you'd be good for one of their open positions. Messages you and that person send back and forth on LinkedIn are NOT public.  I'd feel pretty secure about that since the vast majority of job-seekers want their interest in other positions to be kept confidential. It's in LinkedIn's best interests to keep it that way if they want a large pool of good candidates to seek jobs through their site.

[alabamagal]

You can block them if you like, but then they may ask why....

The best thing to do is just fill in your profile. Don't say "I'm looking for a new job", but put your basic resume info there. I got my current job through a recruiter on linked in. I get frequent recruiter contacts. But I also use to connect with a lot of former colleagues and current business associates.  Just because you have a profile doesn't mean you are looking for a job.