5 Tips To Announce You're "Open to Work" on LinkedIn[Examples]

Being the largest professional social network makes LinkedIn a powerful platform if you’re looking for new job opportunities.

However, crafting an effective "Open to Work" announcement on LinkedIn is not just about signaling change -  it's about showcasing your skills, experience, and aspirations in a way that resonates with potential recruiters.

If you’re unsure where to start or what elements to include, hear us out as we share 5 practical tips on how to announce you’re "Open to Work" on LinkedIn.

Let’s dive in!

How to Announce You’re "Open to Work" on LinkedIn: 14 Effective Tips To Try Today

1. Use “Open to Work” Frame

A green “Open To Work “ banner surrounding your profile photo is a clear sign you’re looking for a job.

It allows you to:

• specify the types of opportunities you're interested in,
• indicate your preferred job titles,
• locations, and whether you're open to remote work.

Depending on your LinkedIn account type, you can set it in two ways:

• “Open to Work”  for All LinkedIn Members (with the Photo Frame).
• “Open to Work” for Recruiters Only (without the Photo Frame).

The latter option means only people using a LinkedIn recruiter account can see your job-seeking preferences.

Recruiter accounts are premium accounts that people or companies use to search, find, and contact potential hires.

Naturally, just putting an “Open to Work” frame isn’t enough to land you a job, but it is an excellent start.

Let’s see what other elements you should pay attention to.

2. Improve Your LinkedIn profile

Even if you aren’t actively looking for a job, keeping your LinkedIn profile in check is good because you can update and change information that is no longer relevant.

Furthermore,  regular updates signal to your network that you are actively managing your profile and staying engaged.

2.1. Update Your Profile Photo

Update or change your profile photo if necessary, and ensure it is professional with a solid color background. Avoid blurry or group photos.

2.2. Create a Cover Photo Or a Banner

It's the first thing people see when they visit your profile, so use this opportunity to do some personal branding.

For example, you can:

• Showcase aspects of your professional life, such as your industry, interests, etc.

• Highlight significant achievements, milestones, or events in your professional life.

• Tell a story about your career journey, interests, or goals.

• Set the mood for how visitors perceive your professional persona.

2.3. Update Your Profile Summary

Highlight your skills, experience, and what you're looking for in your next role to make it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to identify your strengths quickly.

2.4. Customize your LinkedIn URL

If you haven't already, consider customizing your LinkedIn URL to make it easier for people to find you.

By doing so, you’re turning it into a direct link to your profile, making it more memorable and professional.

Regularly using your custom LinkedIn URL in your professional communication helps create a cohesive online presence and makes it easier for others to connect with you on the platform.

3. Send Personalized Messages to LinkedIn Contacts You Know

If you think one of the contacts you already know might help you land a job, don’t hesitate to write a personalized message.

You should base the message on your previous interactions and say how you think the contact might help.

Naturally, don’t forget to provide value when you can.

In addition, these “LinkedIn contacts you know” don’t really mean all of them. You have to filter out contacts that aren’t meaningful anymore.

Thus, browsing through your contacts will also provide a great opportunity to remove “empty” contacts:

• If you have too many connections that don't care about your content - remove them.
• If someone is trying to sell you something - remove them.
• If someone doesn't have a full profile and isn’t using LinkedIn, like some family members or old friends - remove them.

Sending messages to contacts who haven’t been engaged with you or your contact won’t probably be of great help.

It’s not the number of contacts that counts, but their quality.

4. Be More Active on LinkedIn

Even if you are searching for a job, it doesn’t mean you aren’t an expert in a particular area or can’t provide relevant content.

By incorporating insightful tips or strategic insights on a topic, your content can expand outside your close network.

Furthermore, providing high-quality content regularly is also something that can catch a recruiter’s eye.

📌 Note

• During the weekend, try to publish a poll. The frequency should be one poll per week with up to 3 answers.
• Carousels are still the best for impressions, especially if your contacts do instant reshares.

5. Create An Engaging Post

Before you craft your post, you need to think about 2 things:

• What is the reason you’re looking for a job, and
• How and in which ways you can contribute to a potential recruiter.

Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ll have a clearer picture of which direction your post should go.

5.1. Highlight Who You Are and What You Do

Include a short description of what you do to help people get a more detailed picture of your expertise, industry, or niche.

5.2. Leverage Hashtags

You can use relevant hashtags, like #OpenToWork or #JobSearch to boost your post visibility. In addition, you can tag companies you’re interested in.

Also, include relevant links to your website, CV, portfolio, etc.

5.3. Add Effective CTA

No matter how powerful your post content is, if you leave it open and without a proper ending, it’s all futile.

You need to communicate clearly what you expect from people who read a post:

• Share it and spread the word
• Suggest a potential recruiter
• Make a connection with you, etc.

5.4. Mention What You’re Looking For in Your Next Role

Steer away from a too-generic statement “I am looking for a new role” because it doesn’t help you or a recruiter.

This way, recruiters don’t know your expectations, the job titles you are interested in, the company site, a work mode, etc.

Doing so will help you save tons of precious time, which is of great value when searching for a job.

5.5. Emphasize Your Deal-Breakers

Deal-breakers are closely related to our previous tip: communicating what you want from a role goes hand-in-hand with what you wouldn’t expect.

You should be straightforward and mention things you don’t want to negotiate with: remote work, health insurance, advancement opportunities, perks and benefits, etc.

Again, being as precise as possible saves a lot of time both for you and recruiters.

💡ProTip

AuthoredUp is a LinkedIn content creation tool that can assist you in formatting your posts by enabling you to use italicizing, bolding, numbered lists, and other text formatting options.

Furthermore, you can also add attachments, such as photos, carousels, polls, and PDFs, so you can attach your CV or personalize your post more.

Before you hit the Publish button, you can preview your post and see what it will look like in the feed.

What’s more, AuthoredUp provides more than 100 CTA templates you can use to create effective CTAs.

You can filter CTA templates based on tags or keywords.

🎁Bonus: 3 'Open to Work' LinkedIn Post Sample Templates

Example 1: Open to Work After Lay Off

How quickly things can change! I was laid off at [XYZ COMPANY] last week, alongside many of my talented coworkers. This was honestly a major shock, and I was excited to continue growing with the company. On the bright side, I'm excited about the prospect of taking my skills and expertise to a new company, and hopefully finding another incredible team to work with.

I have over 5 years of experience in Product Manager roles, and I've worked with companies like [INSERT HERE]. In my last role, I've [DESCRIBE RESULTS OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS HERE].

I'm optimistic about what lies ahead. I'll be looking for roles in #INDUSTRY/NICHE KEYWORD, #INDUSTRY/NICHE KEYWORD, #INDUSTRY/NICHE KEYWORD, and #INDUSTRY/NICHE KEYWORD.

Thanks in advance to my network for any connections or opportunities you may have! Please send them my way. #OpenToWork

To all my friends out there who were also impacted - this might be a particularly stressful time but we will get through this job hunt together. I'm happy to connect you with anyone in my network.

What makes this template credible:

✅ Shows relevant work experience.

✅ Mentions what they look for in a new role.

✅ Has a CTA.

Example 2: Changing Fields

After 10 years working as an elementary school teacher, I'm pursuing my dream of becoming a professional writer! Over the last few months, I've been freelancing with [INSERT PUBLICATIONS].

I'm absolutely thrilled to be making this change…but of course, it's also scary following a dream like this! My time in the classroom has taught me so much, especially how to multitask and empathize. I love breaking concepts down into understandable, relatable language. I've dreamt of writing for publications like [INSERT COMPANIES HERE].

If anyone in my network knows anyone hiring writers in [INSERT NICHE], I'd so appreciate an introduction! And if you see any opportunities that sound like me, my DMs are open.  #OpenToWork

Thanks so much in advance!

What makes this template credible:

✅ Shows relevant work experience

✅ Mentions plans and goals.

✅ Mentions what they look for in a new role.

✅ Has a CTA and a relevant hashtag.

Example 3: Open to Work After a Career Break

Hi, LinkedIn friends!

Most of you probably know that I've spent the last few years fully focused on “Mom” mode. I'm beyond excited to get back into “Career” mode now. I have over a decade of strategic communications experience to bring to the table. During my time off, I've stayed educated on what's happening in the field by taking [INSERT COURSES] and working on [INSERT SIDE PROJECTS].

Some of my career highlights include [DESCRIBE RESULTS OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS HERE]. And now, I'm so thrilled to join an awesome new team hopefully.

Thanks in advance to my network for any connections or opportunities you may have! Please send them my way. #OpenToWork

What makes this template credible:

✅ Shows relevant work experience

✅ Mentions achievements

✅ Mentions how she can contribute to a new company.

✅ Has a CTA and a relevant hashtag.

Wrapping It Up

Creating an effective “Open to Work” post is a strategic move that can catalyze your career journey and open doors to exciting opportunities.

It goes beyond simply updating your profile status. Rather, it involves:

• Thoughtful consideration of your personal brand,
• Effective use of LinkedIn features, and
• A keen understanding of how to engage with your professional network.

Tough as it may be to start from scratch, the above tips should give you a great headstart.

In addition, if you combine the tips with practicality that AuthoredUp offers, you can streamline the posting process: from collecting ideas and brainstorming to publishing.

Boost Your Audience Engagement With AuthoredUp

AuthoredUp provides robust features to take your posts to a new level and make them more engaging.

So, what does AuthoredUp have in store?

✨ Rich text editor - Use enhanced formatting options to format and edit your posts for better engagement.

✨ Draft Wizard - Efficiently manage multiple drafts, store ideas for future use, and schedule posts from a central dashboard.

✨ Hook & CTA Library - Explore over 200 hooks and 100 CTA templates to grab your audience's attention.

✨ Snippet Vault - Conveniently store and use hashtags and signatures at the end of your posts with a single click, so you don’t need to spend time writing it every single time.

✨ Post Analytics - Monitor your LinkedIn activity and dive deep into the analytics of each post to identify the best-performing ones and improve your strategy based on it.

✨ Analytics Suite - Gain deep insights into your content's performance and LinkedIn overall growth using detailed analytics.

✨ And so much more.

Enticed to give AuthoredUp a try?

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