#OpenToWork is a LinkedIn feature that signals to recruiters, your network, or both that you’re actively looking for a new job. More than 220 million people globally have the feature turned on, a 35% increase from the prior year. It comes in two flavors: a visible green photo frame that anyone can see, and a private signal visible only to recruiters.
How the Feature Works
When you turn on Open to Work, LinkedIn asks you to fill in job preferences: the titles you’re targeting, locations you’d consider, workplace types (remote, hybrid, on-site), start date, and the kinds of employment you’re open to (full-time, part-time, contract, and so on). This information gets packaged into a signal that appears in recruiter search results, making it easier for hiring professionals to find candidates who are actively looking.
You then choose who can see your status. The two visibility options work very differently, and the choice matters more than most people realize.
Public vs. Recruiter-Only Visibility
All LinkedIn Members (public): This adds the green #OpenToWork photo frame to your profile picture. Everyone on LinkedIn, including your current boss, colleagues, and clients, can see it. Your job preferences also appear on your profile. This is the more aggressive option, and it works: LinkedIn says the public green badge increases the likelihood of getting a recruiter message by 40% beyond the baseline boost.
Recruiters Only (private): This hides your status from the general public. Only people using LinkedIn Recruiter, the paid hiring tool, can see that you’re open to opportunities. LinkedIn takes steps to prevent recruiters at your current company from seeing your signal. It uses the employer listed on your profile (the one marked “I am currently working here”) to determine who to hide your status from.
There’s an important caveat with that privacy protection: LinkedIn explicitly states it cannot guarantee complete privacy. If your current employer’s recruiter account is set up under a different company name, or if a colleague at your company uses a recruiter seat tied to a different organization, the filter may not catch it. The protection is a best-effort measure, not an airtight wall.
Does It Actually Help?
LinkedIn’s own data says that turning on Open to Work, in either mode, doubles your chances of receiving a recruiter message. Adding the public green frame pushes that number even higher. For people who need volume and aren’t concerned about discretion, the math is straightforward.
But the feature has also attracted criticism. Nolan Church, a former Google recruiter, has called the Open to Work badge “the biggest red flag on LinkedIn.” The concern from some hiring professionals is that it can signal desperation, though others push back on that framing. Katelynne Bazile, a global talent operations lead at HubSpot, has said she wouldn’t categorize the frame as “a signal of desperation or harmful to job-seeking candidates,” but she’s also noted that mass adoption has diluted its impact. As layoffs have driven more people to use the badge, it no longer stands out the way it did when LinkedIn first launched it.
There’s a practical middle ground in the data. Ramona Sukhraj, a principal marketing writer at HubSpot, reported that when she added the frame and posted about it, she received messages from several recruiters within seconds, suggesting some recruiters actively track the hashtag or monitor new activations. But she also compared the frame to wearing a t-shirt that says “Open to Work”: it only gets noticed if you’re already making yourself visible through posts, comments, and engagement.
When to Use the Public Frame
The green badge makes the most sense when you’re already publicly between jobs, when discretion isn’t a factor, or when you’re in a field where active job seeking carries no stigma (which is most fields, frankly). If you’ve been laid off and your former employer has announced cuts, there’s little downside and a measurable upside. The 40% bump in recruiter messages is real, and in a competitive market, every additional inbound message is a potential lead.
It also helps if you’re actively posting on LinkedIn. The badge works as a passive signal, but it compounds when paired with regular engagement. Commenting on industry content, sharing your perspective on trends, and connecting with people at target companies all increase how often your profile appears in feeds, and the green frame tells anyone who lands on it exactly what you’re looking for.
When Recruiter-Only Makes More Sense
If you’re currently employed and quietly exploring options, the private setting is the obvious choice. You still get the core benefit of appearing in recruiter searches with your job preferences attached, and you still get roughly double the recruiter message rate compared to having the feature off entirely. You just don’t get the extra 40% boost from the public badge.
Keep in mind the privacy limitation. If discretion at your current job is critical, make sure your profile accurately lists your current employer so LinkedIn’s filter has the right information to work with. And understand that the protection is not foolproof. A recruiter at your company could potentially see your status through edge cases LinkedIn’s system doesn’t catch.
How to Turn It On
From your LinkedIn profile, tap the “Open to” button near the top of your page and select “Finding a new job.” You’ll be prompted to fill in your preferred job titles (you can list multiple), locations, workplace types, employment types, and how soon you could start. After entering your preferences, you’ll choose your visibility setting. You can change between public and recruiter-only at any time, and you can turn the feature off entirely whenever you want. Your preferences are also editable, so you can update target roles or locations as your search evolves.
Making It Work Beyond the Badge
The feature is a tool, not a strategy. Talent professionals consistently say that the candidates who get the most traction on LinkedIn are the ones who combine the Open to Work signal with active engagement on the platform. That means posting about your expertise, commenting thoughtfully on content from people at companies you’re targeting, and using LinkedIn’s job search and networking tools alongside the passive signal.
The badge puts you in the pool. What gets you pulled out of it is a complete profile with a clear headline, relevant experience descriptions, and visible activity that shows you’re engaged in your field. Think of Open to Work as the front door, not the whole house.