LinkedIn Open to Work: Recruiters Only or Everyone?

The two visibility options

According to LinkedIn's Help Centre, 'All LinkedIn members' includes recruiters and people at your current company, and adds the #OpenToWork photo frame. 'Recruiters only' limits visibility to people using LinkedIn Recruiter.

LinkedIn also notes it takes steps to stop Recruiter users at your current company from seeing your career interests, but it can't guarantee complete privacy. If your employer must not find out, factor that in.

When to use 'All LinkedIn members'

• You're not currently employed, or your employer already knows you're leaving.
• You're a new graduate or newcomer and want your network to share leads.
• You're open to a wide range of roles and want referrals from people you know.

When to use 'Recruiters only'

• You're employed and searching quietly.
• You'd rather your headline and About do the talking than a photo frame.
• You're targeting a narrow set of roles where agency and in-house recruiters are the main channel.

Fill in job preferences properly

Open to Work asks for job titles, locations, start date and workplace types (on-site, hybrid, remote). Use the Canadian titles you'd search for yourself, add every city you'd genuinely work in, and keep the list focused — five unrelated titles make it harder for a recruiter to see where you fit.

Pair it with a headline that does the work

If you choose the public frame, avoid repeating 'Open to Work' in your headline as the only message. Lead with your target title and strongest skills; you can end with 'open to roles in Halifax' if you want to be explicit.