Open to Work on LinkedIn: How to Add or Remove It

On desktop, you can turn on Open to Work by clicking “Sie”, “Profil anzeigen”, “Offen für” and “Jobangebote”. During setup, you choose whether all members can see the green #OpenToWork frame or only people using LinkedIn Recruiter. To remove it, click the “Bearbeiten” icon in the “Offen für Jobangebote” section, then click “Löschen”.

Last updated: October 15, 2026. All click paths come from the German LinkedIn Help Centre, as of October 2026 (checked on October 3, 2026). Below, you’ll find the steps for desktop and the app, a comparison of the two visibility options, and how recruiters see your signal.

What “Open to Work” is on LinkedIn

Open to Work is called “Offen für Jobangebote” on German LinkedIn. It isn’t text in your summary or a post. It’s a separate section at the top of your profile. You enter what you’re looking for there. According to LinkedIn Help, LinkedIn then shows your profile to recruiters searching for suitable candidates.

You can specify:

• Job titles you’re open to
• Work arrangements, such as on-site, hybrid or remote
• Work locations
• Start date
• Employment types, such as full-time or part-time
• Visibility: who can see your signal

For jobs in India, LinkedIn says you can also add your notice period, availability and salary expectations. The key point: this section is a search signal, not a job application. It doesn’t replace a complete profile or an active job search. The most common pitfalls are covered in the most common LinkedIn mistakes when looking for a job.

Activating Open to Work: Step by Step on Desktop

The direct route is through your profile:

1. Click the “Sie” icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
2. Click “Profil anzeigen”.
3. Click “Offen für”.
4. Click “Jobangebote”.
5. In the pop-up, enter job titles, work locations, work arrangements and employment types, then choose your visibility.
6. Click “Speichern”.

LinkedIn notes that some members see “Wählen Sie aus, was Ihr nächster Job Ihnen bieten sollte” instead of “Offen für Jobangebote”. It’s the same feature.

The second route is through the Jobs section. It’s useful if you only want to update your preferences:

1. Click the “Jobs” tab at the top.
2. Click “Einstellungen” in the left sidebar.
3. Click the arrow next to “Offen für Jobangebote”.
4. Update your job titles, work arrangements, work locations, start date, employment types and visibility.
5. Click “Speichern”.

Enable Open to Work in the app

1. Tap your profile photo.
2. Tap the profile picture again to open your profile.
3. Tap “Offen für” at the top of your profile introduction.
4. Tap “Jobangebote”.
5. Enter your preferences, choose your visibility and tap “Speichern”.

Visibility: all members or recruiters only

During setup, you choose who sees your signal. That’s the decision that matters.

• “Alle LinkedIn Mitglieder”: According to LinkedIn Help, this includes recruiters and people at your current employer. LinkedIn adds the #OpenToWork photo frame to your profile photo—the familiar green ring.
• “Nur Personaler:innen”: Only people using LinkedIn Recruiter can see your signal. Your profile photo stays the same.

According to the German help page, there are two options. According to the English help page, there’s a third: “Visible only to you”. In that case, LinkedIn uses your preferences only to tailor your job recommendations. As of October 2026, you can see which options are available in your form during setup.

Green frame or private signal: pros and cons

The private option is the natural choice if you’re still employed. The frame is worth considering if you want your network to help with your search. Then you’re not relying only on recruiter searches: anyone who passes on your name can help too.

What LinkedIn says about privacy from your employer

On the private option, LinkedIn’s German help article states: “To protect your privacy, we make sure that LinkedIn Recruiter users who work at your current company cannot see your shared career goals. However, we cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality.” What matters is the company listed as your current employer on your profile.

Take the second sentence seriously. If your employer must not find out, direct conversations with selected contacts are a better route than a profile signal.

Remove or turn off Open to Work

You’ll want to remove the signal by the time you’ve signed a new contract—or if the frame feels too public. LinkedIn Help doesn’t describe a pause option; you delete the section.

On desktop:

1. Click the “Sie” icon at the top of the homepage.
2. Click “Profil anzeigen”.
3. Click the “Bearbeiten” icon at the top of the “Offen für Jobangebote” section.
4. Click “Löschen”.

In the app:

1. Tap your profile photo, then tap it again to open your profile.
2. Tap the “Bearbeiten” icon at the top of the “Offen für Jobangebote” section.
3. Tap “Löschen”.

LinkedIn notes that your previous preferences won’t be saved when you do this. You can turn the feature on again at any time, but you’ll need to re-enter your job titles and locations. Make a note of them first if you only want to pause briefly.

Two cases in which LinkedIn checks in: If you stop replying to InMails from recruiters, LinkedIn says it sends you an email asking whether you’re still open to job offers. If you don’t confirm, LinkedIn turns the feature off until you reactivate it. And if you add a new position to your profile, LinkedIn’s Recruiter help says you’ll be asked whether you want to turn the signal off.

How Recruiters Find Open-to-Work Candidates

On the other side of the search, Open to Work is a filter. In its Recruiter help section, LinkedIn describes the “Open to work” Spotlight: After running a search, recruiters click it under “Spotlights” at the top of the results to see only candidates who have enabled the signal. The private option appears in this Spotlight too, just without a profile photo frame. Recruiters see the signal in three places: around the profile photo (only with “All LinkedIn members”), on the profile card in search results, and on the profile itself.

If a candidate is already in a Recruiter project’s pipeline and enables the signal, the recruiter gets a notification. If a candidate leaves two consecutive InMails from recruiters unanswered, LinkedIn reminds them. Source: LinkedIn Help, “View candidates who are open to work in Recruiter”, as of October 2026.

If you’re looking for a job, this means the Spotlight requires a paid Recruiter licence. You can find out what it costs and how Recruiter Lite differs from Recruiter in our article on LinkedIn Recruiter Costs.

Open to Work from a recruiter’s perspective: Reaching out to candidates

For recruiters, the signal is a starting point, not a replacement for their own search. If you rely only on the Spotlight, you’ll reach only candidates who have enabled the signal. Suitable people without it remain invisible. Our guide to active sourcing on LinkedIn explains how to find and contact candidates beyond the Spotlight. If you don’t have a Recruiter licence but want to search specifically for profiles with a #OpenToWork frame, you’ll find instructions in the knowledge base article #HIRING and #OPENTOWORK: How to find these contacts.

CompLeadly handles outreach once your list is ready. You can use LinkedIn people searches, Sales Navigator and Recruiter Lite searches, pipelines or saved searches as sources. For each role, you set up a sequence: profile visit, connection request with an initial message, and a follow-up if there’s no reply. The desktop app runs locally on your computer. Learn more on the CompLeadly for recruiters.

The same approach applies to sales, with a different goal: A Sales Navigator search for decision-makers becomes a target audience that the app works through in the same way.

Reach out to hiring managers yourself

Open to Work is a passive signal. It only works when someone with a Recruiter licence searches for profiles like yours. The active part of your job search is up to you: Use LinkedIn people search to find team leads and recruiters at companies you’d like to work for, for example through their #HIRING frame, and send a connection request with a specific question about the team.

With CompLeadly, that search becomes a target audience. The app visits profiles, sends connection requests, sends your opening message once they’re accepted, and follows up if there’s no reply. The free version includes basic features with daily limits, such as 2 connection requests, 1 opening message and 1 follow-up per day. That may be enough for a short list of companies you’d like to work for. Separately, you can try all features for the first 10 days after registering.

Tidy up first: your profile needs to live up to expectations

The signal brings profile visits, not a finished profile. Adding the frame gets you more attention—and more chances for a weak headline or empty summary to let you down. Before you enable it, it’s worth reviewing your profile. You’ll find a step-by-step order in the article Perfect LinkedIn Profile in 6 Steps. For your headline, try the free LinkedIn headline generator. Open tool.

If you also want to add a CV, our guide to LinkedIn CVs shows you which storage options are public and which aren’t.