Many professionals who are looking to change jobs face an obvious problem. If someone publicly declares that they’re looking for a new position, it could cause major tension between the individual and the company they work for.
LinkedIn ambitiously claims that this problem can be fixed. The professional social media website is introducing a new feature called Open Candidates. Through Open Candidates, people will be able to block recruiters from their own company from seeing their status as a job seeker.
In theory, this is an incredible idea. It would allow people to freely search for better paying positions without the fear of a manager finding out. This could lead to much faster career advancement for millions worldwide.
There’s just one little problem: we don’t believe it’s realistic. Business networks are so expansive and interconnected, it would be almost impossible to completely hide the fact that you’re looking for a new job.
Apparently every recruiter with a LinkedIn profile has a unique identification number. This number depends on what companies that particular recruiter works for, and the Open Candidates software claims to block the ID numbers of recruiters affiliated with your company.
LinkedIn is notoriously buggy. Many a business owner has written complaints highlighting the inconsistent features and poor quality control. Features such as blocking other users and sending mass messages are notoriously bad.
Additionally, users like us often complain that they aren’t seeing enough relevant suggestions for potential connections or businesses. The algorithms LinkedIn currently has in place aren’t cutting it, so adding this complicated feature may just make things worse.
With something this major, LinkedIn will have to clean up its game in terms of consistent functionality. We don’t have high hopes.
Another potentially tricky aspect of the Open Candidates program is its legal implications. Say, for instance, that the program doesn’t work. Someone who wanted to keep quiet while they look for a new job was found by a recruiter at their current company, and they’re now in hot water with their manager.
If this glitch negatively affects the relationship between an employee and their company, does LinkedIn have any sort of responsibility? Their website does say LinkedIn “cannot guarantee” Open Candidates will protect your identity, but we can still feel the approaching lawsuits.
If Open Candidates does manage to work by the grace of God, it will revolutionize the job-search process in nearly every industry. We predict that companies would have to treat their employees better if these individuals have a less risky path to a new job.
Unfortunately, it still seems best to simply refrain from publishing your desire to change jobs on social media. We certainly don’t want to be among the first round of people to try this new feature, as it’s just not a risk worth taking. We hope LinkedIn can rise up and prove us wrong.
