Open to Work LinkedIn Post Examples [Copy These]

Spend a few days on LinkedIn and you’ll see a myriad of posts from users advertising that they are open to work. Sadly, less than 2% (that’s my personal best estimate based on what I’ve seen) do this effectively.

Today we’re going to explore how to write an open to work post on LinkedIn and share some examples of what good ones look like. Fasten your social media safety belt because we’re going to make this quick and effective!

How to Write an Open to Work Post on LinkedIn

If you’re writing an open to work post, I’m going to assume that you are most likely unemployed. Those are typically the people who make these posts because most professionals don’t want their current employer to know they are searching for a new job. Most of this is geared toward those affected by RIFs and layoffs.

If you are employed, you can still use this advice but I would exercise caution before posting publicly for the world (and Pam in HR) to see that you’re on the job market.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Headline First

Before you post anything, please take a few minutes to update your profile headline. That’s the part that shows below your name and next to your picture on every post. Keep in mind that your headline can be up to 220 characters; however, only the first 60 show on posts and comments.

Many people have different ideas about what a LinkedIn headline should look like, but for job seekers, your headline should always include the following:

1. Job Title

2. Industry

3. Specialized Skills or Niches Within Your Industry

If you wanted to you could also include a relevant, crowning achievement at the end of your headline so people can see it when they click on your profile. Here’s an older article about LinkedIn Headlines that is still relevant today.

Indicate You Are Open to Work

Part of effective networking, including social networking, is spreading the word that you are looking for a job. Be clear by starting your post with the fact that you are looking for a new job.

Share the Specific Job Title You Are Looking For

There’s a concept from Kenneth Potalivo’s book “Secrets of Mindshare” that talks about how the more specific you are with people, the more likely they are to remember you. That’s due to this concept called mindshare. Now, Keneth’s book is written for sales leaders, but the concepts apply to job hunting as well.

By being specific about the job title you are searching for in your next job and the industry that your expertise is in, people will be more likely to remember you when they come across these job openings. And in the noisy world of social media, you need to help people connect the dots and remember how they can help you.

Clearly state that you are looking for work and the exact type of work you are seeking to do.

Focus on the Value You Deliver, Not Your Circumstances

Many people focus these posts on their circumstances of being laid off or unemployed and continue to write about how that makes them feel. Bernadette Pawlik, a 20-year executive-level recruiter and owner of Coffee and a Consult, suggests avoiding this and instead focusing on your qualifications.

Share what specific results you’ve been able to help other companies obtain and in what industry those companies were in. You don’t have to cite specific companies, but be sure to include the industry and the results.

Be Specific About What People Can Do to Help You

One of the biggest mistakes people make when networking and posting open to work content on LinkedIn is they fail to tell other people how they can help them. Most people want to help you, but they don’t know how. Unless you make it clear what you’re asking them to do, they most likely will do nothing. Not because they don’t want to help, but because they don’t think they can.

Ask your professional network to do one of the following:

1. Share Your post

2. Forward Your Post

3. Support Your Post

4. Tag You On Posts By Recruiters Advertising the Jobs You Mentioned

5. Forward You Any Jobs That Align With Your Target Job Title and Industry

Open to Work LinkedIn Post Tips

Here are a few other things you should keep in mind as you go about creating your first open to work post on LinkedIn.

Don’t Mix Messages

People are exposed to a lot of information every day. Daniel Space from Dan From HR recommends avoiding mixing your open to work post with long heart-felt messages sharing your shock, fear, or anger about being laid off or thanking your co-workers and friends. If you want to vent, do that in one post and make your open to work announcement in a different post.

Don’t Overwhelm

Another way these open-to-work posts go sideways is by sharing too much information about the type of company you want to work for next. Don’t overwhelm people with a long list that looks like the one you made in high school about what your perfect man or woman would look like someday.

It’s hard for people to remember new information. The average person can only remember about 3 things at one time. Giving them too much will make them forget everything you shared and they’re more likely to move on without remembering you.

Keep it brief with 3 or 4 short paragraphs and a couple of bullet points.

Make Your Post Shareable

If your profile isn’t public, your post will only be visible to certain members signed in to LinkedIn. The goal is to tell as many people as you can that you are looking for a new job and specifically what that job is. Before you post, check your privacy settings and make sure it is visible to anyone and not only your connections. This will also make sure others can share your post.

This isn’t the time to be shy.

Open to Work LinkedIn Post Examples

I think it’s helpful to cover two things. First, let’s take a look at some ineffective open to work posts. Then we’ll look at some really good ones.

Bad Open to Work LinkedIn Post Examples

These are real examples I’ve seen over the years, anonymized because the goal isn’t to put anyone down but to help us all know why these aren’t effective.

Example 1

Hi everyone - I am job shopping for a great new role and would appreciate your support. Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities you can offer. #opentowork

Reason It’s Not Effective:

1. It doesn’t share the specific job this person is searching for.

2. It doesn’t provide any recruiter or hiring manager with a reason to want to reach out to them because it doesn’t offer any value about what this person can do.

3. It’s not specific enough with the call to action and so many people won’t know how to help.

Example 2

Hi friend, Good news - if we’ve had a blast working together in the past, we could totally just do it all over again!

About me:

I’m looking for a senior blah blah role, another blah blah role, another blah blah role, another blah blah role, and even another blah role or pretty much anything that involves making processes and supporting teams better.

I’m open to roles in blah blah city or remote.

I’ve previously worked at Big Company 1, Big Company 2, Big Company 3, Big Company 4, and Big Company 5.

I’ve been so fortunate in my career to work with numerous awesome people and on a variety of interesting projects. If you know of an opportunity that you think I’d be a good fit for, hit me up.

Reasons It’s Not Effective:

1. While it shares specific roles, there are too many of them. And leaving it open to any job that makes processes better or supports teams is too vague. Because of this, people are less likely to have mindshare created and refer openings.

2. Instead of sharing real value, they’re relying on the credibility of big-name companies which won’t be enough in this job market. There are many people from big-name companies looking for work right now.

3. It mixes messages about how they feel with a message about getting the word out about their job search, convoluting their message.

4. The call to action puts the responsibility on everyone else instead of telling them what to do. It assumes everyone else will know what opportunities they’d be a good fit for rather than telling them specifically one or two and then telling the reader how they can help. Hit me up is too open-ended.

Example 3

Hi everyone - I am looking for a new role and would appreciate your support. Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities that you can offer.

I’m looking for home loan specialist, sales manager, and sales development representative roles.

Reasons It’s Not Effective:

1. The jobs that this person is looking for are too broad. One is a manager level and another is nearly entry-level. This will only confuse other people and prevent them from helping.

2. There is no value shared about how this person can help companies in these roles.

3. The call to action is too vague. Asking for connections, advice, or opportunities just isn’t enough.

Best Open to Work LinkedIn Post Examples

Here are some really good examples I’ve seen on LinkedIn that are very effective. Again, I’ve anonymized these.

Example 1

Hi everyone - I’m looking for my next opportunity as a Customer Success Manager. I have 4 years of experience with onboarding, creating feedback loops between customers and product teams, and improving product adoption, retention, and revenue for enterprise-level SaaS accounts.

Last year alone, I had a logo retention rate of 95% and grew ARR by 22%. Let’s just say I know what I’m doing.

Most of my experience has been in HR tech, but I’m very open to anything SaaS-based in the tech industry. I can work local, hybrid or full-time remote.

Please like or share my post to help me reach more people. Also if you see any customer success manager jobs in the tech space, I’d be grateful if you can tag me or forward me any jobs that align with what I’ve shared above.

Feel free to comment below if you’re looking for a specific job and I can help you too.

Example 2

LinkedIn connections in manufacturing accounting!

I’m currently exploring new opportunities as an Assistant Controller or Controller with a manufacturing company in the greater LA area.

For the past 3 years I’ve been working with CA Steel Manufacturers where I’ve led 15 audits with no significant findings, shrunk our month-end close from 10 days to 3 days, and worked closely with operations to reduce obsolete inventory by nearly 12%.

I can share a resume with anyone if you email me at colejobsearch@gmail.com.

I would appreciate the following from anyone:

• Peer reviews of my resume.

• Sharing this post with others to help me get the word out that I am looking for a new job.

• Tagging me or forwarding any Controller or Assistant Controller openings in the LA area.

• Sharing with me any insights about companies who may seek my qualifications.

Thank you network!

Do Open to Work Posts Help Anyone

There is no one thing in your job search that will land you a job. Job search success is almost always the culmination of several activities, all working together to help you achieve your goals.

I view open to work posts as a function of networking. Effective networking has four goals.

1. To Get the Word Out About Your Job Search and Spread Information

2. To Gather Information That Can Help You

3. To Meet Influencers Within Target Companies You Wish to Work For

4. To Get Introductions to Potential, Future Managers

Open to work posts serve the first goal and can be a very effective way to reach many people quickly. The great thing about LinkedIn posts like this is that you don’t need to have a large professional network to make it work. I’ve seen posts “go viral” for people who have less than 500 connections before.

So yes, it does help.

LinkedIn Open To Work Recommended Reading

Highly Effective Networking [A book everyone should have on hand during a job search]

Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It

How to Put LinkedIn on a Resume

What Does Actively Recruiting on LinkedIn Mean

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Cole Sperry has been a recruiter and resume writer since 2015, working with tens of thousands of job seekers, and hundreds of employers. Today Cole runs a boutique advisory firm consulting with dozens of recruiting firms and is the Managing Editor at OptimCareers.com.