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You Can Run But You Can’t Hide. Therefore, Sabotage Your Coworkers

Ahh recruiters. Each time I received an email, phone call, voicemail, or LinkedIn message it was a game. Which of their desperate ploys will actually stand out from the rest?

Inevitable answer: none.

Sometimes it feels like the staffing industry is filled with used car salesman beating down our inboxes. My favorite is when they are confused by the basic requirements of the position because they do not understand the duties of an internal auditor.

With busy season heating up, you may not want all that pestering. And it is certainly not be the best time to leave your coworkers behind. But what can you do? Is it possible to hide your LinkedIn profile from recruiters?

Based on our research, the answer is no.

According to LinkedIn, “We don't currently have a setting that allows you to block another member from viewing your profile. We understand the importance of this feature though, and want to let you know that it's on our product roadmap.”

It’s kind of funny. How long can that feature possibly take to develop? I get that it’s not a priority but after more than 10 years, you would think you could block a profile?

In fact, you can’t even hide by managing your connections. There are certain recruiter packages that cost up to $719.95/mo. As LinkedIn puts it, “[buyers of this package can] See full profiles for over 250 million LinkedIn members.”

With the recruiters willing to pay $719.95/mo, there is nowhere to run.

Now that we know you can’t fully block the lurches from making it through to your profile, here are a few things you can do to protect yourself.

Hide the public version of your profile (what non LinkedIn members see)
Hide your profile photo
Change your profile display name
Adjust your settings for who can send you invitations

However, if you really want to get creative with recruiters, this is what I recommend. Put together a list of all the people you would wish to get fired. Make a spreadsheet with their work email, personal email (if you have it), cell phone, home phone (if those even exist), office phone, and links to their LinkedIn page. Then send that puppy to every recruiter who contacts you.

Make sure you say they DO NOT use your name. Maybe even send it from an anonymous email account. If you can’t hide from recruiters, at least you can annoy the hell out of your nemesis coworkers.