Employment expert Alison Green of Ask a Manager says, “Most employers don’t put a ton of weight on LinkedIn. If you have a profile, they might look at it. If you don’t, it won’t be a big deal.” However, LinkedIn’s greatest value might be the peer-to-peer networking opportunities it facilitates, and for that, your public profile on LinkedIn is important.
Public vs. Private LinkedIn Profiles
What’s the difference between a public and private LinkedIn profile? When someone searches for you on LinkedIn or organically comes across your profile, they’ll see your public profile if you’re not part of their network. However, you can customize which details of your profile others can see. In some cases, you can tailor those permissions based on how someone is connected to you. Furthermore, you have limited control over what notifications people in your network will receive when you change your profile. LinkedIn is all about getting noticed. However, if you’d prefer to browse LinkedIn anonymously, you can do that, too, whether you have a free account or a premium subscription. Learn how to browse LinkedIn in private mode.
How to View Your LinkedIn Profile as Public
You can view your LinkedIn public profile through a desktop browser or the LinkedIn app.
View Your LinkedIn Profile as Public on a Desktop Browser
In the web browser of your choice, visit LinkedIn.com and follow the steps below.
View Your LinkedIn Profile as Public on the LinkedIn App
Mobile device users can view their LinkedIn profile as public via the LinkedIn app.
Who Can See Your Contact Info?
LinkedIn considers direct connections as first-degree connections. While virtually any LinkedIn user can view your profile (except people you have explicitly blocked), only your first-degree connections can view the contact information you add to your profile. Second- and third-degree contacts cannot view your contact information. The one exception being your email address if you have specifically allowed that.
Change Who Can View Your Email Address
LinkedIn offers a few unique options regarding your email address. When you first add your information to the Contact section of your profile, your email address will be automatically filled in and will, as noted above, only be visible to your first-degree connections. To adjust who can view your email address, including any third-party services your direct connections have connected to their LinkedIn account (such as Outlook), follow these steps: First-degree connections can also see a list of all the people you’re connected to unless you opt to make your connections only visible to you. Access this setting by selecting Your Profile Photo > Settings > Visibility > Connections section.
Notifications to Your Network
It can be difficult to determine if and when LinkedIn notifies your connections about changes you make to your profile. By default, if you add an entry to the Experience section of your profile, LinkedIn will not notify people in your network of your job change. To make it more likely that your LinkedIn connections see your job change or promotion, toggle the Notify network switch to the On position when you add a new role to the Experience section of your profile.
Get Comfortable With LinkedIn
While you might not be comfortable with self-promotion, having an active presence on LinkedIn can make all the difference when you’re looking for a new position. Whether you’re considering upgrading to a premium LinkedIn account or you’re just looking for guidance on how to use the networking site better, we’ve got you covered!
