A former Google recruiter said LinkedIn's "Open to Work" tag is the "biggest red flag" to hiring managers because it suggests "desperation".
Nolan Church, who spent almost three years at Google, told CNBC that the green "Open to Work" badge on profile photos suggests that the individual would consider taking any role whatsoever.
"It actually feels to a hiring manager like desperation," he said.
LinkedIn users can add the Open to Work badge to their profiles by clicking their profile picture and then frames to choose the badge. It will then display a banner at the bottom of your photo. Users can choose whether the badge is visible only to recruiters, or anyone.
Church, who is now CEO of talent marketplace Continuum, added that "recruiting is like dating" and that "you have to make the other side feel like you're exclusive."
Church doubled down on his comments in a post on X and said: "The worst social media feature ever pushed to production is LinkedIn's 'Open to Work' badge."
In his view, recruiters think top talents aren't actively seeking jobs and must "pull them out" given they're typically content in their current roles.
Brianna Rooney, founder and CEO of recruitment firm TalentPerch, appeared to agree with Church. "Advertising that you're open to work and actively looking for a job turns off many hiring managers and can make the job candidate seem desperate," Rooney wrote for BuiltIn, an online community for tech companies.
She added that job seekers should be careful to not appear "anxious" or "grasping," as that could affect their prospects of getting hired. "That's why, instead of broadcasting your status as 'open to work,' it's much more effective to select the non-public option that tells recruiters you're open to work."
Continuum and TalentPerch didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.
