This article was first published in mid-2020 on my LI page. Date references are for that year.
Recently LinkedIn added a new “feature” for the newly unemployed. A semi-circle of green around your photo with the hash tag “OPENTOWORK”.
The feature popped up about two weeks ago (May 2022) as an add on to advertise your new found employment status.
We were advised that this was to clearly show our status to everyone on LinkedIn. We has until mid-August (2022) to accept the ring of green: after that our employment status would be relegated further down our profile.
I duly accepted the offer, clicked the button, and hey presto, my profile picture was promptly updated with my new ring of availability.
Over the ensuing weeks, there has been a steady rise the number of people updating their profiles with the same status. Its easy to spot these people as you scan through your profile feed each day, looking for openings, connections, and other morsels about the current state of the market.
But I wonder if it will help or hinder me in my search for my next role.
Curiously, the ring is tilted to the left, starting at the 10 o’clock position and stretching anti-clockwise to the 4pm slot. Each end is tapered off to blend with the background with the tagline “OPENTOWORK” run together as one word in upper case.
The tilt has made me wonder: why? Flat across the bottom would make your head float in as if in a cup. Directly overhead may have a halo effect. On the left would look like a giant “C”. On the right, like a backward “C”. So tilt it is.
I thought about updating my profile picture to showcase my new COVID-beard – a much discussed topic with varied views on the home front – but realise this is a professional social media forum so didn’t want to engage in any discussions of my new found hirsuite status.
And then I realised it would have been a fruitless exercise anyway, as my new green ring of hope (shame?) would have hidden my beard anyway.
So maybe I will just give in to my daughters’ demands, and “shave that scary beard off, Dad!”
