I’d take that green circle off

Hi Reader,

Apparently, the recruitment industry has discovered customer service.

Someone notices your experience. Promptly DMs you. Gives you feedback on your resume. Even offers to help you improve it.

Unfortunately, it’s a scammer.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll remember Will’s encounter with a “Netflix recruiter”. Scammers borrowed a real recruiter’s identity and told him his resume needed professional attention before he could be considered.

Through their recommended service, naturally.

Then there was Kelly, whose application for a Sales Director role supposedly impressed the hiring team within 90 minutes.

Finally! Someone who recognised her experience.

Except her resume apparently scored in the “low 30s” in their ATS. A remarkable deterioration for a document everyone had been so impressed by an hour earlier.

The cure cost $249.

We’ve covered that particular business model.

But a recent ABC report raised something else worth talking about: scammers are targeting people displaying the public #OpenToWork banner on LinkedIn.

That awful shade of green wrapped around your headshot announcing you’re available.

Now, I doubt the scammers have only just thought of this.

It’s hardly a criminal mastermind operation. People publicly identify themselves as looking for work. Someone turns up pretending to have some.

No need to break into LinkedIn headquarters wearing a balaclava. The potential customers have helpfully labelled themselves.

And the approach works because it offers something professionals are often desperately short of.

A response.

After months of unsuccessful applications, someone finally says, “Your background looks interesting.” They have a role that might suit. They’ve actually read your resume.

You can practically feel your shoulders drop.

Then comes the small problem with your application. Followed by the helpful person who can fix it.

For a fee.

That relief is what they’re counting on. You don’t have to be gullible. You just have to be tired of hearing nothing.

Which brings me back to that awful green circle slapped across your noggin.

I’ve never recommended it.

To me, it’s like wearing a sandwich board saying “I NEED A JOB”. I’d rather an employer’s first impression was that you’re good at running projects, managing clients or sorting out the expensive mess everyone else has been avoiding.

Now, before anyone starts fiddling with their settings, LinkedIn has 2 different options.

“Open to Work” can signal your interest behind the scenes to employers using LinkedIn Recruiter. You can use that without wearing the public banner. LinkedIn tries to hide that signal from recruiters at your current employer, although it doesn’t guarantee privacy.

The green circle is the announcement to everyone else.

And yes, I understand why people use it. You want your contacts to know you’re looking. You want someone to think of you when a position comes up.

So in that case…

Go tell them.

Reach out to trusted contacts and tell them what kind of work you’re after, where you want to do it and what experience you bring.

Ask them if they can give you advice on the types of companies you’re looking at or if they can introduce you to a specific person.

Give them something they can pass on beyond “Tony needs a job”.

I already disliked the introduction that banner makes.

The ABC article gives me another reason to leave it off.

You might be hoping the green circle catches a recruiter’s eye.

Someone else might be looking at it and seeing a quick $1000.

~Lisa

Your Q&A

I don’t make sense

Hi Lisa,

I’ve spent several years working in Defence and am now looking at opportunities in the private sector.

The problem I’m having is explaining my Defence experience in a way civilian employers will understand.

I’ve done a lot of work involving logistics, reporting, operations and stakeholder management, but I’m not sure how to translate it into something relevant to the jobs I’m applying for.

How do I show employers what I can actually do?

Jason

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Hi Jason,

You understand your experience because you’ve lived it. But the person reading your resume may have absolutely no idea what half your terminology means.

And they’re not going to spend their lunch break Googling Defence acronyms to figure it out.

So, you’ve got some translation work to do.

Defence work quite often involves logistics, risk management, compliance and operational coordination.

The trick is to work backwards from the job you’re applying for.

What does that employer need someone to do? Which parts of your experience demonstrate you can do it? And how can you explain those examples without making the reader reach for a military dictionary?

One final thing.

Don’t strip away the complexity of your work just to make it sound civilian.

The environments you’ve operated in, the risks you’ve managed and the decisions you’ve made are part of your value.

Keep the substance. Lose the jargon.

Thanks for writing in.

~Lisa

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This information is for general purposes and doesn’t consider your individual circumstances. It serves educational goals and isn’t formal career advice. Always seek personalized guidance tailored to your needs.

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