Please Pick Me? - Karoly Nyisztor's website

The “opentowork” badge on your LinkedIn profile photo might seem like a clever way to attract potential employers, but it can backfire in ways you wouldn’t expect.

I get it. I’ve been there. You’re one of the many hundreds of thousands of people caught in the recent wave of tech layoffs. And being let go today is probably worse than at any point in the history of white-collar jobs.

You’re stressed, your savings are ticking down, and you’re doing everything you can to get hired. But adding the #opentowork badge to your LinkedIn profile is still a bad idea.

First, think about the psychological effect.

This badge screams,

“I’m one of the many desperately looking for a job! Pick me, pick me!”

You disappear in the noise. You blend into a large pool of generic #opentowork profiles.

Second, to make matters worse, the badge works like a lighthouse for scammers.

Bad actors swarm to it like flies to fresh… well, you know. You’re attracting exactly the kind of attention you don’t want. People have been tricked into fake interviews, robbed online, had their personal data stolen, or worse. You don’t have to dig far to find these stories.

The part that bothers me most: these incidents aren’t decreasing. If anything, they’re getting more frequent. And the platform doesn’t really protect you. Sure, you can report scammers, but their accounts pop up again instantly.

So please, don’t use the #opentowork badge.

What should you do instead?

Show your strengths. Write articles. Even better, create videos that demonstrate your expertise–just like I do here: https://www.youtube.com/@LearnWithKarl.

Highlight your side projects. Be present. Show who you are and why someone should hire you.

And while you’re at it, try your entrepreneurial wings. Set up a simple webpage. Build a portfolio. Try attracting your first clients.

I’m convinced traditional employment is a cul-de-sac. I’m living proof. After two decades in big corporate environments, I finally started my own thing.

It worked. And I’ve never looked back.

Entrepreneurship isn’t easy, but once you get the hang of it, you become — as my friend Frank likes to say — “unemployable.”

I’ve never been happier than since I’ve worked for myself.

Yes, you’ll get burned sometimes. But the 9-to-5? That burns you slowly, and most people don’t notice until it’s too late. Corporate loyalty is a joke. They’ll fire you two days before retirement to save a few dollars.

So consider entrepreneurship as a real alternative. At the very least, start a side business while you’re still employed. Low risk. High upside. And you might fall in love with it.

But definitely: don’t put that #opentowork badge on your LinkedIn photo.

Share your thoughts in the comments!

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