Andy 0:03
Welcome to HigherEdJobs Podcast. Ask the Expert Edition. I'm Andy Hibel, the chief operating officer, and one of the co-founders of HigherEdJobs.

Kelly 0:10
And I'm Kelly Cherwin, the director of editorial strategy. Today we are happy to have our friend of the podcast back, Kathleen Hermacinski. Welcome, Kathleen.

Kathleen 0:20
Hello, good to see you, Andy and Kelly.

Andy 0:22
Great to see you.

Kelly 0:23
Kathleen serves as the associate vice president of human resources at Illinois Wesleyan University, and she is the CUPA-HR Illinois president-elect. She brings over 15 years of experience in higher education, including eight years focused on human resources. With a background in finance, Kathleen excels at aligning HR strategies with institutional goals while fostering a people-centered culture that supports faculty, staff, and student success. She is passionate about building inclusive work environments and leading initiatives that enhance employee engagement and organizational effectiveness. Committed to continuous improvement, Kathleen leverages her expertise to navigate the unique challenges of higher education HR and contribute meaningfully to the university's mission. We are happy to have you here today, Kathleen.

Kathleen 1:06
So excited to be back and to be considered a friend of the podcast.

Kelly 1:09
Well, friend, let's get into our question today from our listener. Today's question is, 'I'm wondering how hiring managers view the "open to work" label on LinkedIn profiles. Kathleen, any advice on when it's beneficial or when to avoid that label?'

Kathleen 1:25
Well, as a recruiter, it's always nice to know when somebody's open to work. I think we're past the point in recruiting in general of posting and praying. So we just post the position and pray somebody qualified comes and happens to see our webpage or sees our posting on HigherEdJobs and applies for it. We're actively out there searching and looking on LinkedIn through the different resources where we can get resumes.

So when I'm perusing LinkedIn and I see somebody's open to work, well, let me take a look at that profile. Is that fitting something I have currently open and available?

Recently, we had a position, not at my current institution, but at an institution where I'm close with their HR team. It was an HR position, kind of a beginning starter position. The HR leader over there asked if I knew of anybody that would be open to the position, available, qualified. I went straight to LinkedIn. I utilized the HR major that we have here at Illinois Wesleyan University and looked at past graduates that I knew were really good students who maybe graduated in the last one to three years.

Those who had the open to work profile banner on their picture -- I absolutely reached out to them and said, hey, I see you're open to work. Maybe this is a position that's interesting to you. If they didn't have the open to work on it, I was a little hesitant to reach out because maybe they're happy in their current position. And so you might be losing that passive recruiting, while I’ll also state that sometimes your best candidates do come from people who are not actively looking to leave their jobs.

Additionally, if you're a faculty member and you're wanting an opportunity to adjunct somewhere else, the open to work may be something that I see. If I'm looking for an accounting professor and I see someone with that banner, maybe they're full time at Illinois State University but they want to adjunct and teach something for me here at Illinois Wesleyan University. It's just helpful.

When to avoid it could potentially be when it creates an awkward conversation with your supervisor or manager. If you're currently in a position and you have that open to work label, and you've not necessarily talked to your manager, there could be concerns about why you want to leave. You're not happy -- just different negative stigmas. That said, if you can have a conversation with your manager, that's ideal. I know I've shared recently on the podcast that I had an open conversation with my supervisor when I was looking to leave, but that might be atypical.

I'll also share that I had an HR colleague who went through the CUPA-HR Ignite program with me suddenly get laid off from her position. I was absolutely impressed with how she utilized that open to work tag and her LinkedIn social media skills. She was off the job market in four months. And when I looked at her LinkedIn profile, she had tens of thousands of impressions on all of her posts with this open to work profile. She ended up landing in a better position at a bigger place, making a lot more money than before. So you can leverage that open to work banner on LinkedIn to get your network to help you out as well.

Kelly 4:58
I love that advice, and actually I was having a similar conversation with someone the other day about this label -- is it good or bad, what are the pros and cons. And he was saying something similar to you. Like, he's happy in his current role, but he'd be open to maybe a little contract work on the side, or like you said, an adjunct role. So I do see how it can definitely be beneficial. But yeah, if you are putting that up there and your supervisor doesn't know anything about your interest in leaving, I can see how that could potentially be an awkward situation.

Kathleen 5:32
And LinkedIn, I think, does have the ability to say what you're open to. As I'm thinking about my LinkedIn profile, I don't have the open to work banner because I absolutely love my job and I'm going to be here for the next 10 years. If my president’s listening -- 10 years, did you hear that?

While I'm not looking to put open to work on my LinkedIn, I am open to certain community volunteer causes. If it has to deal with food insecurity and youth education, I believe my LinkedIn profile says I'm open to that community work. So you can specify if somebody goes into your profile what you're open to, but that open to work banner is going to show on your profile picture externally to anybody. You’d have to click on the profile to see what you're open to.

Kelly 6:17
That's interesting. I didn't realize that.

Andy 6:19
That is interesting. I think going down that next level of detail here, really I always feel like you're working with generational implicit bias. So you need to be careful about how you use it and when.

My first caveat would be: generally speaking, academia isn't thrilled with people who broadly say they're available for work. And I think that still remains true. We have a way of going about it -- it's polite, it can be quiet. But screaming that you're looking for work, I would say from my experience over the past 30 years, isn't something that's universally acceptable.

If you're unemployed, I think there's a little bit of a difference there. But you need to see how it's viewed. Kathleen, you and I have had some spirited discussions about music before. And I'm a little frightened because I'm going to use one of my favorite musical artists, Bruce Springsteen. In his song Thunder Road, there's a phrase within the Springsteen community -- some people believe he says "waves," some believe he says "sways." He says one thing, people hear it two ways.

What you think it may be saying may not be what's communicating to everybody else. And the first rule of communication is that what they hear is more important than what you mean to say. So if you're thinking about doing it, run it by a few people you trust -- of different ages, in different types of positions -- and see what their impression is.

Kathleen 8:12
For your younger generations, I'd like to bring up Taylor Swift, because I swear she said "Starbucks lovers" and not "star-crossed lovers." So for my Swifties listening, that's where I'm at.

Kelly 8:22
I love it.

Kathleen 8:23
That's where I'm at.

Andy 8:24
Thank you for bringing it more to a different generation.

Kathleen 8:28
And with that point, Andy, I agree with you. For the last 30 years, the social stigma has been that your job, your compensation, is more of a private matter rather than just screaming it to the masses. But as social media becomes more prevalent and the next generations come up -- millennials are now managers, Gen Zers are entering the workforce -- post-COVID they're bringing their authentic selves to work and they do care.

So while the majority of the workforce, in my opinion, is still in that social stigma mindset you mentioned, Andy, there is a divide coming. Younger generations don't care. They're very open, honest, and authentic, and it's breaking down a lot of stereotypes and stigma.

Andy 9:15
Agreed.

Kathleen 9:16
For good or bad.

Kelly 9:17
So one final question. Can we all agree that for people who are actively looking for a job, who do not currently have a job, putting that label "open to work" carries no stigma? Doesn't make them look desperate or anything like that, right?

Kathleen 9:33
I would say 99% of the time yes. But the caveat is whether everybody knows they’re unemployed and looking. There can still be some social considerations. But generally speaking, I think the open to work sign is positive for recruiters. As a recruiter, I want to know if you're open to work, and I'm more likely to reach out if you have that banner.

Andy 10:02
I’d say you need complete context. If your resume shows a six-month gap, it’s going to be pretty clear anyway. If you're communicating transparently, do you really need the banner around your picture? There's also an "open to networking" option. That shows you want to connect. To me, the label itself isn’t what changes things -- it’s how you communicate.

Too much emphasis on it might make you look more desperate than you need to, as opposed to being transparent and authentic.

Kathleen 10:59
Completely agree.

Andy 11:00
And I understand -- looking for work is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do, especially when unemployed. You want to do everything you can. But I’d say focus that energy on being proactive. Let folks know you're open to work. Go network. Talk to people about what they think your candidacy might be lacking, or what roles could fit.

We were just at a conference with a bunch of young professionals. One said, "I like to ask people where they see I might fit into the organization." That's a great question. People are usually willing to offer that.

So if you're looking for work, do those things. Let people know. Tell your story.

Kelly 11:43
You're saying be strategic in how you time and use your resources. I love that.

Kathleen 11:48
Absolutely.

Kelly 11:49
I like how you had to emphasize "young, young," like we’re so old.

Andy 11:54
Yeah, they were. In most instances they were undergrads -- really looking at the beginning of their careers and imagining what they would be. We were pretty impressed, honestly. A great bunch of emerging professionals.

Kelly 12:09
I wonder how many of them had the open to work label on their LinkedIn profiles. That would be really interesting.

Andy 12:15
Context-wise, at that age I think it says something different than it does for someone mid-career who's been out six months. That’s where context matters.

Kathleen 12:29
I’d recommend any senior in college preparing to enter the workforce use the open to work label to start networking and be ready for when they graduate.

Andy 12:48
Fantastic advice.

Kelly 12:50
Well, thank you, Kathleen. Andy, it was great to have this conversation today. I'm sure our listeners enjoyed it as well. If anyone has opinions on the label or questions for Kathleen or any of our experts, please contact us at podcast@higheredjobs.com
or find us on X @higheredcareers.

Andy 13:09
Thanks for listening, and we look forward to talking with you again real soon.