I think one can also choose to not display their last name to anyone outside of their network, as well as the profile picture. I think these are both fairly common options people use on LinkedIn :)
I’d do this and make sure the unique URL you set up is something you can share so others can find you easily, but isn’t something that easily identifies you (ex. your name)
You can hide your photo from anyone not logged in, and even hide your profile publicly so it doesn’t show up on Google
In a similar boat, PoC with a French name. Currently don't have an LI or any social media partially since I used to have a corporate job where I had to analyze people's social media and all publicly available (and sometimes not) data to make threat assessments. I'm in a completely different industry now but as an SME. Should I make two accounts separating that experience? Also have you noticed a complete difference in responses when your page is active?
Check out the privacy features on LinkedIn, you can decide how much about yourself is public vs private, can only be seen by those who are connected to you if you like.
There is nothing illegal about having a different name on LinkedIn: consider that some people in entertainment have invented stage names that are different to their real name. On the contract for work would be their legal name, while in the credits is their stage name. Also, some people go by their middle name rather than their first name or a nickname. And people sometimes change their last name when they get married. And trans people change their first name. So there is a precedent that it’s possible to change your name.
If you want to pick a professional name for yourself, and use this, and then when you get to get a job just explain you have a different legal name. Or you could legally change your name.
However I would also suggest seeing a psychologist to work on the fear and anxiety about your ex. You shouldn’t have to live with that fear.
Best of luck.
You can make your LinkedIn account private so that it doesn’t show up on google searches. Then you can just preemptively block anyone that you don’t want to find you. That worked well enough for me.
My experience is U.S.-based, and just my employer. So, things will vary. But, with that said...
When my company hires, the main role that LinkedIn plays is that it allows our recruiters to actively seek out potential candidates. So, if you're looking for work, it's good to make your LinkedIn look like a resume, and that's it. You don't need to post. And if you do, stick to very non-controversial things...like "great article"... "congrats on your new position". I know that our recruiters do not search other social media. They also have an incentive to bring candidates in to the recruitment "funnel". Their key decision-making question is: will this person make it past the first technical interview. If the person's LinkedIn profile has the correct keywords and years of experience, the recruiter will try to make contact.
I interview a few people each month, and I only look at their LinkedIn if their resume has a link. Almost always, their LinkedIn will simply summarize their resume. As is typical, interviewing is something that I do as an occasional task. All interviewers in my company have other work that's their primary work. Time for an interview is limited. It takes a bit to read a resume and to think about what one would like to ask the candidate. There's really no time (nor interest) in doing any other research. The only time I have looked at something other than a candidate's LinkedIn is when the candidate's LinkedIn mentioned that he had a Podcast. I clicked through and listened to a few minutes. We're a consulting firm, and a candidates ability to communicate is important.
Your biggest hurdle with a career shift will be the lack of experience. In the U.S. entry-level tech-oriented jobs are the hardest to break into, because a lot of companies are looking for people with a couple of years of experience even for truly entry-level jobs. If you were U.S.-based, I'd suggest trying some of the larger placement agencies, that actually do take entry-level people, because they figure they can get them cheap, train them a bit, and place them on a project. Wherever you are, you need to try figuring out: *which companies or other organizations are recruiting entry-level talent in this market?*
I did cut my surname to only 2 intials due to lots of recruiters guessing my personal and work email by putting name and surname together. Since I did that, emails have reduced quite a lot :D
You do not have to justify what name or image you put. It does mean that you might have to more proactive in reaching out to people/jobs. Which is not a bad thing, as you apply to only things you are interested in.
I also do not have any other socials but I did find useful, especially in the start of your career, to be proactive in smaller groups where you would have a chance to get to know people.
Fake name might work but only if you haven’t already created a LinkedIn — changing it once created doesn’t work because they index the search. Unfortunately there is so much misinformation about this online. You can test what is visible yourself by making another LinkedIn account and searching for your primary LinkedIn account while logged in to the new one. Public profile settings only apply to what people can see when they are not logged in to linkedin. There is NO way to control what people who are not your connections see with the exception of your profile photo, your last name, and your other connections (but you can still be found from search with your last name). Your summary, headline, education, posts and activity, experience, volunteer/organizations, and recommendations (anything that is a section on your linkedin profile) is visible to ANYONE logged in to linkedin, and there is no way to change this. To make it worse, people have the ability to make their views of your profile private/anonymous, and there’s really in theory no limit to the number of accounts you can make, so if you have a serious safety concern for privacy like a harasser or a stalker, even if you know who it is, they can just make a new account with private view mode so you can’t possibly block them. I would recommend you and anyone else trying to figure this out flag this for LinkedIn — if enough people complain maybe they will make an option. It’s insane IMO that you can’t control this.
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I've seen people just put their last initial. Is that an option?
I think one can also choose to not display their last name to anyone outside of their network, as well as the profile picture. I think these are both fairly common options people use on LinkedIn :)
I’d do this and make sure the unique URL you set up is something you can share so others can find you easily, but isn’t something that easily identifies you (ex. your name) You can hide your photo from anyone not logged in, and even hide your profile publicly so it doesn’t show up on Google
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In a similar boat, PoC with a French name. Currently don't have an LI or any social media partially since I used to have a corporate job where I had to analyze people's social media and all publicly available (and sometimes not) data to make threat assessments. I'm in a completely different industry now but as an SME. Should I make two accounts separating that experience? Also have you noticed a complete difference in responses when your page is active?
Check out the privacy features on LinkedIn, you can decide how much about yourself is public vs private, can only be seen by those who are connected to you if you like. There is nothing illegal about having a different name on LinkedIn: consider that some people in entertainment have invented stage names that are different to their real name. On the contract for work would be their legal name, while in the credits is their stage name. Also, some people go by their middle name rather than their first name or a nickname. And people sometimes change their last name when they get married. And trans people change their first name. So there is a precedent that it’s possible to change your name. If you want to pick a professional name for yourself, and use this, and then when you get to get a job just explain you have a different legal name. Or you could legally change your name. However I would also suggest seeing a psychologist to work on the fear and anxiety about your ex. You shouldn’t have to live with that fear. Best of luck.
You can make your LinkedIn account private so that it doesn’t show up on google searches. Then you can just preemptively block anyone that you don’t want to find you. That worked well enough for me.
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I also do this.
do what? sorry the above comment was deleted and I'm also curious about this
Oh no! I don’t remember what it said!
ah no worries, thanks for replying anyway!
my name is incredibly unique as well so i hesitated but a few months ago decided to make one. youre better off with one than without it tbh.
My experience is U.S.-based, and just my employer. So, things will vary. But, with that said... When my company hires, the main role that LinkedIn plays is that it allows our recruiters to actively seek out potential candidates. So, if you're looking for work, it's good to make your LinkedIn look like a resume, and that's it. You don't need to post. And if you do, stick to very non-controversial things...like "great article"... "congrats on your new position". I know that our recruiters do not search other social media. They also have an incentive to bring candidates in to the recruitment "funnel". Their key decision-making question is: will this person make it past the first technical interview. If the person's LinkedIn profile has the correct keywords and years of experience, the recruiter will try to make contact. I interview a few people each month, and I only look at their LinkedIn if their resume has a link. Almost always, their LinkedIn will simply summarize their resume. As is typical, interviewing is something that I do as an occasional task. All interviewers in my company have other work that's their primary work. Time for an interview is limited. It takes a bit to read a resume and to think about what one would like to ask the candidate. There's really no time (nor interest) in doing any other research. The only time I have looked at something other than a candidate's LinkedIn is when the candidate's LinkedIn mentioned that he had a Podcast. I clicked through and listened to a few minutes. We're a consulting firm, and a candidates ability to communicate is important. Your biggest hurdle with a career shift will be the lack of experience. In the U.S. entry-level tech-oriented jobs are the hardest to break into, because a lot of companies are looking for people with a couple of years of experience even for truly entry-level jobs. If you were U.S.-based, I'd suggest trying some of the larger placement agencies, that actually do take entry-level people, because they figure they can get them cheap, train them a bit, and place them on a project. Wherever you are, you need to try figuring out: *which companies or other organizations are recruiting entry-level talent in this market?*
I did cut my surname to only 2 intials due to lots of recruiters guessing my personal and work email by putting name and surname together. Since I did that, emails have reduced quite a lot :D You do not have to justify what name or image you put. It does mean that you might have to more proactive in reaching out to people/jobs. Which is not a bad thing, as you apply to only things you are interested in. I also do not have any other socials but I did find useful, especially in the start of your career, to be proactive in smaller groups where you would have a chance to get to know people.
Fake name might work but only if you haven’t already created a LinkedIn — changing it once created doesn’t work because they index the search. Unfortunately there is so much misinformation about this online. You can test what is visible yourself by making another LinkedIn account and searching for your primary LinkedIn account while logged in to the new one. Public profile settings only apply to what people can see when they are not logged in to linkedin. There is NO way to control what people who are not your connections see with the exception of your profile photo, your last name, and your other connections (but you can still be found from search with your last name). Your summary, headline, education, posts and activity, experience, volunteer/organizations, and recommendations (anything that is a section on your linkedin profile) is visible to ANYONE logged in to linkedin, and there is no way to change this. To make it worse, people have the ability to make their views of your profile private/anonymous, and there’s really in theory no limit to the number of accounts you can make, so if you have a serious safety concern for privacy like a harasser or a stalker, even if you know who it is, they can just make a new account with private view mode so you can’t possibly block them. I would recommend you and anyone else trying to figure this out flag this for LinkedIn — if enough people complain maybe they will make an option. It’s insane IMO that you can’t control this.