LinkedIn allows you to customize your profile in many ways, including specifying your location. While you can’t falsify your location, you do have options for displaying your location information accurately while still tailoring it to your professional needs.
Why would I want to adjust my LinkedIn location?
There are a few common reasons why you may want to tweak how your location appears on your LinkedIn profile:
- You recently moved and want your profile to reflect your new city, but you still have strong professional connections and interest in your previous location.
- You split time between multiple cities for personal or work reasons and want your profile to represent this.
- You work remotely and technically live in one place but are targeting job opportunities in a different metro area.
- You live close to the border of two cities or regions and want to expand your visibility in both areas.
Adjusting your LinkedIn location allows you to customize your profile for networking, job seeking, and being discovered by relevant contacts and opportunities.
What location options does LinkedIn provide?
LinkedIn gives you several ways to represent your location that provide flexibility while still accurately reflecting where you live or work:
Primary location field
Your primary location field on your LinkedIn profile can contain the city, state/province, and country where you currently live. This should be your actual, physical location rather than a aspirational or temporary location.
Experience locations
For each of your work experiences, you can include the city and country where that position was located. This allows you to show that you lived or worked in multiple locations over time.
Places lived
The places lived section lets you list all the cities, states, and countries you have lived in the past or currently. You can reorder them to emphasize the locations most relevant to your professional brand.
Open to work locations
If you indicate you are open to job opportunities on your profile, you can select multiple metro areas or regions where you are interested in working. These can be places you have lived before or new cities you are hoping to relocate to.
Guidelines for accurately displaying your location
When customizing your LinkedIn location, keep the following best practices in mind:
- Your primary location must be your real, physical location. You cannot falsify this or select a city you do not currently live in.
- Any other locations on your profile should be places you actually lived, worked, or are willing to relocate to. Do not list cities solely to appear connected or attract interest.
- Order sections strategically – you can rearrange experience or places lived to showcase your ties to certain locations.
- Be truthful in representing lengths of time in each place based on real lived or work experience.
- If you discuss your reasons for listing multiple locations in your summary or profile, ensure the information is accurate.
With these tips in mind, you can use LinkedIn’s location options to accurately and strategically display your geographic ties.
Should I list my desired location or current location?
In general, your primary profile location must be your current, physical location. However, you do have some flexibility in emphasizing other areas:
Location Type | Guidance |
---|---|
Primary location field | Must be your current city of residence. |
Experience locations | Should reflect actual locations you lived/worked in the past. |
Places lived | Can include places you used to live previously. |
Open to work | This section can list cities/regions you hope to move to or work in. |
As shown in the table, sections like open to work allow you to emphasize desired locations, while your primary profile location must remain accurate to your real location.
Examples of appropriately displaying multiple locations
Here are some examples of ways you can accurately and thoughtfully display location options on your LinkedIn profile:
Recently relocated
Mark currently lives in Los Angeles after just moving from New York City. On LinkedIn, he lists:
- Primary location: Los Angeles, California
- Places lived: New York, New York; Los Angeles, California
- Open to work: Los Angeles, California; New York City, New York
This shows Mark’s current location and recent move, while also indicating he is still interested in New York opportunities.
Split time between multiple cities
Sarah works remotely and splits her time between Austin, Texas and San Diego, California. She lists:
- Primary location: Austin, Texas
- Places lived: San Diego, California; Austin, Texas
- Open to work: Austin, Texas; San Diego, California
Showing both cities as places she lives and is open to work conveys her bi-coastal lifestyle.
Open to relocating
James currently lives in Denver, Colorado but wants to move to Seattle, Washington. His profile displays:
- Primary location: Denver, Colorado
- Open to work: Seattle, Washington
While his current city is accurately listed, the open to work section clearly shows he is interested in Seattle opportunities.
Tips for showcasing your location strategically
Here are some additional tips for showcasing your LinkedIn location in a strategic way:
- Place your primary location field near the top of your profile for high visibility.
- Reorder your places lived to put relevant cities first.
- Add open to work locations that are aspirational to attract opportunities.
- Tailor your headline and summary to mention your desired locations.
- Join LinkedIn groups related to your target locations.
- Follow companies in your desired cities to convey your interest.
Should I leave off my location entirely?
It is not recommended to leave your location off your LinkedIn profile altogether. Your primary location field is a required element of a complete profile on LinkedIn. Omitting location information can make your profile seem unfinished.
Location can also be very helpful in making networking connections, finding relevant jobs, and enabling opportunities to find you. By strategically highlighting your various locations as described in this article, you can represent your profile accurately while still showcasing the places that matter most to your professional brand and goals.
Conclusion
LinkedIn provides location options that allow you to accurately reflect where you currently live and work, while also emphasizing connections and interest in other target places. By following best practices around truthfully representing your real physical location, you can strategically showcase multiple relevant cities, regions, or opportunities you’re open to in your customized profile.