Can you delete LinkedIn job history?

LinkedIn has become an indispensable tool for networking and building a professional online presence. As one of the largest professional networks with over 300 million users, LinkedIn profiles are often the first impression hiring managers get of job candidates.

With so much riding on your LinkedIn profile, it’s understandable that you may want to remove or edit some details from your employment history. Perhaps you had a short-lived job you’d rather not broadcast to the world. Or maybe a role at a controversial company you’d prefer to downplay. Whatever the reason, here’s what you need to know about removing jobs from your LinkedIn profile.

Can you delete your LinkedIn job history?

The short answer is yes, you can remove jobs from your LinkedIn work experience section. However, it’s not as simple as clicking a “delete” button. LinkedIn doesn’t allow users to permanently erase jobs they’ve previously listed on their profile.

The best you can do is “hide” a position from your profile. The job will still be saved in your LinkedIn account but won’t be visible to other users who view your profile. This gives you a way to effectively remove jobs from public view but maintains a record within LinkedIn. Some key things to know about hiding a job:

• On your LinkedIn profile, go to the work experience section and click the “pencil” edit icon next to the position you want to remove. Select “Discard changes” to revert any edits and then choose “Hide this position from my profile.”
• Once hidden, the job will not appear on your profile to other LinkedIn members.
• The job will remain private and visible only to you when you edit your employment history.
• You can unhide a hidden position at any time if you change your mind.
• Employers using LinkedIn’s Recruiter service may still be able to see your full employment history, including hidden positions.

So in summary, yes you can effectively remove jobs from your LinkedIn profile, but not permanently delete that experience from LinkedIn’s records.

Should you delete your LinkedIn job history?

Just because you can hide positions from your LinkedIn doesn’t necessarily mean you should. There are pros and cons to consider when deciding whether to remove jobs from your profile.

Potential advantages of deleting work history from LinkedIn:

• Omits short-term jobs or bad fits – Removes experiences that may reflect poorly on your work ethic or skills.
• Downplays unsavory companies – Hides your association with businesses tied to scandals, unethical practices, etc.
• Focuses on more relevant experience – Prevents outdated or irrelevant roles from diluting your brand or qualifications.
• Limits career gaps – Makes work history appear more continuous by removing gaps in employment.
• Preserves privacy – Hides jobs you don’t want current colleagues or business contacts knowing about.

Potential disadvantages of deleting work history from LinkedIn:

• Raises suspicions – Gaps in work history may seem dubious to recruiters and hiring managers.
• Omits potentially useful experience – Hides qualifications and skills gained from jobs you discard.
• Disrupts career narrative – Removes valuable context that explains your professional journey over time.
• Loses connections – Eliminates colleagues who may have endorsed you or provided references.
• Appears dishonest – Selectively highlighting only positive achievements can seem deceptive.

Overall, it’s a judgement call based on your specific circumstances and priorities. Before hiding positions, make sure obscuring your work history won’t create bigger issues down the road.

How long does deleted LinkedIn job history stay on your profile?

Once you hide a job from your LinkedIn profile, it disappears from public view immediately. Unlike social media platforms like Facebook that may continue showing deleted content for a period of time, hidden LinkedIn jobs are removed right away.

However, keep in mind the job remains part of your private employment history within LinkedIn. It can be unhidden at any point. AndLinkedIn Recruiters may still be able to view your full work experience record. So don’t consider deleted LinkedIn jobs to be permanently erased.

Does deleting LinkedIn job history remove it completely?

No, hiding a job on LinkedIn does not remove it entirely. As mentioned, the position will stay in your private employment history and remain visible to you when managing your profile. It’s essentially just flipping a switch that keeps the job hidden from public view.

Some additional notes on what happens when you hide LinkedIn work history:

• The job will not show up in background checks run by other LinkedIn members.
• Hiding a job does not delete associated recommendations or endorsements.
• Your connections from that job remain intact unless you manually remove them.
• The experience remains on your profile and resume PDF generated by LinkedIn.
• There is currently no way to permanently delete jobs from your LinkedIn work history.

So in summary, hiding an experience simply conceals it. The job continues to exist in LinkedIn’s records and can reappear if you choose to unhide it. There is no way to completely erase jobs from your LinkedIn employment history.

Can a company see your deleted LinkedIn job history?

If a company does a basic LinkedIn profile search, deleted jobs will not show up. However, employers using LinkedIn Recruiter and other talent sourcing tools may still have visibility into your full work history, including any hidden positions.

Here are the key things for companies accessing your LinkedIn data:

• Regular LinkedIn members searching profiles will not see your hidden work experiences.
• Employers with a LinkedIn Recruiter account can potentially view your full employment history.
• Background checks via third-party services may compile data separately from LinkedIn.
• Some jobs provide access to more profile data based on your account settings.
• Companies you’ve worked for retain records of your employment history with them.

In general, consider any work experiences on your LinkedIn profile to be still documented in their systems. Erasing jobs completely requires contacting LinkedIn support, and even then they may retain records. Don’t bank on deleting jobs keeping them hidden from companies.

Is it bad to delete LinkedIn job history?

There’s no definitive right or wrong answer here – it depends on your specific situation. But some things to keep in mind on whether deleting LinkedIn work history is a good idea:

• Can be problematic if used to cover up lies or embellish credentials.
• May draw unwanted scrutiny if you omit too many roles.
• Recruiters may still be able to obtain your full work history.
• Missing jobs can make your career path confusing.
• Valuable connections, referrals, and endorsements may be lost.

However, it can be justified in cases like:

• Removing short, irrelevant jobs from early in your career.
• Downplaying politically sensitive organizations.
• Eliminating jobs with legal or ethical concerns.
• Focusing your profile on more relevant recent experience.

As with most things, moderation and honesty are the best policies. Strategically omitting one or two positions you’d rather not highlight is likely fine. But systematically hiding large swaths of your background could raise red flags.

Can you lie about your job history on LinkedIn?

It is possible to fabricate or embellish employment history on your LinkedIn profile. However, this is considered highly unethical and inadvisable. Here’s why lying about jobs on LinkedIn is an awful idea:

• Background checks will uncover false information, tanking your credibility.
• Lying about credentials opens you up to potential fraud charges.
• Fabricated jobs lack the credibility of verifiable work experience.
• Getting caught destroys your professional reputation.
• Made up work history provides no valuable connections or references.

Rather than making things up, better options include:

• Legitimately gaining experience through internships, volunteering, freelancing, etc.
• Selectively featuring your most relevant skills and accomplishments.
• Seeking training and certification to pad your credentials ethically.
• Networking with professionals who can honestly endorse you.

Lying or stretching the truth on your LinkedIn rarely ends well. Focus on highlighting your genuine skills and background instead.

What happens if LinkedIn catches you lying?

Getting caught fabricating your work history or education on LinkedIn can result in serious consequences:

• Profile deletion – LinkedIn may delete your account entirely for terms of service violations.
• Criminal charges – Falsifying credentials may constitute fraud, resulting in legal action.
• Civil lawsuits – Companies or individuals may sue over falsified employment history.
• Reputational damage – Your professional credibility will be destroyed if lies come to light.
• Lost job offers – Any opportunities you obtained under false pretenses will be rescinded.

In addition to these penalties, getting caught lying also has indirect career consequences like:

• Being blacklisted in your industry
• Having a stain on your permanent record
• Difficulty explaining the lies to future employers
• Distrust and suspicion in future hiring processes

The relatively minor upside of embellishing credentials is simply not worth the enormous downside risk. Be honest and make the most of your true skills and experience.

Does deleting job history on LinkedIn raise red flags?

In moderation, hiding some positions on LinkedIn is unlikely to raise major red flags. Many people edit their profiles to feature only the most relevant jobs. However, extensive omissions in your work history could draw employer suspicions:

• Large unexplained gaps may be seen as trying to hide something.
• Drastic profile revamps removing many jobs could seem misleading.
• Concealing short tenures hints at performance issues or misconduct.
• Selectively highlighting only positive roles looks dishonest.
• Frequent profile editing may signal trying to manipulate impressions.

Rather than hiding jobs completely, better options include:

• Providing context for short tenures or gaps in work history.
• Featuring skills gained even from jobs you weren’t at long.
• Being upfront if asked about concealed positions in interviews.
• Letting your more recent and relevant experience speak for itself.

An occasional deleted job likely won’t raise eyebrows. But extensively hiding your work history could be seen as deceptive by recruiters.

Tips for handling LinkedIn job history

Here are some best practices for managing your employment history on LinkedIn:

• Be truthful – Don’t fabricate or embellish work experiences or education.
• Be selective – Featuring 5-7 current and recent jobs is often sufficient.
• Be relevant – Tailor listed roles to the positions you are seeking.
• Be brief – For irrelevant jobs, title and company name is enough.
• Be prepared – Have a response ready if asked about hidden positions.
• Be thoughtful – Consider if deleting jobs helps or hurts your brand.
• Be consistent – Keep fully deleting jobs to a minimum.
• Be proactive – Provide context to bridge any resume gaps.

With care and common sense, you can shape your LinkedIn work history to put your best foot forward while avoiding misrepresentation. Your profile should accurately reflect your credentials while showcasing only the most compelling information for each target role.

Key takeaways

• You can hide but not permanently delete jobs from your LinkedIn profile.
• Hidden positions remain in your employment history internally.
• Think carefully before removing jobs from public view.
• Never fabricate work experiences or education on LinkedIn.
• Extensively hiding jobs may raise suspicions from recruiters.
• Focus your profile on highlighting relevant skills and accomplishments.

Conclusion

Managing your LinkedIn work history is a balancing act. You want to feature your most compelling credentials while minimizing irrelevant or unflattering roles. Strategically showcasing select positions is fine, but extensively hiding jobs or fabricating information can backfire badly.

With care and common sense, you can curate an accurate LinkedIn profile focused on your top qualifications. This will make the best impression on recruiters without raising red flags. Just don’t ever falsify or misrepresent your actual employment experiences.