LinkedIn has become the go-to platform for professionals to build their online presence and networks. With over 740 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is where recruitment happens and careers are advanced. As such, most professionals have a LinkedIn profile displaying their work experience, skills, accomplishments, education, and recommendations.
However, some LinkedIn users may wish to keep their current or past employers private for various reasons. You may want to look for a new job without notifying your existing company, or had a bad experience at an old job. Or you may simply value your privacy and don’t want your employment history visible to just anyone.
So can you hide or remove the company you work for on your LinkedIn profile? Here is a detailed look at how to conceal your employer on LinkedIn.
Why Hide Your Employer on LinkedIn?
There are a few common reasons why professionals choose to omit their employer information on their LinkedIn profiles:
– Job searching discreetly – If you are passively or actively looking for a new job, you may want to keep it private from your current employer. Displaying that you work at your existing company on your LinkedIn profile risks them finding out.
– Bad experience at previous job – If you had a negative experience, difficulty with management, got fired, or left a company on bad terms, you may prefer not to be associated with them on your LinkedIn anymore.
– Privacy concerns – Some people are very private and simply don’t want their entire employment history visible to anyone who comes across their profile. They may only want certain connections seeing where they work currently or have worked in the past.
– Avoiding solicitation – Having your employer displayed may lead to random solicitation or recruitment from competitors. Hiding it can avoid this nuisance.
– Client confidentiality – For certain professions like consulting or legal services, you may not be allowed to disclose your clients and wish to keep your employment discreet.
– Personal safety concerns – Individuals in certain high-risk professions, like journalism, law enforcement, research, or activism, may wish to conceal where they are employed for safety reasons.
No matter what the reason, there are ways to remove or hide your employer or employment history from your LinkedIn profile, which we will now explore.
How to Hide Your Current Employer on LinkedIn
To conceal your current company on your LinkedIn profile, follow these steps:
1. Go to your profile page and click “View profile” to access the editing mode.
2. In the Experience section, click on your current position.
3. Next to the Company field, click the three dots icon and select “Discard changes”.
4. This will remove the company name, leaving the position title and duration.
5. You can also delete the entire position by clicking the three dots icon and choosing “Delete”.
6. Click “Save” to apply the changes to your profile.
This will remove the company name from your current position, hiding who you work for now from public view. The position itself will still be listed with your job title and dates only.
Things to Note
– The company will still be visible to you when you are logged in and editing your profile. But it will be hidden to anyone else viewing your profile.
– Obscuring the company for your current position only hides your present employer. Your past jobs and companies will still show.
– Hiding your current company may raise questions or suspicions from connections. So expect people to ask where you currently work if they notice it is absent.
How to Hide Past Employers on LinkedIn
To conceal companies you’ve worked for in the past on LinkedIn:
1. Go to your profile and click “View profile”.
2. For each past position you want to hide, click the three dots and choose “Discard changes” next to the company name.
3. Alternatively, you can delete old positions entirely to remove the company.
4. You can also hover over a position and click the “Pencil” icon to edit it. Delete the company name here.
5. Click “Save” for the changes to take effect on your profile.
This will remove all visible employer names from your work history. The positions themselves will be listed with job titles and dates only.
Important Notes
– While discarding the company for past positions hides it from public view, you will still see the company names when editing your profile.
– Obscuring your past employers only makes the company names invisible to others. It does not delete or alter your employment history itself.
– Completely deleting a past position will eliminate the company and that role from your profile entirely. Use caution when deleting.
– Recruiters may still be able to look up your past employers on LinkedIn using your job titles and dates even without the company listed.
How to Hide All Employers on LinkedIn
To completely conceal all current and past employers from your LinkedIn profile:
1. Go through each experience listed and discard the company name by clicking the three dots and selecting “Discard changes”.
2. For positions you are comfortable removing entirely, delete them using the three dots dropdown.
3. You can also expand your profile to “About” mode rather than just the default view. Here you can directly delete companies.
4. Remove all company names and many positions as needed until no employers are visible anymore.
5. Click “Save” for the changes to apply. Your profile’s work history will show job titles and durations only now.
6. As an extra step, you can go to your profile privacy settings. Under “Profile viewing options”, choose “Private” to hide your entire experience section from public view.
This more extensive approach ensures all current and previous employers are hidden from your profile completely. Only you will see them when editing your profile while logged in.
Key Points
– While this method conceals all companies, recruiters can likely still determine past employers from the remaining job titles and dates.
– Hiding entire positions or your full work history section may look suspicious to some visitors. Expect questions.
– Double check that no employers are visible on your profile to connections after making the changes.
– You can selectively reveal some positions but hide others by adjusting privacy settings.
How to Partially Show Employers on LinkedIn
If you want to show some positions and employers but conceal others on your profile, you can:
– Delete companies for roles you want to hide using the three dots discard option.
– Keep companies visible for positions you are comfortable displaying publicly.
– Go to your profile privacy settings and choose “Select what others see” under “Profile viewing options”.
– Here you can hide old positions but keep newer roles showing your employer.
– Use the toggle switches to pick which parts of your profile’s work history are public.
This allows you to strategically showcase select employer names but obscure those you wish to keep private.
Tips for Partial Visibility
– Keep your most recent or impressive employers visible to elevate your profile.
– Obscure companies you left on bad terms or want to hide your association with.
– Keep positions relevant to your current career public and hide unrelated past jobs.
– Prevent visibility gaps by making sure at least one employer displays at each position.
– Add a position like “Independent Consultant” or “Career Break” with no company if you need to cover gaps.
Getting Around Required Company Fields
When entering a new position, LinkedIn requires you put a company name and won’t allow blank fields. Here are some workarounds:
– Enter “Undisclosed” or “Private” as the company name, then immediately discard changes to remove it.
– Use a generic name like “Accounting Firm” or “Healthcare Company” rather than the official employer name.
– List yourself, your name, or “Independent Contractor” as the company if self-employed or freelancing.
– On your profile edit mode, expand to “About” to add experience directly without mandatory fields. Then save and revert back to default view.
– Add new positions on desktop which enables an “I don’t want to share this experience publicly” link to skip entering a company.
Potential Consequences of Hiding Employers
While obscuring your employers on LinkedIn can be done, there are some risks and consequences to weigh:
– It may harm your credibility and make recruiters skeptical if no companies display on your profile.
– Background checks and references may still reveal employers to new potential employers during hiring.
– LinkedIn connections may wonder why you’ve hidden your work history and ask about it.
– Having no employer visibility limits your brand and diminishes your professional image on a career-focused platform.
– Recruiters can likely still figure out past employers from your position titles and durations.
– Great opportunities come through LinkedIn, so being too private may hinder your growth.
Alternatives to Hiding Employers
Instead of concealing your employers entirely, some alternative options include:
– Leaving employers visible, but omitting specific job titles or responsibilities you want private.
– Disclosing your company, but using a vague position like “Researcher” rather than a descriptive job title.
– Keeping employer names, but expanding your profile to “About” mode to remove company descriptions.
– Setting past positions not relevant to your current career as “Private” in your profile visibility settings.
– Marking only your current employer “Visible to connections only” if searching discreetly.
– Adding a disclaimer to explain gaps or obscure companies, like “Career break” or “Firm no longer operating”.
Conclusion
It is possible to hide or remove company names from your LinkedIn profile to conceal your current and past employers. This can be done by discarding changes, deleting positions entirely, or adjusting your profile visibility settings.
However, complete employer opacity risks damaging your professional image and visibility. Therefore, it is wise to balance privacy concerns against showcasing career achievements.
There are workarounds like entering generic company names and strategic visibility options. But in most cases, full transparency with clear explanations is ideal on a platform designed for networking and career development.
Proceed mindfully, assess the tradeoffs, and use caution when obscuring employers on your LinkedIn profile. With the right strategy tailored to your needs, you can maintain both privacy and a strong professional presence.
