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Comment by bentt | Hacker News Reader

Don't. It makes you look desperate. Use some kind of other mechanism to broadcast if you must, but if you put that on your Linkedin profile pic it is not a good look.

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What words would you use to describe someone who looks down on others because they're actively looking for a job?

The three that come to mind for me are: "cynical", "elitist", and "asshole"

Pointing out that an action makes one look desperate is not the same thing as looking down on a person.

No, but holding the very opinion that people who do X look desparate (to whom? it's a subjective statement) indicates elitism.

Again, I don't personally hold that opinion. But you have to play the game and get past the recruiters who may.

So you don't think it looks desparate, but you assume it looks desparate to other people?

Indeed, that's not elitism. Maybe just a projection of what you fear people would think about you if you posted it? By the same logic, does someone opening a Tinder account look desparate to potential partners?

Right, the recruiters that would think such a thing are what you say. But they are the gatekeepers. Name call me all you want, it won't change that fact. But it feels good I bet!

I makes it look like you enthusiastically want a job?

As opposed to ? Only sorta want a job?

It’s funny as there is so much talk about being “passionate about X” but here we don’t want to look very passionate.

Yeah well passion is not the same thing as desperation to get just any job to pay the bills with.

> as desperation to get just any job to pay the bills with

I find that a strange thing to determine from what someone does with their linkedin profile ...

Then it would blow your mind to learn what recruiters determine when they look at your social media activity.

Exactly this. It's like panhandling; it doesn't matter how many other people are out there on street corners, it's still a bad look and I'm still going to wonder how you can't at least hold down a job at Burger King.

You don't know how many talented people you passed up because of this bias. Almost painful to read. You have no idea what that person is going through yet you equate them to a line cook at BK? Wow.

It's a tough question OP asked, because there are a lot of people out there really hurting over their work situation. My comment was not to indicate that people who are looking for employment are somehow lesser. It's really about the tactics for getting a job. Getting hired is about convincing someone to choose you. We all know that the reality of a person is endlessly complex, and many people who deserve jobs have a hard time getting hired. So the question was simple... does this tag on linkedin help or hurt?

When you create a sense of availability it goes entirely against the feeling of scarcity. If you see an unopened loaf of bread on the sidewalk you're much less likely to take it home and make a sandwich out of it. We all know why. You wonder what's wrong with it.

Don't act like that loaf of bread on the sidewalk. Act like the loaf on the shelf. Same loaf.

I don't assume that flag indicates the person is jobless. The person working BK while looking for a white collar job might well use it.

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