How can my boss know that I am looking for a job via LinkedIn? [closed]

Question

Today, when my boss was talking with me, he suddenly said: No you don't need to worry about it, everyday you have 3 or 4 messages with agent in LinkedIn, right?

I am very very surprised because :

1. I work at home

2. I don't use VPN

3. I use Linux (Ubuntu) system which installed by me

4. I login with my Chrome / Gmail account

5. I use my personal outlook

6. Every time I talk with the interviewers, I use my Zoom account.

7. I use my own mobile phone, and my sim card.

The only thing is I use a laptop, provided by my company, daily. But as a 15-year IT engineer, I cannot see how it is possible for my company to view my data. Especially, when he knows there are 3 or 4 people I'm talking with everyday.

The only possibility: is it possible that LinkedIn provides a service that would send my data to my company?

Answer 1

The simplest explanation is your boss is assuming this because it happens to so many people. There are even threads on this site complaining about excess contact with recruiters. That said, perhaps your activity on LI is apparent; people can see sudden rebuilding of your profile, or you following new companies. Also, people in various companies talk to each other. It's likely not a fancy surveillance issue.

Answer 2

This isn't even a hard topic. Engineering positions are abundant right now. In the current market, any engineer with a LinkedIn profile that demonstrates even a cursory understanding of a specific discipline will be getting 3-5 attempts to connect on a daily basis.

Your manager likely doesn't know you're responding to those recruiter requests, and still it's not hard to know you're getting them. Most likely they're trying to gauge you're interest and likelihood for retention. I have a number of very talented people on my team, and I know they're getting LinkedIn-bombed on a daily basis. It's a fight I continually have to have with executives to make sure I can continue to offer a competitive wage and continue pursuing product choices that they find interesting and compelling. (luckily, I work for an executive team that is very plugged into this concept and works with me every step of the way)

LinkedIn actually offers the opposite service in which they will not show data to your company if you are returned in a search set. It is possible that they're using a non-company affiliated account to search for individuals who have marked themselves as "Open to work". The more likely scenario is that your manager is just aware of the reality and trying to get you to "confess" to looking.

Answer 3

The only good answer to a remark like this is to say:

What? You only get 3 or 4 a day! I get at least 10 a day.

After all, he's only saying 3 or 4 a day probably because he's also getting 3 or 4 messages on LinkedIn a day. So it's only right that you tease him back by saying that you're getting way more than him.

Besides, even if you're wrong, what is going to say? "No, I know you wrote back to a recruiter this morning. The malware I installed on your laptop twelve months ago tells me everything you do on it."

Answer 4

Everyone in the industry with an ounce of credibility and a presence on linkedin will receive messages from recruiters. They may have simply meant of course you receive messages on linked in from recruiters, in the same way that of course water is wet.

I wonder about the context of it being raised by your manager during a work conversation, but I think your boss was simply assuming that you're a skilled engineer, with an account on LinkedIn, which means you are receiving messages from recruiters.