Holiday season is in full swing. A tsunami of out of office replies whenever I send a mailing. And barely any traffic on Dutch roads, except for the occasional tractor or bale of straw causing a jam.
One question I get asked sometimes: can you let people know on LinkedIn that you are on holiday? Of course you can.
Your Personal LinkedIn Account
In your regular LinkedIn environment you have the option to set an out of office message. Go to linkedin.com/messaging and click the three dots at the top. A dropdown appears with "Set away message" as the last option.
Click it and a new screen opens where you can set a start date, end date, and message (maximum 300 characters). You know what to do.
Note: you need a paid LinkedIn account to use this feature. If you have a 100% free account, you can try Premium free for one month.
Your LinkedIn Recruiter or Recruiter Lite Account
It is useful to let your network know you are unreachable. But what about your dream candidate who finally decides to respond right after your holiday? When you get back, you see their reply. You rush to follow up. And then you hope they have not already accepted another offer.
Stop there. In LinkedIn Recruiter and Recruiter Lite you can also set an out of office message. Go to your message inbox, click the gear icon in the bottom left, and select Away Messages. A similar screen opens as on your personal account.
One thing to keep in mind: the character limit in Recruiter is only 200 characters, so keep it short and punchy.
