LinkedIn Introduces the #OpenToWork Necklace. HR Professionals Call It "a Conversation Starter."
The green crescent-shaped pendant, worn around the neck on a standard silver chain, signals to everyone in your immediate physical vicinity that you are open to work — whether they asked or not.
LinkedIn, the professional networking platform owned by Microsoft, has announced the #OpenToWork Necklace, a physical pendant that extends the company’s existing digital job-seeking signifier into the real world, ensuring that your employment status is visible to potential employers, casual acquaintances, and strangers at the pharmacy at all times.
The necklace, a green crescent shape bearing the text “#OPENTOWORK” in white lettering, is modelled directly on the digital green frame that LinkedIn users can add to their profile photo. The company says the physical version is intended to “bridge the gap between your online professional presence and your offline professional presence,” a gap that many users did not know existed or particularly wanted bridged.
“The #OpenToWork frame changed how people signal availability on LinkedIn. The necklace changes how they signal it at brunch.”
— A LinkedIn Product Manager, at brunch
The product is being marketed with the tagline “Are you really open?”, a question the company intends as motivational and which several focus group participants interpreted as accusatory. LinkedIn has since clarified that the question is rhetorical. The participants have not been reassured.
The necklace will retail at $34.99 and is available in two finishes: Professional Silver and Premium Gold, the latter of which LinkedIn says is “for candidates who are very open.” A limited Platinum edition, at $129, includes engraving of the wearer’s headline, a 90-day LinkedIn Premium subscription, and a small card to hand to anyone who asks about the necklace, which reads: “Yes, I am available. Here is my profile QR code.”
Response from the HR community has been divided. Several recruiters contacted by Not News said the necklace would make candidate identification “significantly easier” at networking events. One hiring manager, who asked to be identified only as someone with opinions, said she had already spotted three candidates at a recent industry conference and had found the experience “efficient but slightly unsettling, like a job fair that came to me.”
Others expressed reservations. An employment lawyer, also not named because we did not ask his name, noted that wearing the necklace to a current employer’s office could create “an interesting HR situation.” He declined to describe how interesting. His rate is $450 an hour.
LinkedIn says the necklace is washable, tarnish-resistant, and suitable for all occasions “where networking is appropriate or could be made appropriate.” The company’s FAQ lists acceptable occasions as: networking events, conferences, coffee shops, gyms, parks, public transport, and “anywhere you feel ready.” The FAQ does not list any occasions where the necklace is not appropriate.
Shipping begins next month. LinkedIn Premium members receive free shipping. Standard members receive a reminder to upgrade to Premium.