DateableHow to keep LinkedIn from linking to your dating profile
Make sure nothing on LinkedIn matches your dating profile, and check your settings before you look someone up.
LinkedIn is built so people can find you by name, employer and headline. Your dating profile is built so people find you by choice. Keep them separate: make sure nothing on LinkedIn matches your dating profile, and check your settings before you look someone up.
Why LinkedIn and dating profiles should not match
LinkedIn answers the question "Who are you at work?" and shows your full name, employer, job title and years of experience. A dating profile answers "Who are you to date?" and shows photos, your interests and what you are looking for.
If they match, a curious date can search your name plus your employer and find your LinkedIn within minutes. They can find your home address through your employer's office, search further back in time than your dating profile shows, and work out whether you told them the truth about your career.
Scammers do this too. If your headline says "VP at Tech Company" and your dating profile says you run your own business, they know you are either lying about money or looking for someone to impress. Either way, you are easier to target.
Check your LinkedIn viewing setting first
LinkedIn tells you when someone looks at your profile, and it shows who they are. If you plan to look up a match on LinkedIn, check your settings: you can turn off "Profile viewing privacy" so they do not know you looked.
On desktop, go to Settings & privacy, then Privacy, then "How others see your LinkedIn activity". Find "Profile viewing privacy" and choose "Private" mode.
This matters because looking at their profile sends a signal: you are curious about them, and you may be checking their employer, salary range or how long they stayed in a job. That tells them you are being careful, which is smart on your part, but tells them something about what you are thinking. Checking privately costs you nothing and keeps your cards close.
Make your LinkedIn headline vague
Your LinkedIn headline is the line that sits under your name. It is also the easiest thing for someone to search.
If your headline says "Senior Product Manager at Acme Inc", someone can search your name plus "Acme" and find you in seconds. If it says "Product Manager" with no company name, it is much harder. A search for your name alone might not even point to LinkedIn.
On LinkedIn, edit your headline to leave out the company name. Use your job title only, or your title and your industry:
Senior Product Manager | SaaS
This tells people what you do without giving away where you work.
Keep your dating bio and LinkedIn summary completely separate
Do not copy a phrase from your LinkedIn summary into your dating profile, or the other way around. If your dating bio and LinkedIn summary share uncommon words or phrases, someone searching your name plus a phrase will find both profiles at once.
Your LinkedIn summary might be "Passionate about solving hard problems in fintech. Mentor for junior engineers. Rock climbing and board games in my time off."
A phrase like "passionate about solving hard problems" is distinctive. If your dating profile also says it, a search engine will match both profiles to the same name, and a person will find you.
Write your dating bio from scratch. Use different words. If you mention climbing, do not mention "rock climbing". If you mention games, do not mention "board games". Enough small differences mean that the two profiles will not appear together in a search.
Use a different photo on each
LinkedIn photos and dating photos should be different. Do not use your LinkedIn headshot on your dating profile, and do not use a dating photo on LinkedIn.
A reverse image search can match a photo across sites. If the same photo appears on both LinkedIn and your dating profile, someone can search your face, find both profiles, and link them.
Your LinkedIn photo should be professional: a headshot, good lighting, business attire. Your dating photo should be a real photo of you, but not a professional headshot. A casual photo at an event, a photo from an outing, or even the same clothing in a different setting all work.
Be careful when looking up a match
Once you know your viewing setting is private, you can look someone up safely. Do not do this before you exchange a few messages: checking LinkedIn early can signal that you are checking their money, which feels like a purchase offer.
If something on their LinkedIn looks wrong, ask them about it before you raise doubts. "I looked you up and saw you worked at two companies that do not look related - how did you move between them?" opens the question. "That does not add up" shuts it down.
Watch for signs that their LinkedIn does not match what they told you. If they said they left their last job three years ago but LinkedIn shows they were there until last month, ask. If they said they manage a team but their title is individual contributor, ask. A date who lies about their job when they could just say "I do not want to talk about work yet" has told you something useful.
For guidance on spotting mismatches like these across all their profiles, read about spotting catfish. To understand what you are looking for in a generous member, explore what generosity looks like. And to choose your own photos well, pick photos that work for you.
