How to Turn Off LinkedIn Job Alerts: A Data-Driven Guide for Tech Professionals
LinkedIn has become the premier networking platform for technical professionals. However, its barrage of notifications can overwhelm even the most seasoned tech geek.
This data-driven guide will empower you to effectively manage LinkedIn job alerts using expert insights tailored specifically for technology practitioners.
The Rise of LinkedIn Among Technical Talent
With over 760 million members, LinkedIn is the world‘s largest professional network. But it enjoys particular prominence within the technical community.
According to LinkedIn‘s own data, the technology and information sector sees the highest engagement with 9.8 billion content impressions daily.
Software and IT services also dominate the platform in terms of representation, with over 68 million members identifying as IT professionals.
For tech practitioners, LinkedIn‘s unparalleled access to decision makers at notable companies makes it invaluable for career development and mobility.
In fact, according to a 2021 survey by Blind:
- 76% of tech professionals use LinkedIn to find job opportunities
- 64% leverage their network during job searches
With tech talent in such high demand, it has become essential for engineering, product, and technical sales professionals to maintain a robust presence on LinkedIn.
The Double-Edged Sword of LinkedIn Job Alerts
While discovering relevant opportunities is critical, staying on top of the constant barrage of notifications on multiple platforms poses challenges even for seasoned technologists.
According to Microsoft‘s research:
- The average LinkedIn member receives 23 notifications per week
- The most common complaint is too many notifications (61%)
- Among those who feel overwhelmed, 67% receive 200+ emails per day
When juggling Slack messages, text pings, product alerts, and more, additional noise makes it impossible to achieve focus and flow state as knowledge workers.
From a neuroscience perspective, intermittent notifications trigger the release of cortisol and adrenaline, accelerating stress.
While some distraction is healthy, too much overwhelms our working memory capacity–the brain‘s RAM that allows us to filter information and make focused decisions.
Without the ability to cognitively focus, technical professionals fail to produce their best work, think creatively, or envision innovative solutions.
Finding ways to minimize notifications is key to regaining mental clarity while avoiding distraction anxiety and burnout.
Balancing Signal vs. Noise as Technical Talent
The key is striking the right balance where relevant signals make it through the noise.
Custom tailoring notifications around individual preferences and interests is crucial.
For example, while some engineers care deeply about staying atop the latest emerging JavaScript frameworks, others are laser focused on management opportunities.
Likewise, senior level professionals generally seek more targeted positions rather than entry-level openings.
The right balance also protects your time for actual relationship building instead of mass blasts.
As tech recruiter Wendy Murphy notes:
"If a recruiter takes a targeted approach, customizing messages for each recipient by showcasing roles that excite them, they‘ll get better results than spamming their entire network."
With the right balance, notifications enhance rather than detract from the LinkedIn experience for technical professionals.
Step-by-Step: Managing LinkedIn Job Alerts
If you feel overwhelmed by notifications as a technologist, fine-tuning your LinkedIn job alerts is a great place to start regaining control.
You can fully disable alerts or customize them to only receive relevant opportunities.
Here is an expanded walkthrough for technical professionals.
Turn Off All LinkedIn Job Alerts
If you want to permanently stop job alerts, follow these device-specific sets of steps:
On Desktop:
- Click your profile picture
- Select Settings & Privacy
- Choose Communications
- Scroll down and toggle Off Job Alerts
On Mobile:
- Tap the Me tab
- Tap the gear icon to access Settings
- Select Privacy
- Choose Job Seeking Preferences
- Switch Off Job Recommendations
This permanently stops all LinkedIn job alerts across all devices.
Potential Downsides for Tech Job Seekers
Fully disabling alerts may cause you to miss relevant opportunities, which poses higher risks for technical professionals considering how competitive the market is currently.
Unless you are fully satisfied in your current role with no interest in discovering alternative options, keeping alerts enabled in some capacity keeps doors open.
Customize LinkedIn Job Alerts
For technical professionals invested in continuous career development, fully customizing job alerts is generally the best approach.
With targeted, well-defined parameters, you eliminate noise while still receiving signals perfectly matched to your niche skills and interests.
How to Customize LinkedIn Job Alerts
Click the Jobs tab and select Job Alerts
Review existing alerts and delete irrelevant ones
Click the three dots to edit remaining alerts
Refine your filters such as:
Job titles and keywords
Companies
Skills and technologies
Experience level
Job types (full-time, contract, etc)
Location (including remote)
Date posted
Frequency caps (Daily, Weekly Digest)
For example, a Senior JavaScript Engineer might define the following filters:
- Title: Senior JavaScript Engineer OR JavaScript Architect OR JS Developer
- Keywords: React, Node.js, MongoDB
- Skills: JavaScript, React.js, Node.js
- Experience: 7+ years
- Location: New York City Metropolitan Area OR Remote
- Frequency: Weekly Digest
This surfaces relevant opportunities matching specialized criteria without causing distraction anxiety amidst other notifications competing for attention.
Customizing Alerts: Visual Example
Observe how we fine-tune the filters to isolate targeted, senior JS roles aligned to niche skills:
Notifications Every Technologist Should Disable
Beyond job alerts, several other LinkedIn notification types quickly build up noise.
As a technologist, you should disable:
Profile Views
Who viewed your LinkedIn profile lacks context to provide meaningful value. Focus energy on building genuine connections over vanity metrics.
Content Recommendations
Algorithms suggesting posts and articles lead to distraction rabbits holes. Rather than rely on external signals, intentionally curate knowledge from diverse expert sources instead as a learning leader.
Messages
Review messages directly within LinkedIn itself on your own cadence rather than feeling pressured to respond instantly to each ping.
Groups and Pages
avoid allowing external sources to hijack your attention. Subscribe to key groups, but check in on your own time.
Ads
Remove the distraction of marketing messages altogether to eliminate noise.
Savvy technical professionals should review main notification settings frequently as new notification types emerge on the platform:
My LinkedIn Notification Management Journey
As a former engineering leader turned developer advocate, I heavily leveraged LinkedIn job alerts early in my career as I explored startup opportunities.
However, when I shifted into an influencer role fueling the developer community, I felt overwhelmed by unnecessary notifications.
I previously had alerts enabled for “software engineer” roles in tech hubs like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York.
But these yielded far too many irrelevant junior-level openings.
I refined my alerts to only surface Senior Engineering management roles related to my niche skills like:
Keywords: Developer Relations, Developer Advocate, Engineering Evangelist, Developer Marketing
Companies: Top tech brands known for strong advocacy programs
Location: San Francisco Bay Area & Remote
Frequency: Weekly Digest
As a result, I only receive ~1 notification per week, but each targets senior-level roles perfectly aligned to my unique background.
The right balance provides meaningful signals to support my career growth without overwhelming distractions.
Key Takeaways: Optimizing Your LinkedIn Notifications
The techniques covered in this guide enable technology practitioners to retake control of their notifications.
Here are some key lessons to remember:
Rule #1: Disable Everything Then Selectively Re-Enable
Start by turning off all notifications so only intentionally activated alerts flow in.
Rule #2: Seek Quality Over Quantity
Carefully consider whether each notification type provides meaningful signal or distracting noise. Customize accordingly.
Rule #3: Constantly Tune Based on Changing Needs
Re-evaluate notifications as your career evolves. Junior engineers need different alerts than senior leaders.
Rule #4: Check Notifications Directly
Review notifications within LinkedIn itself rather than allowing external push notifications demanding immediate response.
Proactively managing your notifications is vital for sustained success as a technical practitioner navigating an ever-complex career landscape.
We hope these data-backed best practices for customizing LinkedIn job alerts empower you to retake control of your technology career.
