If you’re looking for a job, following companies on LinkedIn can help you attract their recruiters. If your search is under the radar, there are slight risks—which I discuss below–but don’t let that stop you from considering this very useful feature.
Why should you follow companies on LinkedIn?
In general, the fastest job search method is to decide what companies you’re interested in, then proactively go after them, hunting for information, developing a “grapevine” of contacts, and thus making yourself both well-informed and increasingly visible to people connected to those companies. One small but worthwhile step in this process is to follow your target companies on LinkedIn. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it will help you in various ways.
Attract recruiters: As recruiters use LinkedIn to search for candidates, they’re especially attracted to potential candidates who’ve demonstrated an interest in their company, and they can filter their search results to prioritize those. Using LinkedIn Recruiter, they can flag candidates according to criteria such as:
- “More likely to respond.” Recruiters don’t want to waste their time. Following the company is one of the factors that tells them you meet this criterion.
- “Interested in your company.” These are candidates who have interacted with the company’s content. Following the company page is one of these interactions, along with liking, sharing and commenting on the company’s posts.
- “Have (first-degree) company connections.” Following a company doesn’t make you a first-degree connection, but it’s a good first step, because you’ll get posts related to the company in your news feed. Use those posts to nurture connections: “Like” and comment on the posts. Then send a connection request with a note like this: “Your post about X was very (insightful/helpful/interesting). I’d be honored if you would join my LinkedIn network.” If they accept, voila, you’re now a first-degree connection.
All of the above, together with having a well-optimized LinkedIn profile, will increase your chances of being contacted by recruiters looking for someone like you.
Furthermore, when you seek out and apply to open positions, you’ll be a more impressive candidate if you’ve been following the company, becoming well-informed about the company, and making relevant connections. You can write a much more persuasive cover letter, for example: “I’ve been following your company for some time, and here’s why I think it’s a great fit…”
And of course, following companies can lead to networking opportunities. Build relationships and seek out career research conversations, a.k.a. informational interviews. It has been estimated that one in 12 informational interviews leads to a job.
Is is risky for an employee to follow other companies on LinkedIn?
There is a slight risk that following a company could cause your current employer to suspect you’re looking to leave. This is because other LinkedIn members can see the companies that you follow. For example:
- Visitors to a company page can see a list of people who follow that page.
- Visitors to your profile can scroll down to “Interests” at the bottom of your profile and click on “Companies” in that section.
Will your boss, or an influential or nosy colleague, notice you followed another company? Even if they did see it, would they necessarily assume you were job-hunting? Probably not. It’s normal and professional to follow companies in your industry. People do this to check out competitors, for example, or to stay current on trends.
Furthermore, when someone sees you’re following a company, they can’t tell when you did so. For all they know, you may have clicked “Follow” years ago, before you started your current job.
If you’re still concerned, it may help to follow lots of organizations—including professional associations, your alma mater, and so on. This will make individual companies less conspicuous in the list.
The upshot:
For most job seekers, the answer to “Should you follow companies on LinkedIn” is a definite “yes.” It’s easy. You just log in, type an organization’s name into the Search field and click Follow under the company’s name. It’s a good idea to visit the page as well and look for useful information and potential contacts. And if you haven’t yet decided what companies you want to target in your job search, my post “How to Build Your Target Companies List Using LinkedIn” will help. (This post was published in 2023 and updated in 2025.)
