It’s perfectly acceptable to refresh your profile. In fact, it’s smart career management. The key is subtle, routine enhancements—highlighting your evolving skills, accomplishments and contributions. Be strategic with timing and messaging. Keep updates relevant to your current role while preparing for the future: focus on transferability. Demonstrate a growth mindset, not desperation to leave.

Updating your LinkedIn profile might cause initial curiosity from your current employer. However, you can address any concerns positively by stating, “I saw an opportunity to highlight our company and our dynamic product/service offerings and my contributions.” For sales roles, you can add, “I hope to attract potential leads.” This approach can be tailored to your role and the business.

It may be scary, but it doesn’t need to be. If your employer notices that your profile is spiffed up, just say that you care about the company’s brand and want to ensure you are representing the company as professionally as possible. Also in settings, be sure to select that you only want your open-to-work profile visible to recruiters, and you can change your visibility to private mode.

You should never feel guilty or scared about updating your profile. While it may signal to your employer that you are job seeking, a complete profile is crucial to getting found in recruiter searches. To avoid suspicion, turn off the ‘share profile updates with your network’ setting and, if using, adjust your open-to-work banner to hide it from non-recruiters.