For many people, LinkedIn is a vital component of the job hunting process, but when your current boss can see your profile, it is not exactly the best idea to advertise that you are looking for other opportunities.

Now that’s about to change thanks to Open Candidates, a new feature being introduced to LinkedIn’s platform that will allow you to let recruiters know you are looking for work without tipping off your current employer.

“The secret to career happiness is finding a job you love, however there is no way to tell the world that you’re open to new opportunities without worrying about your employer finding out,” Dan Shapero, careers product leader at LinkedIn, wrote in a blog post. “But imagine if you could signal to recruiters everywhere that you’d like to hear from them, and by doing so increase your chances of having one of those magic moments when a recruiter reaches out with an amazing opportunity.”

Open Candidates is a new feature that secretly lets recruiters know that you are open to new jobs. To activate it, you simply need to navigate to the Preferences tab in the Jobs section and toggle the button that says “Let recruiters know you’re open.” This will let recruiters know that you are actively looking for another job, and it will flag your profile in their searches to make it more noticeable. LinkedIn says that this will increase the chance that you will receive more messages about employment opportunities.

“Who among us hasn’t, at some point, tried to find work without our boss finding out?” Shapero said. “Now, you can privately indicate to recruiters on LinkedIn without worrying.”

Shapero noted that not only will your current boss be unable to see the Open Candidate flag on your profile, but it will also be hidden from other recruiters at your own company. Of course, LinkedIn also has a disclaimer under the new feature that it “can’t guarantee that we can identify every recruiter affiliated with your company.” The feature is currently available on web and mobile in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and it will be rolling out to other countries sometime in the near future.

Open Candidates is one of many updates to hit LinkedIn’s platform since it was acquired by Microsoft Corp. earlier this year for the impressive sum of $26.2 billion. The site recently introduced Career Pages, which allow businesses to create a customized LinkedIn profile for their brand. LinkedIn also added a “Meet the Team” feature that works somewhat like a corporate bio page with a bit more detail.

You can watch a video explaining the new Open Candidates feature below:

Image courtesy of LinkedIn