Blind Sourcing on LinkedIn Recruiter

A candidate rejected because of a non-professional LinkedIn profile photo. Unconscious bias triggered by a first or last name. Not just by hiring managers, but by sourcers too. It happens more than anyone admits.

LinkedIn Recruiter already had an admin option to hide profile photos for all recruiters. Tested once at a large organisation. Expecting resistance. There was none. Recruiters did not even notice.

Then, while preparing a sourcing training session, an extra button appeared in the project settings. Quietly added. No announcement.

Hiding Candidate Photos and Names

The toggle reads: "Enable this option to hide photos and names in the talent pool of this project. Names will still be visible in the messaging function and the pipeline."

Switch it on and what you see changes: initials instead of names, no profile photos. Blind sourcing just got closer to reality. Especially useful when searching together with a hiring manager. Whether someone has a professional photo or not, whether their name is common or uncommon, that information disappears from the search view.

Names Are Still Visible in Messaging and the Pipeline

That names remain visible in messaging and the pipeline makes sense. You need the first name at minimum, because starting a message with "Dear S.T.W.B." would be sloppy. And if you want to look someone up further because their LinkedIn profile is sparse, that also makes sense.

The filter removes the bias trigger at the point where it does the most damage: the initial scan.

Can You Set Blind Sourcing for Your Entire Organisation?

Yes. As an admin you can enforce this setting organisation-wide via product settings, then preferences, then "Hide candidate photos and names." Recruiters and sourcers can still temporarily disable it. In the talent pool they can choose to show names and photos temporarily via the top-right display option.

Worth enabling by default. The candidates do not notice. The process improves.