Currently an intern for a small business. Today I was told by one of my supervisors that my boss saw that my LinkedIn page had the tag “open to work” still on it and requested me to remove it. However, I only have that on there because I’m currently looking for a 2nd job on the side to help with rent.
Not even an hour later, my boss called a meeting. He wants us to develop our company LinkedIn page, which we all agreed with. However, he also brought up that he will make a set of rules for our personal LinkedIn profiles that we have to follow. He went on to say he will determine what profile picture and banner we can use, who we can connect with, what posts we like and repost, along with our bio and description. His argument for this was that LinkedIn is strictly for business and is not your social media.
I feel very uneasy about this. Considering I’m a recent graduate and just an intern at the moment, it’s not like I plan to spend the rest of my life with this specific company. So why should I make my personal LinkedIn profile dedicated to this business? I use my account to network and of course seek other job opportunities. I really feel like it’s an invasion of privacy for them to dictate all of these things. Is this even legal?
Some of my coworkers agree and one of them even told me they had to block everyone on LinkedIn so they can’t find his account. Im not sure how to approach this situation and my boss is VERY stubborn. Would love any advice on how to go about this. Or if this is even legal in the first place lol.