LinkedIn’s new verification methods let you identify yourself and your employer

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, with nearly a billion members worldwide. While this offers a wealth of opportunities for job seekers and recruiters, it also makes the site a prime target for cybercriminals.

Have you received a message out of the blue from the likes of Amazon, Meta or Apple with a sweet job offer? Don’t be so quick to celebrate! Here’s what makes this a major red flag to watch out for.

How do you know if the person who posted that job listing is legit? What’s keeping someone from impersonating you? LinkedIn just rolled out three new features to help prove who you are.

Use your company email

The simplest process is to verify your current employer by receiving a security code on your work email and entering it into LinkedIn. This feature is only available to select companies, but the number is growing. 

Here are a couple of things you need to know:

• Your work email must match your current company’s email domain. For example, [email protected].
• Work emails need to be reverified every 365 days. 

Set up work email verification on your profile:

• Click on the Me tab at the top right of your screen, then View Profile.
• Click More at the top of your profile, then About this profile.
• Click Verify your work email. (NOTE: If this feature isn’t available with your company yet, you won’t see this option and can’t complete the process.)
• Enter your work email for your current company and click Send code.
• Access your verification code in your work email account.
• Enter the code and click Confirm. The code will expire after 15 minutes of receipt.

Once you verify your work email, verification will be displayed on your profile under the About this profile section. Your email address will not be public. 

Verify your identity with CLEAR

Globetrotters may recognize CLEAR as the private sector’s version of TSA PreCheck. CLEAR allows you to bypass the airport ID check by having your fingerprints or eyes scanned. 

Starting this month, you can verify your identity using CLEAR. You’ll have to provide a government ID and phone number, so it’s up to you if it’s worth giving up that information. 

Verify your LinkedIn profile if you already have a CLEAR account:

• Go to your LinkedIn profile, click More > About this profile or the Suggested for you card to start the verification process. (NOTE: You won’t see the following verification options if you aren’t eligible. The feature is rolling out to people now and isn’t available to everyone yet.)
• If you are eligible for either Work Email or Workplace verification, start with those first. Once completed, you’ll have the option to verify your ID.
• If you aren’t prompted with other forms of verification, click Verify with CLEAR.
• You’ll be redirected to a verification process through CLEAR. Enter your phone number or email, and follow the instructions.

Verify your LinkedIn profile with a new Clear account

• Follow the above steps and if you don’t have an existing CLEAR account, one will be created for you after entering your email.
• You’ll be asked to take a photo of yourself.
• You may then be asked to take a photo of your government-issued ID, such as your driver’s license, state ID or passport.
• Click Yes, Share to share the verification with LinkedIn.

Once done, your profile will show you verified your identity with CLEAR.

Have an Entra account?

Some of you will be able to verify your identity and employer at the same time using Microsoft Entra, a workplace identification platform Microsoft launched last year.

Your employer needs to be enrolled with Entra for you to take advantage of this verification method. LinkedIn says it will be available to dozens of participating companies by the end of April. It’s not yet available, so you can’t set it up yet.

Some takeaways

While we applaud LinkedIn’s attempts to fight back against identity theft, there are some issues here. 

• If you don’t already have a CLEAR account, how comfortable are you sharing your ID with LinkedIn? The phone number is no big deal if you use Google Voice or a burner app.
• Entra is pretty new and chances are your company has not enrolled yet and may never. 
• As for using a company email, this is good for headhunters seeking to hire, but if you’re looking for work and don’t have a work email address, you’re out of luck. 

But hey, at least this feature is free and revolves around proving your identity rather than paying for a blue checkmark. Checkmate, Twitter.

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