Xjyuk

Like most of us, I have a personal LinkedIn profile, which I keep as updated as feasible. Sometimes managers send me a message asking for my resume. Now, since I am already employed and busy on a project, I politely decline and let them know that I am not open for opportunities at the moment but might be in the future.

My actual manager doesn't know about these messages and this has gotten me thinking.

On one side, I'm not seriously considering any of them. I welcome them because these connections might become useful in the future, but at the moment I'm not unhappy with my current position and salary so I have no reason to change.

On the other side, I am worried my manager starts taking me as granted and I do not grow as I could, both in position and salary. I have heard complaints about my company not giving promotions with the same policy other companies I can easily access do. Making it known that I have offers could have them take more care of me, leading me to speed up my growth. Yes, it could backfire, and that is something I want to seriously avoid.

Is it something I should do? Should my manager be aware of me being offered opportunities to other companies? If yes, how to make this happens such that it doesn't look like I'm "blackmailing" a raise?

Just to be clear, as I said I'm not unhappy right now and if I ever start to become unhappy I'll be sure to have my manager know first-hand. I'm not asking on how to ask for a raise, I'm asking if I can do something to make my manager act to keep me happy, before me getting unhappy. Since I'm not that much experienced, any relevant experience is more than welcome, even if only slightly correlated.

Should my manager be aware of me being offered opportunities to other
companies?

The short answer to this is no.

The longer answer is that once you make that statement, you have essentially said "I am not happy here for whatever reason, and I am looking." Once you have implied this, it is really hard to take back.

Your best approach is to keep this to yourself, act privately on any opportunity that interests you, get the offer letter, and then turn in your notice.

You need to be aware that LinkedIn recruiters contact a very large amount of profiles. They are fishing with a large net to hope catching one fish. So telling your manager that you are very solicited isn't much of a threat.

There is no such thing as keeping a kind of implicit pressure on managers for them to keep workers happy before they start to be unhappy. They will work according to companies policies and their point is not making workers happy but for the company to make profit.

You can still have a talk with your manager if you notice that a decision are dividing from company policy and your hapiness.

I've worked in the kind of consultancy company you describe. The only way to get a raise/promotion/bonus/... was to threaten to quit. After a couple of years (and several people leaving), they started to change their policies. I was already gone by then.

Making it known that I have offers could have them take more care of me, leading me to speed up my growth.

You don't have offers, you get job postings. You have recruiters contacting to maybe get you an interview for a job. There's nothing concrete there. Telling your boss this won't be impressive, and will only make things awkward. There's really no upside.

The only moment you have true "leverage" is when you have an actual job offer in hand. But even then, using this as a way to get what you want with your current employer is a bad idea, and rarely works out in the long run. Your relationship with your boss and the company is damaged : you won't feel valued by your company, your company will probably hold this against you in the future as a reason why you won't get another promotion or raise, you know you'll have to pull this stunt again if you wish to advance more with your career in this company,... This article written by Alison Green explains why accepting a counteroffer is rarely a good idea. And I've seen it at my old company : anyone who accepted a counteroffer regretted it very soon, no one stayed for more than a year.

If you're unhappy with how your company treats its employees and you don't think you'll be able to build the career you wish to build there, find another job. Don't use those messages as leverage but use them to find something better.

I'm asking if I can do something to make my manager act to keep me
happy, before me getting unhappy.

I think this is your main point. This is what you need to do:

1. Figure out, what you want.


2. Compare (1) to what your current position offers.


3. If there are unmet demands, talk with your manager about them.


4. If the company is either not willing or not able to meet your demands, look for a new job.

Note that it is entirely possible that your current position meets all your demands. But then I don't see a problem.

Definitely do not communicate with your boss about your interactions on LinkedIn. Those messages are private, intended for you alone, and (nearly) all recruiters will respect that you won't want to communicate anything with your current company until it makes sense to do so (i.e., you're leaving for a better, signed offer).

Other excellent answers have addressed that these requests are not special, that managers don't want to be antagonized by employees looking to leave or feeling self important about recruiter spam, and that ultimately it's up to you to seek another job when you feel you've been passed up for a raise. I want to go further and emphasize some important details of dealing with LinkedIn requests as you progress in your career.

It's true that recruiters on LinkedIn flood all potential prospects with requests for resumes and phone chats, so these initial messages are just about meaningless. However, it will serve your career well to develop the discipline to identify possibly interesting or advantageous opportunities in these messages, and in other (unsolicited) job postings you see on LinkedIn.

Even if you're not unhappy in your current role, even if you're next in line for that promotion, keep your finger on the pulse of the job market for your skill set. Talk to recruiters, apply for jobs, and go through interviews, even if you're not necessarily ready to leave.

LinkedIn is a tool that recruiters use to make a living placing people in new positions, but you can use it as a tool to be an expert on what companies need, and how you can best benefit from providing it. This should be an ongoing process throughout your career, and one that shouldn't concern your current employer at all.