I don't use Linked in, but I do have a service dog. I wouldn't put her in my profile if I did have a linked in page. It would probably not benefit me in any way, and could cost me potential jobs due to discrimination.
What industry? I think thats super important. My mom works in post secondary, and the professionalism standards are pretty high. I went into tech/gamedev originally which yes is still professional work, but the tone of the industry is incredibly different.
For me, if I was still using linkedin, *in the tech industry*, I would post the photos. They're super chill they might even just wonder to themselves if they are dog friendly places youre going. You don't need to acknowledge anywhere on the post that a dog is in the pic.
As I said in my post, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Currently for state government. I’m not sure if it’s drastically different in other industries but from the other posts I’m seeing on LinkedIn, I don’t really think so.
I wouldn’t post “I AND MY DOG went to [event]” lol, I’d still keep it low key and professional, I just need to know if I can post the pictures at all
Ah yeah i wasnt sure where you were doing DEI, I know lots of companies that have people doing that sort of work.
For DEI you would certainly hope that they would walk the walk and not just talk the talk. If it were me (make the choice thats best for you), I would post the pics. Intern life is rough, you gotta be visible and seem engaged with your career track. It's like the longest job interview in the world. I wouldn't want to miss opportunities because I was a less eager intern than somebody else. But, I'm also the kind of guy who puts my volunteerwork for the gay community on my resume. My uncle gave me a good pitch on why he thought it was a good idea: if they dont want to hire you because of that being on your resume, is that *really* somewhere you want to work?
The last point is super important. Don't work for people who see what is essentially an aspect of you (whether it's the disability or the presence of the dog is semantics at that point) as a detriment.
As a hiring manager, I always like to open screening interviews with 'I've got your resume so I know what you've done professionally. I'll introduce myself, then I'd like your story and to know why you're interested in [company/role] and who the person is behind the piece of paper I've already got.' The best answers tell me about their interests and them to the extent they're willing to share, instead of launching into rereading their resume (which has been read and deemed suitable, hence the call). That's often a great place where people answer the awkward questions casually or see around corners that are helpful.
'I'm interested in DEI because I've experienced what it's like when it goes wrong personally. Without going into medical details, I have a disability that requires a service dog, and we've together seen firsthand how many doors are shut because of it, often illegally but without real recourse.' [addressing service dog]
That's no different than 'I'm a long time nurse, but took about ten years off from the workforce to raise my children, recently renewed my nursing license, and the children are now at a point where I don't need to be a stay-at-home parent' [addressing a return to workforce after a long absence, you already know a 'why are you interested in coming back to work now?' question will be asked]
Or turning on your video camera if you happen to have blue hair. Like... They're *eventually* gonna know. If blue hair is a problem and they're gonna be a dickwad about it, its always gonna be a problem. Turn on the videocamera. 🤣
Glad it's helpful. I also just don't like surprises. I'll be open with you about salary, responsibilities, what problems you're walking into (every job fixes problems), I just ask that you within reason be open with me. To use the three above examples, like... I'm gonna eventually know a golden retriever is attached to your hip at all times, or your hair is blue, or that you didn't work for ten years [resume already said that].
I really don't care about any of that, except that I'm not supposed to pet and love on service dogs while they're working and that'll be hard for me. 🤣
I've been on the other side of the table too. I have a past misdemeanor conviction on my record that will show up in any background check, and I usually don't tell recruiters but the first time I talk to the hiring manager I disclose it and say 'Look, this happened, and you will see it. I'm willing to discuss any details, but if this is going to be a concern for you I want you to know now.' Its super awkward, and obviously not the same as a disability (I had the opportunity not to be stupid), but it's never been *bad* for me to make sure open communication wasn't established from the get go.
Things people are going to know eventually are going to affect you now, or later, so may as well just take your medicine - tasty or not. This is especially true when the information you're withholding is exceedingly obvious (in my case, because the government will tell you, in a service dogs case because it's pretty obvious when a dog is sitting next to you). One path, you control the message, one path you do not.
Personally I think the fact that you have to ask whether it's a good idea is your answer. There's a risk, and you're early in your career. There is unlikely to be any significant benefit to you. I would recommend keeping things that don't benefit you off social media that is under your direct control.
If someone else posts a photo of you that includes your service dog, that's great and normalizes it and also usually won't appear on your page in the same way something you post will.
Source: have been disabled (using a wheelchair and service dog) throughout my career, from early post college internship days now up to pretty high level leadership. I don't post about my disability aids, but they do incidentally appear on social media when others post photos of me.
Note, I work in hard science, where being disabled is a huge disadvantage and people will sometimes be visibly upset when they learn I am not able bodied, so my advice is definitely colored by that experience; however... I really advocate taking the position of "if it doesn't benefit you, don't do it", when it comes to social media regardless of industry.
Me personally I wouldn’t risk it. I think it would be too easy for people to judge and silently discriminate.
Service dogs are the kind of thing you drop later, after you’ve already secured or semi-secured the job. Otherwise your risk of being denied simply because it “wouldn’t work” is tripled. You’ve gotta put yourself in a safe situation first so if they try to deny you you can sue
Honestly I would prefer to never get a job offer from a company due to mentioning my service dog instead of getting all the way to the interview just to have everything rescinded once I ask about accommodations for my service dog. I don’t want to work for a company that is ashamed of me. I do understand that some people can’t do this, but this is my personal preference.
My SD is in my LinkedIn photo, but not labeled but I’ve been debating changing it
Also. As someone who’s worked in hiring and HR, I’ve never given a shit about someone’s linked in photos. Literally never. I’ve looked at LinkedIn’s sure. But I could care less about professional headshots or whatever. I’ve never seen a reason it’s mattered- but that is literally just me so take that with a grain of salt
In your LI profile I believe you can pin specific posts.
Understandably balancing not wanting to draw attention to it but get it out of the way, you could pin a post from when the service dog was necessary or helped you through an event with the thank you to the event coordinators who were understanding and accommodating (obviously they legally have to be, but it's a positive thank you).
"Had a great time at the National DEI Conference in Nashville this week. Also so proud of Buddy, who helped me avoid a serious episode related to my disability so we could keep having a great conference. Thank you also to the organizers and staff of the conference who really leaned into the mission we all support and were completely accommodating and supportive of my little (necessary!) tag along that saved the day for me."
Pin that with a picture that intentionally includes your dog and then you can just post the pictures that you take or are taken of you in your natural environment. Isn't that the point of DEI? Normalize what people unfairly characterize as 'other' and discriminate against for reasons other than professional.
The point is you have a dog by your side for a legitimate reason, and obviously you love him and he's a living being, but for all intents and purposes should be treated essentially as it would be wearing pants to the conference - I can't come to this conference without pants, and I can't come to this conference without my service animal. Nobody questions the expectation that someone at an event wears pants (or an equivalent lower body garment, skirt/dress/whatnot), in fact you'd be removed if you took them off or tried to enter without them. So normalize it the same way you normalize wearing pants. 🤷
In my experience (I do not have a service dog, but I nteract with people with service dogs all the time, have dogs of my own who are most certainly *not* service dogs and cannot/should not go everywhere, have hired/fired/worked with people with service dogs) the best approach is simply to not make it an issue yourself before someone else makes it an issue.
It's expected that you work 9-5. It's expected you're dressed appropriately for your workspace and have your computer available. It's expected that you attend meetings. It's expected that you receive your paycheck on time. It's expected that your company offers appropriate legally compliant FMLA requirements, and doesn't create a dangerous or discriminatory work environment. It's expected that a person with a legitimate service dog (not just beat friend Fluffy) has a dog with them.
If something really serious occurs, and you wind up with close coworkers who like... Go into anaphylactic shock from a dog allergy, your employer needs to find a reasonable accomodation if it's in any way possible (separating the employees, etc), but that's such a rare occurrence and a person like that would have a hard time existing long in 2024 without being able to manage themselves.
Edit to add to an already long post: often, I *like* to hire what others would call the diversity hire. This is anecdotal, but if I can point to one thing you've overcome that I discover through the hiring process you've overcome that has made it harder for you to get to where you are than the average candidate, I now have one signal about your work ethic. I usually can't ask about it, and I guess legally I'm supposed to be blind to the fact I even know the information, but nothing you say in an interview process ever disappears, the same way no testimony in a trial that a judge tells the jury to ignore is just forgotten by 12 people like magic.
As it relates to service dogs, nobody has a service dog just for shits and giggles. I'm not disabled, and caring for my dogs is a hard, expensive pain in the butt, as much as I love them. If you're doing that with a disability, you're expending a *lot* of effort on it, whether you consciously know it or not. You obviously can work hard at something you're passionate about. If I can verify you're passionate about the job too, sure. Let's do that. Dog can have an honorary salary of $10/mo for pup cups on the company card, can you start Monday? 🤣
My service dog is pictured on my profile, I’m not going to hide my dog’s attendance at a conference, etc. my service dog is an extension of me and what they see is the whole package. If someone is going to act discriminatory on the basis of needing a service animal, then I wouldn’t want to work for that company anyway- they aren’t ready for me and my authenticity and their actions would reflect their lack of commitment to DEI.
I would reflect on the question: if they are not committed to DEI in their hiring process, do I want to work for them? I have found it’s toxic and terrible to have to be the one trying to enact change in a company that doesn’t wholly make intentional effort to walk the DEI talk.
I used to interview without my service dog and always followed that rule of only disclose the accommodation need for a service dog after the official job offer. I learned that doing this also set up the impression that I don’t “need” my service dog if I’m capable of interviewing without amongst my future co-workers and this really made a challenge for me in the beginning of one job I had having to unnecessarily over explain myself and why I needed my dog with me. Some sectors there is a fine line, and I think this is definitely a discretionary practice depending on the physical environment you are applying to work in where extra advocacy on your part may be required with HR.
Personally, have found that being open upfront and authentically has actually benefited me in a positive way and has directed me to better employers and less toxic work environments. Employers have seen my authenticity in the DEI sector and welcomed this. My service dog goes to all interviews now and I’ve gotten hired on every job I really wanted and interviewed for.
So you also work in DEI? It’s exciting to hear from someone else in the field! Something people have inadvertently brought up that I guess I didn’t consider is that most interviews are going back to in-person now. I either interviewed at places that already knew me and my service dog or they were over zoom. So not mentioning it wasn’t any extra effort. It would have been more effort to bring it up. But of course if it’s an in person interview and he came, it would be kind of obvious.
The best advice is just be yourself, I’m not sure why I got downvoted for sharing my view about authenticity with a service animal in DEI. What folks who have been in the sector for a while are going to care about are your qualifications, who you are as a person. If you were using LinkedIn like Facebook, it might be problematic. Posting about professional milestones, or including your service dog in photos with you and your colleagues is not something I personally would worry about hiding. Be confident in who you are and your qualifications.
I think you’re right. There’s a difference between true DEI companies and “culture and belonging” or whatever companies. I’ll think on it some more but he’s just like anything else in the background or like anything else in my background. “I went to this college, look at this tree, oh ya and I have this service dog”
Yeah, do what you feel best for yourself. Don’t overthink what others tell you that you should or shouldn’t do. If you attend conferences that are centered around any theme related to DEI, guarantee you’ll start connecting with professionals who have service animals on their profiles.
i honestly think if you work in DEI, it could benefit you, if you don't mind being tokenized a bit for "diversity points" by a potential employer, but i wouldn't do it if you work in the corporate sector, or even less progressive nonprofit settings.
I think you're going to need to be mindful while taking specific photos for this purpose. We all forget sometimes but if you can get them cropped nips up and still show the event they can be salvaged. I was and am a photographer (just differently now) and as long as the cropping is similar to a headshot most people accept it. This is harder for groups but you can try to do a similar thing. You may need to crop space from over heads for things to look more natural doing this also.
If you take that one person's advice and don't tell them until you have a written acceptance. They might become upset. Personally, I would put the photo. Especially if I can't find any other photos without him or much other photos.
It’s not just one person’s advice, but the point of this post is not to debate that piece of advice. I find it to be very good advice, specifically when applying to Equal Opportunity Employers. If you want to see more people’s opinions on it you can look at any number of the “I’m looking for a job, what do I do?” posts here.
That also leads to issues of not getting contacted at all due to a profile picture. It’s best not to mention anything until you get the job, then it doesn’t matter if they’re upset or not. If they’re disappointed you didn’t say anything, you can provide some background and the appropriate info. Most will pass without any knowledge.
I don't use Linked in, but I do have a service dog. I wouldn't put her in my profile if I did have a linked in page. It would probably not benefit me in any way, and could cost me potential jobs due to discrimination.
Agreed, you need a professional headshot for your LinkedIn photo preferably with you in a suit jacket or something similar
What industry? I think thats super important. My mom works in post secondary, and the professionalism standards are pretty high. I went into tech/gamedev originally which yes is still professional work, but the tone of the industry is incredibly different. For me, if I was still using linkedin, *in the tech industry*, I would post the photos. They're super chill they might even just wonder to themselves if they are dog friendly places youre going. You don't need to acknowledge anywhere on the post that a dog is in the pic.
As I said in my post, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Currently for state government. I’m not sure if it’s drastically different in other industries but from the other posts I’m seeing on LinkedIn, I don’t really think so. I wouldn’t post “I AND MY DOG went to [event]” lol, I’d still keep it low key and professional, I just need to know if I can post the pictures at all
Ah yeah i wasnt sure where you were doing DEI, I know lots of companies that have people doing that sort of work. For DEI you would certainly hope that they would walk the walk and not just talk the talk. If it were me (make the choice thats best for you), I would post the pics. Intern life is rough, you gotta be visible and seem engaged with your career track. It's like the longest job interview in the world. I wouldn't want to miss opportunities because I was a less eager intern than somebody else. But, I'm also the kind of guy who puts my volunteerwork for the gay community on my resume. My uncle gave me a good pitch on why he thought it was a good idea: if they dont want to hire you because of that being on your resume, is that *really* somewhere you want to work?
The last point is super important. Don't work for people who see what is essentially an aspect of you (whether it's the disability or the presence of the dog is semantics at that point) as a detriment. As a hiring manager, I always like to open screening interviews with 'I've got your resume so I know what you've done professionally. I'll introduce myself, then I'd like your story and to know why you're interested in [company/role] and who the person is behind the piece of paper I've already got.' The best answers tell me about their interests and them to the extent they're willing to share, instead of launching into rereading their resume (which has been read and deemed suitable, hence the call). That's often a great place where people answer the awkward questions casually or see around corners that are helpful. 'I'm interested in DEI because I've experienced what it's like when it goes wrong personally. Without going into medical details, I have a disability that requires a service dog, and we've together seen firsthand how many doors are shut because of it, often illegally but without real recourse.' [addressing service dog] That's no different than 'I'm a long time nurse, but took about ten years off from the workforce to raise my children, recently renewed my nursing license, and the children are now at a point where I don't need to be a stay-at-home parent' [addressing a return to workforce after a long absence, you already know a 'why are you interested in coming back to work now?' question will be asked] Or turning on your video camera if you happen to have blue hair. Like... They're *eventually* gonna know. If blue hair is a problem and they're gonna be a dickwad about it, its always gonna be a problem. Turn on the videocamera. 🤣
Thats some awesome advice! Always great to see perspective from hiring managers
Glad it's helpful. I also just don't like surprises. I'll be open with you about salary, responsibilities, what problems you're walking into (every job fixes problems), I just ask that you within reason be open with me. To use the three above examples, like... I'm gonna eventually know a golden retriever is attached to your hip at all times, or your hair is blue, or that you didn't work for ten years [resume already said that]. I really don't care about any of that, except that I'm not supposed to pet and love on service dogs while they're working and that'll be hard for me. 🤣 I've been on the other side of the table too. I have a past misdemeanor conviction on my record that will show up in any background check, and I usually don't tell recruiters but the first time I talk to the hiring manager I disclose it and say 'Look, this happened, and you will see it. I'm willing to discuss any details, but if this is going to be a concern for you I want you to know now.' Its super awkward, and obviously not the same as a disability (I had the opportunity not to be stupid), but it's never been *bad* for me to make sure open communication wasn't established from the get go. Things people are going to know eventually are going to affect you now, or later, so may as well just take your medicine - tasty or not. This is especially true when the information you're withholding is exceedingly obvious (in my case, because the government will tell you, in a service dogs case because it's pretty obvious when a dog is sitting next to you). One path, you control the message, one path you do not.
Personally I think the fact that you have to ask whether it's a good idea is your answer. There's a risk, and you're early in your career. There is unlikely to be any significant benefit to you. I would recommend keeping things that don't benefit you off social media that is under your direct control. If someone else posts a photo of you that includes your service dog, that's great and normalizes it and also usually won't appear on your page in the same way something you post will. Source: have been disabled (using a wheelchair and service dog) throughout my career, from early post college internship days now up to pretty high level leadership. I don't post about my disability aids, but they do incidentally appear on social media when others post photos of me. Note, I work in hard science, where being disabled is a huge disadvantage and people will sometimes be visibly upset when they learn I am not able bodied, so my advice is definitely colored by that experience; however... I really advocate taking the position of "if it doesn't benefit you, don't do it", when it comes to social media regardless of industry.
Me personally I wouldn’t risk it. I think it would be too easy for people to judge and silently discriminate. Service dogs are the kind of thing you drop later, after you’ve already secured or semi-secured the job. Otherwise your risk of being denied simply because it “wouldn’t work” is tripled. You’ve gotta put yourself in a safe situation first so if they try to deny you you can sue
Honestly I would prefer to never get a job offer from a company due to mentioning my service dog instead of getting all the way to the interview just to have everything rescinded once I ask about accommodations for my service dog. I don’t want to work for a company that is ashamed of me. I do understand that some people can’t do this, but this is my personal preference.
My SD is in my LinkedIn photo, but not labeled but I’ve been debating changing it Also. As someone who’s worked in hiring and HR, I’ve never given a shit about someone’s linked in photos. Literally never. I’ve looked at LinkedIn’s sure. But I could care less about professional headshots or whatever. I’ve never seen a reason it’s mattered- but that is literally just me so take that with a grain of salt
In your LI profile I believe you can pin specific posts. Understandably balancing not wanting to draw attention to it but get it out of the way, you could pin a post from when the service dog was necessary or helped you through an event with the thank you to the event coordinators who were understanding and accommodating (obviously they legally have to be, but it's a positive thank you). "Had a great time at the National DEI Conference in Nashville this week. Also so proud of Buddy, who helped me avoid a serious episode related to my disability so we could keep having a great conference. Thank you also to the organizers and staff of the conference who really leaned into the mission we all support and were completely accommodating and supportive of my little (necessary!) tag along that saved the day for me." Pin that with a picture that intentionally includes your dog and then you can just post the pictures that you take or are taken of you in your natural environment. Isn't that the point of DEI? Normalize what people unfairly characterize as 'other' and discriminate against for reasons other than professional. The point is you have a dog by your side for a legitimate reason, and obviously you love him and he's a living being, but for all intents and purposes should be treated essentially as it would be wearing pants to the conference - I can't come to this conference without pants, and I can't come to this conference without my service animal. Nobody questions the expectation that someone at an event wears pants (or an equivalent lower body garment, skirt/dress/whatnot), in fact you'd be removed if you took them off or tried to enter without them. So normalize it the same way you normalize wearing pants. 🤷 In my experience (I do not have a service dog, but I nteract with people with service dogs all the time, have dogs of my own who are most certainly *not* service dogs and cannot/should not go everywhere, have hired/fired/worked with people with service dogs) the best approach is simply to not make it an issue yourself before someone else makes it an issue. It's expected that you work 9-5. It's expected you're dressed appropriately for your workspace and have your computer available. It's expected that you attend meetings. It's expected that you receive your paycheck on time. It's expected that your company offers appropriate legally compliant FMLA requirements, and doesn't create a dangerous or discriminatory work environment. It's expected that a person with a legitimate service dog (not just beat friend Fluffy) has a dog with them. If something really serious occurs, and you wind up with close coworkers who like... Go into anaphylactic shock from a dog allergy, your employer needs to find a reasonable accomodation if it's in any way possible (separating the employees, etc), but that's such a rare occurrence and a person like that would have a hard time existing long in 2024 without being able to manage themselves. Edit to add to an already long post: often, I *like* to hire what others would call the diversity hire. This is anecdotal, but if I can point to one thing you've overcome that I discover through the hiring process you've overcome that has made it harder for you to get to where you are than the average candidate, I now have one signal about your work ethic. I usually can't ask about it, and I guess legally I'm supposed to be blind to the fact I even know the information, but nothing you say in an interview process ever disappears, the same way no testimony in a trial that a judge tells the jury to ignore is just forgotten by 12 people like magic. As it relates to service dogs, nobody has a service dog just for shits and giggles. I'm not disabled, and caring for my dogs is a hard, expensive pain in the butt, as much as I love them. If you're doing that with a disability, you're expending a *lot* of effort on it, whether you consciously know it or not. You obviously can work hard at something you're passionate about. If I can verify you're passionate about the job too, sure. Let's do that. Dog can have an honorary salary of $10/mo for pup cups on the company card, can you start Monday? 🤣
My service dog is pictured on my profile, I’m not going to hide my dog’s attendance at a conference, etc. my service dog is an extension of me and what they see is the whole package. If someone is going to act discriminatory on the basis of needing a service animal, then I wouldn’t want to work for that company anyway- they aren’t ready for me and my authenticity and their actions would reflect their lack of commitment to DEI. I would reflect on the question: if they are not committed to DEI in their hiring process, do I want to work for them? I have found it’s toxic and terrible to have to be the one trying to enact change in a company that doesn’t wholly make intentional effort to walk the DEI talk. I used to interview without my service dog and always followed that rule of only disclose the accommodation need for a service dog after the official job offer. I learned that doing this also set up the impression that I don’t “need” my service dog if I’m capable of interviewing without amongst my future co-workers and this really made a challenge for me in the beginning of one job I had having to unnecessarily over explain myself and why I needed my dog with me. Some sectors there is a fine line, and I think this is definitely a discretionary practice depending on the physical environment you are applying to work in where extra advocacy on your part may be required with HR. Personally, have found that being open upfront and authentically has actually benefited me in a positive way and has directed me to better employers and less toxic work environments. Employers have seen my authenticity in the DEI sector and welcomed this. My service dog goes to all interviews now and I’ve gotten hired on every job I really wanted and interviewed for.
So you also work in DEI? It’s exciting to hear from someone else in the field! Something people have inadvertently brought up that I guess I didn’t consider is that most interviews are going back to in-person now. I either interviewed at places that already knew me and my service dog or they were over zoom. So not mentioning it wasn’t any extra effort. It would have been more effort to bring it up. But of course if it’s an in person interview and he came, it would be kind of obvious.
The best advice is just be yourself, I’m not sure why I got downvoted for sharing my view about authenticity with a service animal in DEI. What folks who have been in the sector for a while are going to care about are your qualifications, who you are as a person. If you were using LinkedIn like Facebook, it might be problematic. Posting about professional milestones, or including your service dog in photos with you and your colleagues is not something I personally would worry about hiding. Be confident in who you are and your qualifications.
I think you’re right. There’s a difference between true DEI companies and “culture and belonging” or whatever companies. I’ll think on it some more but he’s just like anything else in the background or like anything else in my background. “I went to this college, look at this tree, oh ya and I have this service dog”
Yeah, do what you feel best for yourself. Don’t overthink what others tell you that you should or shouldn’t do. If you attend conferences that are centered around any theme related to DEI, guarantee you’ll start connecting with professionals who have service animals on their profiles.
i honestly think if you work in DEI, it could benefit you, if you don't mind being tokenized a bit for "diversity points" by a potential employer, but i wouldn't do it if you work in the corporate sector, or even less progressive nonprofit settings.
I wouldn’t include my SD in those photos; it’s irrelevant and yes, some people will judge.
I think you're going to need to be mindful while taking specific photos for this purpose. We all forget sometimes but if you can get them cropped nips up and still show the event they can be salvaged. I was and am a photographer (just differently now) and as long as the cropping is similar to a headshot most people accept it. This is harder for groups but you can try to do a similar thing. You may need to crop space from over heads for things to look more natural doing this also.
If you take that one person's advice and don't tell them until you have a written acceptance. They might become upset. Personally, I would put the photo. Especially if I can't find any other photos without him or much other photos.
It’s not just one person’s advice, but the point of this post is not to debate that piece of advice. I find it to be very good advice, specifically when applying to Equal Opportunity Employers. If you want to see more people’s opinions on it you can look at any number of the “I’m looking for a job, what do I do?” posts here.
That also leads to issues of not getting contacted at all due to a profile picture. It’s best not to mention anything until you get the job, then it doesn’t matter if they’re upset or not. If they’re disappointed you didn’t say anything, you can provide some background and the appropriate info. Most will pass without any knowledge.
That makes sense, thanks