In helping a recent client develop her LinkedIn profile, I debated the best way to note that she was open to current opportunities. I had read in the past that you should list yourself as currently open to opportunities but struggled with the best way to achieve this. I'll share my experience:
 
As you look through company options, you'll see some creative users have added company names such as "Open to advertising job" but when you select that, it looks awkward on your profile because it populates as an actual company name. At least it looked awkward to me.

I once read (by Jason Alba, I believe) and agree that listing "Open to opportunities" or "Looking for a new job" in the title line that shows right under your name has two negatives: (1) you risk coming across as desperate, and (2) you're wasting valuable LinkedIn real estate on a one-liner that does not convey your brand or value to a new employer. I much prefer to use that text box as a headline that summarizes your strengths as a candidate.

Adding a comment in your status box about your job search is another possibility but I only recommend it for active LinkedIn users as it will reflect the posting date. For optimum effectiveness, use this strategy if you log on to the site frequently and can enter a new and different status update related to your search at least once a week or else you're leaving stale information out there.

My client preferred a more maintenance-free plan so our solution was to list "Currently open to opportunities. Resume available upon request." as the last line of her Summary.  Including it any further down in the profile and it would be lost.  In her case, it fit nicely at the end of the summary as its own paragraph.

So that was my solution. I'd love to hear how others have reflected this in their profile or how some of my colleagues are handling the situation for their own clients.

To your LinkedIn success!