"A good LinkedIn headline can help you attract the right attention."
LinkedIn is an important social networking platform where like-minded professionals and job seekers can connect with each other.
It gives you great networking opportunities by keeping you updated on the latest job openings in your niche.
The first thing that a potential recruiter or prospect sees is your profile headline whenever they come across your LinkedIn profile. So, to attract the right audience and recruiters, you need a great LinkedIn headline.
Here are a few FAQs regarding LinkedIn headlines to ensure yours is nothing short of perfect:
- What is a LinkedIn headline?
- The importance of a LinkedIn headline
- How to write a LinkedIn headline using suitable keywords
- Examples of LinkedIn headlines
This can get a little tricky.
But don't worry! For we have compiled a list of the best tips along with examples to help you create the best LinkedIn headlines.
What Is a LinkedIn Headline?
What is a professional headline?
It is the highlight of your LinkedIn profile to make it easier for others to easily recognize your professional expertise.
A LinkedIn user's profile has a section where you can effectively describe your work in not more than 120 characters.
This brief description appears right next to your name in the search results.
The headline is one of the most important factors that can help you enhance your LinkedIn profile, but most users fail to make the best use of this space.
You can consider it as the banner that you raise to advertise your professional self and the area of your expertise in your field of work.
It can help you entice the readers to click on your profile and learn more about your professional experience and educational background while also giving an insight into your interest.
In simple words, LinkedIn headlines are professional headlines that help you give an overview of your profile and make it easier for the interested people to find your profile.
Also Read: What is the LinkedIn about section and why is it important?
LinkedIn Headline Example
Here is a LinkedIn headline example for you to see where the headline shows in your profile:
Why Your LinkedIn Headline Is Important
Whether you are a professional looking for a job, recruiting a suitable job seeker, or seeking professional acquaintance, LinkedIn can help you in your mission.
To make the best use of one of the best and largest professional platforms, you need to understand that it is important to present yourself in the most effective manner.
That said, keep in mind that your LinkedIn headline is a very important aspect of your profile that can either open the windows to opportunities or limit them. That along with a perfect LinkedIn summary is all readers would need to connect with you.
Just as you curate headlines for resumes, you need to create a LinkedIn headline.
Hence it can be considered as a tool that can help in marketing yourself and make a first good impression to intrigue people to connect with you and follow you.
There is a large number of job seekers out there and the competition is fierce for any available job profiles. Hence you should make your presence be seen and stand out for others to follow you by optimizing your LinkedIn headline.
Keeping that in mind, you need to focus on how you can get the attention of the right individuals or groups by providing the right set of information in your LinkedIn headline.
How to Write Your LinkedIn Headline
LinkedIn updates your headline automatically with your current profile details and information but it also allows you to customize it according to your requirements.
So with that option in hand, compose the best LinkedIn headline that can help you make headlines.
Focus on Your Audience
You need to know your audience and accordingly target the LinkedIn headline.
Since you are trying to promote yourself through your profile and be recognized by other like-minded professionals and recruiters, you need to direct your LinkedIn headline towards them.
For instance, if you are a developer you need to mention it so that others can recognize you as a developer. Having said that, you can also mention what exactly you develop to avoid confusion.
For example, if you develop software, mention "Software Developer" likewise if you develop hardware mention "Hardware Developer" and so on.
Another important thing that you can mention is the level of your professional status so that you can highlight where you stand in your field of work.
For example, if you are holding a higher post in your profession then your profile title could be Senior Software/Hardware Developer. Likewise, you can specify if you are an entry-level professional or a junior developer.
Also Read: How to connect with people on LinkedIn?
Highlight Your Professional Value Proposition
Once you get the attention of your targeted audience you need to make them recognize what you do and how it can benefit them professionally.
Whether you are a job seeker or looking for potential job seekers, you must highlight your professional value proposition.
It is not enough to simply call yourself a developer. You need to emphasize how you can contribute towards improving an organization's value or a potential job seekers' career.
The simple way to go about is by mentioning your job profile followed by describing your role.
As a developer, you need to talk like a developer and specify what you develop so that others can get an insight into your field of expertise as a professional.
In case you are not sure how to describe your value you can ideally adapt it from the company that you have worked for or currently working in.
Also Read: How to use LinkedIn to find a job
Use Suitable Keywords
Currently, there are 690 million LinkedIn members, so you must optimize your LinkedIn profile with the right set of keywords that can be effectively done in your headline.
Don't simply write down irrelevant things in your LinkedIn headlines because it can affect the significance of your professional role and value.
You need to optimize your LinkedIn headline in such a way that it is easier for you to stand out for others to notice you and recognize your professional value.
Speaking of which, you need to use the right set of keywords that can help you show up in the right searches.
You must have noticed that whenever you search for a specific job profile on LinkedIn (example: "Software Engineer"), LinkedIn finds you 500 thousand relevant profiles that are Software Engineers.
This is done quickly through LinkedIn's database of millions of users all because the selected profile has mentioned the specific keywords that were captured by LinkedIn.
Now you see how important it is to use keywords in your headlines to stand out amongst millions of profiles and connect with others.
Only those profiles that have been keyword optimized stand a higher chance of being recognized by others, so make sure that you use the right keywords in your LinkedIn headline.
Also Read: How can I leverage LinkedIn search to my benefit?
Avoid Bragging in Your LinkedIn Headline
Empty vessels make more noise so keep a watch on what you brag about in your LinkedIn headline.
Keep it simple and short while also maintaining a professional approach at all times.
There is no harm in blowing your trumpet once in a while but you need to do it in a humble manner especially when it comes to your LinkedIn headline. If done in the wrong way it can backfire and affect your chances of making connections with others.
Unless you have a notable accolade there is no point in including words that makes you seem like self-absorbed professional basking in insignificant glory.
LinkedIn is a business tool and hence you need to maintain a professional approach at all times.
Here are some adjectives that you should avoid in your LinkedIn headlines:
- Hard-Working
- Proactive
- Dedicated
- Best
- Sincere
- Expert
- Amazing
The mentioned words are generally used by many professionals whereas they could have used better keywords that highlight their potential as a professional in their respective fields of work.
You can read LinkedIn and the humblebrag to understand why bragging can have a negative effect on your LinkedIn headlines.
Also Read: Review your LinkedIn profile to spruce it up and optimize it's reach
Best LinkedIn Headline Examples
Here is a compilation of some of the best LinkedIn headline examples for job seekers that can help you have a broader sense of how to write the best LinkedIn headlines.
LinkedIn Headline Example for Experienced Professionals
From the LinkedIn headline example, we can observe that the candidate has mentioned the level of their seniority, hence making it easier for others to recognize them as an experienced professional.
So if any recruiter or prospect is interested in interacting with someone who is well versed in one's field of work, they will find you in their searches and is most likely to connect with you.
Also Read: How to reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn
LinkedIn Headline Example for Students
Be specific when you mention your educational status in your headline. Write the course you have studied and use relevant terms to suit the targeted job profiles.
If you are a student or a fresh graduate, mention the same in your LinkedIn headline and avoid wasting your space in writing where you graduated from because there is very little chance that recruiters and hiring managers would type in the name of your university or institution.
LinkedIn Headline Example for Recruiters
As a recruiter, you need to make others recognize you as such and for that, you need to mention the same in your LinkedIn headlines as shown in the example given above.
Anyone looking for a job will type in the job profile that they are looking for and obviously search for recruiters or human resource profiles.
Key Takeaways
As we have come to the end of our guide, here are some key takeaways that you need to keep in mind while writing your LinkedIn headlines:
- Always make the best use of your LinkedIn headlines to give an insight into your professional profile to potential prospects and recruiters.
- Focus on the fact that the competition is high and you need to stand out at all times.
- The best LinkedIn headline should be audience targeted at all times, so make sure that you write your headlines accordingly.
- Give a clear proposition of your professional value for others to recognize you through your profile title and roles.
- Use suitable keywords to raise your chances of appearing in the searches whenever someone types in relevant words that are related to your professional role and profile.
- Do not brag about your professional status, instead make better use of the space by highlighting your professional skills and roles.
Using the right approach can help you achieve your goals.
Make use of the LinkedIn headline examples, LinkedIn headline tips, and LinkedIn headline ideas that we have provided in this guide as they can help you draft the best LinkedIn headlines.
Hiration's LinkedIn Review tool and you can get 24/7 professional assistance with all your job & career-related queries and help you understand if your LinkedIn headline is upto the mark or not.
Additionally, reach out to us at support@hiration.com.
