Job-Hunt Intelligence - Fast Formula for a Powerful LinkedIn Professional Headline

Published: Tue, 05/30/17

Job-Hunt Intelligence

By Laura Smith-Proulx

Your LinkedIn Profile isn’t just a placeholder – it has a job to do! By marketing you effectively, it serves as your digital identity and an online promotional workhorse.

As the most highly indexed part of your Profile (next to your name), your Headline allows recruiters and employers to locate you, based on the search terms or keywords you specify.

If you’ve filled in only part of your Headline or let LinkedIn populate it with your current job title and employer (which is the default value), you could be missing out on valuable traffic to your Profile. Don’t let that happen! Instead, use as many of the 120 characters available in your Headline – ensuring that it represents your career level and personal brand, while distinguishing you from your competition.

If you are currently unemployed, read The Best LinkedIn Job Title When You Are Unemployed.

The 4-Part Headline Formula

Try the following formula when you’re stumped for an effective LinkedIn Headline that leverages your industry expertise, achievements, and keywords: 

 

By Susan P. Joyce

LinkedIn has become essential and unavoidable for job search in most professions and industries simply because it is so popular with recruiters and employers. Why is it so popular? Because it allows them to easily search for qualified candidates, rather than sifting through hundreds of resumes and applications from people who are, unfortunately, seldom qualified for the jobs they apply for.

As a result, recruiters are -- by far -- LinkedIn's major source of revenue. Recruiters trust it to, usually, provide a relatively accurate picture of job candidates (versus the fiction that can appear on resumes occasionally).

Be sure that your resumes and job applications agree with the facts you publish on your LinkedIn profile. They will be compared by employers and discrepancies will be viewed very negatively.

LinkedIn is not a set-it-and-forget-it magic carpet ride to a new job. For an effective LinkedIn experience, you'll need to spend time developing your profile, building your Connections, and actively participating on LinkedIn at least 15 to 30 minutes a day, more if you are currently unemployed.

READ MORE

 
 
Editor’s Choice

Your LinkedIn network is extremely important to your LinkedIn visibility and your ability to leverage LinkedIn successfully for your career and your job search. Often people limit their LinkedIn network to people they know. While understandable, this is not necessarily the best strategy. In this post, Social Media Expert Arnie Fertig describes 3 ways to successfully grow your LinkedIn network 
Let’s be frank. You’re probably tempted to avoid having a photo in your LinkedIn profile because, particularly when you are over 50, crows feet, double chins, and under-eye bags seem to appear overnight. Unfortunately, you pay a very big price for skipping adding that photo to your profile. In this, Boomer Job Search Expert Phyllis Mufson explains how to get the most flattering image for LinkedIn and other online visibility.
A relatively new service offered by LinkedIn, Open Candidate is an opportunity for more visibility with employers. If you are employed, open candidate offers some risks because your employer won't be happy to learn that you are job hunting, but the risk may be offset by the added visibility. Susan P. Joyce describes how to use leverage Open Candidate carefully.
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