Leveraging your LinkedIn profile headline

I come across so many LinkedIn profiles on a daily basis. Most of the job seekers waste a great opportunity by selecting LinkedIn default professional headline( job title at XX employer). In case of job hunting, they label their headline as “ Seeking new opportunities”. If unemployed, they will label themselves as “ unemployed” or  XXX professional in their headline

Besides, your name & photo, your LinkedIn headline is the most valuable asset on your LinkedIn profile. Why is the LinkedIn headline so vital for professional network & job search?

1. The professional headline is the tagline just below your name 
2. The headline has an important weight in LinkedIn’s internal search algorithm. Therefore including relevant keywords in your headline can improve your ranking on LinkedIn search. We have discussed this in our previous blog.
3. During LinkedIn search, your headline accompanies, your name, photo, activity & updates. There a keyword rich headline would enable a prospective employer/your target audience to evaluate if you are a potential fit for the role they are filling.

You can leverage relevant keywords by populating them in the headline that combines marketing tool & personal Search Engine Optimisation. You the best & relevant keywords for you to be found in the LinkedIn search results.

While framing your headline, you should ask yourself following questions:

1. Whom you are most interested in speaking with?
2. Which headline will tell recruiters what you can do for an employer?
3. Which headline contains the most relevant keywords & most likely to be found at the top of LinkedIn search results for a particular position?
4. Which of the headlines will provide the most description of profile/competencies of a LinkedIn member?

Unless you select to curate your own headline, LinkedIn by default will automatically fill that space with the current job title & employer. For those who are unemployed, it is a wasted opportunity.

Consider the following 4 different headlines. Which one of these can explain concisely what you can do for an employer?

A headline: 

Albert Alvarez

Experienced Finance Professional

B Headline

Alex Smith

Financial Planning & Analysis Manager at ABC company

C Headline

Micheal Smith

Unemployed

D Headline

Jose Velzquez

International Finance Leader| Financial Planning & Analysis|Corporate Finance| Mergers & Acquisition|FMCG sector

Alex Smith( second headline) has a default headline which LinkedIn automatically creates. However keywords are limited to job title & employer name.

Which would an employer look out for A, B,C or D?

Assuming that an employer is looking to fill a financial planning & analysis  position, how many recruiters will search “ unemployed” of “ Experienced Finance Professional”? I guess no one!

Generic keywords such as “ Unemployed” or “ Experienced Finance Professional” is a waste of time for the recruiter/searcher. Recruiters will skip general searches & would do a guided search using specific terms that best describes the candidate for the job they are looking to fill. When a recruiter is looking to hire for a Financial Planning & Analysis position, that is the term they will search for on LinkedIn.

If you are a potential employer or professional looking for a new contact which profile would appear more interesting & attractive to you A, B, C or D? For sure D-  given that it contains all relevant keywords & provide more information to evaluate a potential fit. Headlines like this one are going to rank on top on both LinkedIn & google search results.

Although all these headlines are accurate, A & B headline gives only one clear headline & no clear explanation of finance expertise. C headline is a temporary situation without any relevant keywords. There is no reason employer recruiters would care to open profiles with any of these headlines unless they do not have any other candidates to consider.

LinkedIn provides you with a maximum of 120 characters to write your headline. You should keep your target audience/readership in mind while writing your LinkedIn headline.

Do not forget that LinkedIn is used by Media when looking for subject matter experts to quote so make sure that you include your contact information in the profile.

Since most of the people looking at your headline are strangers, prospective employers, recruiters & those looking to network, please ask yourself these questions which writing your headline:

1. If you had 10 seconds to describe yourself while meeting a new colleague or client, what would you say?
2. How are you unique? What is your competitive advantage?
3. Why should a recruiter be interested in contacting you?
4. What skills do you offer?
5. What are your skills & achievements which a potential employer will need?
6. What key accomplishments do you have?

Be specific so that your profile stands out among others when hiring manager looks at your LinkedIn profile. If you work for an industry leader who has a reputed name internationally, prefer including that name in your headline. It may be a relevant keyword for many employers who are looking to hire professionals who have worked/are working with such reputed brands.

Are you looking for some career advice & guidance about how to write an executive resume or have a rebranded Linkedin profile. As the founder & executive resume coach at Sushant Kumar Ventures, offering executive resume writing & LinkedIn profile writing services for modern day job seekers, I would be happy to chat to help you meet your career goals; Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/fbPEMJ3