What’s in a LinkedIn Headline?

Last week we talked about why you should have a LinkedIn profile. This week and over the next two weeks, we will discuss specific sections you should focus your attention on to help make your profile stand out and attract the interest of potential employers.

One of the first things a visitor to your page will see is your headline. Often, individuals use this area to indicate their current job title, such as Career Coach at Career Solutions Group. This strategy is fine if you have no intention of job searching, but it doesn’t tell the reader a lot about you or your skills. When you write your profile, you should keep in mind where you are going and not just where you have been. Therefore, use the 120 characters available to you in your headline to describe what you do or what you want to do and indicate an industry or key skill. For example, your headline might read “Gregarious Sales Director focused on closing key accounts in the hospitality industry. Open to new opportunities.”

When comparing the two, the first headline tells the reader a job title and a company name. Nothing about the person or what solution they may offer an employer.  Conversely, the second headline example lets the reader know that the prospective employee is outgoing and friendly, is someone who can close business which makes the company money, is in a service based business working one on one with clients and is seeking employment. Which profile would you want to know more about if you were looking to hire your next employee?

Take a few minutes to think about what career you want. What skills and attributes for that job would be attractive to an employer? What industry are you best suited to work for? The key to the headline is to make the reader want to look further at your profile.

Next week, we will discuss how to capture their attention to learn more about you via the Summary section.

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