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LinkedIn is a hub for hiring - and your headline is one of the first things people see.
- LinkedIn headlines, the short summary that appears below your name on your LinkedIn profile, act like a digital elevator pitch or virtual business card - your chance to introduce who you are.
- Effective headlines are clear, concise, and quickly describe what you do at a glance.
- They can also help profiles appear in LinkedIn search results when potential employers or recruiters conduct keyword searches on the platform.
- Recruiters share that they use LinkedIn headlines to filter through candidates and that the right headline can make a strong first impression
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LinkedIn, the professional social network with more than 660 million global users, is not only a gateway to career opportunities and networking, it's integral to the modern job-search process for applicants - and, on the other side of the equation, the vetting process for recruiters, hiring managers, and potential employers. With a new hire being made on LinkedIn every eight seconds, LinkedIn reported in 2019 on its official blog, the impact the social network has on finding and landing the job of your dreams can't be understated.
While there's a lot of advice about how to use LinkedIn for finding a job, there's not as much out there about one of the key elements of your profile - the LinkedIn headline, or the short description that appears directly below your name on your profile page and in search results.
"As an HR professional, I look at hundreds of profiles weekly, and often those with a strong headline help me make quicker decisions and ultimately filter through good candidates," shared Pete Sosnowski, the head of human resources and cofounder of the resume-building website Zety.
Bryan Zawikowski
Bryan Zawikowski.
In other instances, LinkedIn headlines can create a strong first impression. That's been the experience for Bryan Zawikowski, a recruiter with 25 years of experience and the vice president and general manager of the military-transition division for Lucas Group who has helped place candidates at global companies like Microsoft, 23andMe, Tesla, Stryker, and Honeywell. While his team conducts the initial research and outreach to potential candidates, he often reviews LinkedIn profiles and headlines ahead of interviews with candidates.
If you've ever wondered what to do with your LinkedIn headline and how it can help with your own job search, Business Insider turned to four top recruiters to find out.
Emphasize your expertise and skill set more than just your title
The most memorable LinkedIn headlines, according to Sosnowski, are those that help someone understand who you are and what experience you bring within seconds, all while highlighting your most important achievements.
Pete Sosnowski
Pete Sosnowski.
"The character count limit for a LinkedIn headline is 120, and you should make smart use of it," he said, comparing LinkedIn headlines to a personal "advertising slogan."
Sosnowski drafted the following example based on the career credentials of a fictitious writer - one that, at 114 characters, fits the limits while conveying plenty of telling details:
Career/resume writer 14y of exp. 300+ published articles dedicated to the advancement of women marathoner
As a recruiter fielding profiles, he said that this type of summary "shows that the person works in a field that interests me, has vast and relevant experience, is dedicated to a good cause, and is strong-willed ([as] a marathoner)."
To craft your own headline, Sosowski recommended brainstorming key details, such as:
- Your most relevant areas of expertise or your profession
- The name of your current employer (if it's a well-known company)
- Some of your most unique skills
- Your number of years of experience
- Your proudest accomplishments
- Other adjectives that accurately describe you outside of your career, such as "philanthropist," "motivational speaker," "environmental activist," or "triathlete"
As a pro tip, he suggested separating key phrases and words by the pipe key ("") or with a symbol, which he explained makes headlines easier to read/skim.
Keep it brief
Given the character limits and how little time potential hiring managers and recruiters have to make decisions, Zawikowski said the key is to keep things succinct. "If it is compelling enough, people will read the rest of your profile" to find out more, he added.
The most important detail for full-time employees to list is their job title (if currently employed), while for job seekers and freelancers it's their top skills. If you're listing several details or skills, front-load your headline with the most important and marketable ones.
Don't use full sentences
There are lots of ways to take things too far, and most of them come down to being too wordy. Headlines with full sentences, for one, are hard to read and may add less value than a headline made up of a few relevant keyword phrases, according to Sosnowski.
Another red flag is when LinkedIn users try to fit too many phrases into one headline. "You know what they say," said Sosnowski. "'If you're good at everything, you're good at nothing.'"
Zawikowski recommended sticking to two to three phrases and to avoid bragging. A particular phrase to stay away from is calling yourself an "influencer," which he compares to describing yourself as "stunningly attractive" in your headline.
Kim Hoffman
Kim Hoffman.
Kim Hoffman, a talent-acquisition director at Intuit who has 20 years of recruiter and talent experience, shared some succinct types of headlines that have stood out to her from over the years, including "Technical Program Manager at ABC Startup," or "Inventor Software Developer at ABC Company."
Get a second (and third) opinion
Zawikowski recommended asking for feedback on your LinkedIn profile and headline.
"Get several sets of professional eyes on it to make sure it is sending the message you want it to deliver," he said. It doesn't help to ask just anyone. Your headline critics should be professionals who work in a field related to yours who will be willing to provide honest feedback, "not those inclined to automatically tell you it looks great to avoid hurting your feelings," he added.
Zawikowski recommended asking colleagues reviewing your LinkedIn headline to answer the following questions:
- Is my headline professional?
- What message does it send? ("Then tell them the message you were trying to convey," he noted.)
- Is my headline consistent with the rest of my LinkedIn profile?
- Are there more important items missing from my headline that I should include?
Make it keyword-friendly
Patrick Cahill, the founder of #TwiceAsNice Recruiting who created his company after 10 years of consulting for recruiters, said that more than focusing on just your LinkedIn headline, job seekers should prioritize optimizing their LinkedIn profile with the right keywords (in the headline and throughout).
Patrick Cahill
Patrick Cahill.
What those keywords should be will vary by your industry and profession. However, in general, you should be thinking about the kinds of phrases recruiters and hiring managers may use to search for potential applicants like yourself to fill the role they're hiring for.
Hoffman, who has hired thousands of candidates over her career, recommended job seekers look at the job descriptions of the companies and positions they're interested in and use those descriptors as a guide for creating headlines. "Use words that speak to the attributes the company is looking for, so you can be easily searchable for a recruiter," he explained.
For example, for a more technical hire, a headline like "Mobile Engineer Building Cloud-Native Apps" is a great option, said Hoffman. "That gives me a snapshot of the person's background, experience, and specialities," he said.