Your Linkedin headline is the title under your profile name. It is the first thing that people will notice when they visit your profile or see in the search results.The headline can be up to 1-3 lines of length which is around 120 characters.
Why is the Linkedin headline so important?
As in several aspect of life, first impressions are everything. This counts in real life but also in the online world. Especially a professional platform like Linkedin.
If your Linkedin headline is clear and interesting people will want to learn more about you. I fits not, they will go on to the next profile and forget about you.
Make sure you always stand out by crafting your own unique linkedin headline that best describes who you are and what you can do. The headline can be so much more then just a jobtitle.
I have put together a few tips and tricks so you make the perfect Linkedin headline to stand out from the crowd! This might come in handy to catch the eye of recruiters when looking for a job.
1. Try to avoid creative (but weird) job titles
I think we have all came across some pretty weird job titles on Linkedin or when reading resumes. For example: I am a Digital Overlord (in this case website manager) WHUT!? What the hell does an overlord even mean? I admit it is catchy, different and funny, but it for me I still have no idea what you really do for a living. I would like to refer to this quote: Always choose clear over clever.
Don’t get me wrong, creativity and being original is good, but what is more important is that people understand what you do. But now that we are at it, let me show you some pretty weird job titles that are often used on Linkedin:
1. Problem Wrangler – Counsellor
2. Retail Jedi – Shop Assistant
3. Digital Dynamo – Digital Marketing Executive
4. Marketing Rock star – Marketing Executive
5. Brand Evangelist – Marketing Brand Manager
6. Accounting Ninja – Financial Manager
7. New Media Guru – Digital Marketing
8. Director of Fun – Director of Marketing
9. Dream Alchemist – Head of Creative
10. Chief Chatter – Call Centre Manager
2. Putting tekst in brackets, between commas and using symbols
Many feel the urge to put tekst between brackets and commas. This often is too much and really not necessary.
For example:
– Experienced (DRA licenced) trainer in financial advice
– Hardworking (international) virtual assistent
It causes a nuance in the headline which is not needed. You want to maximise the chance of catching someones’s attention. If you are scared that people might not understand you then try to be as complete and clear as possible with the least amount of nuance possible. You can always add in these items later on in the extended description about you. Besides the brackets and commas I also suggest to avoid using symbols like ◊, ➤, etc. and never use all uppercase headlines. Linkedin is a platform for professionals and not a Facebook like playground.
3. Using headlines so long they start to look like a biography
Yes you can add 3 full lines of text which are 120 character, but that does not mean that you need to use every single one of them. Too many text often means too much information.
For example:
💎Multidisciplinary Virtual Office Manager | 💻Virtual Assistant | ⌛️Online support for self-employed entrepreneurs who need help managing their time and energy consuming administrative issues!
Or
Head honcho, headhunter, sometime head-shrinker and living proof that the only good recruiter is NOT a dead recruiter! Passionate about connecting the right people at the right time and place.
So how should you write a good headline in the right length. I would recommend to use the following format or tekst structure:
“I help [target group] with [problem] so that they [dreamed outcome]” is a good and proven structure for a headline.
Try to focus on your ideal customer.
4. If your available show it the right way
Don’t just write “available” in the header. A recruiter must be able to quickly see what function you can fulfil or currently perform. So show not only that you are available but also for which position. And you can do that very easily.
For example:
Available: Product Owner or product manager in financial services
5. Test your headline on different devices
The number of characters you can use for your headline is 120. However, in previews used on different devices only the first 80 are shown. So after making your headline, check out what it looks like on your smartphone and your laptop.
6. Do not show status updates
There is no need to show everyone of your connections that you have been busy with your headline. Certainly not if you want to take a look at what your new headline looks like.
So always make sure that nobody sees your updates.
You can set this as follows:
1.Go to your account and choose “Settings and privacy”
2.Go to “How others see your linkedin activity”
3.Turn off the option “Share job changes, changed courses and work anniversaries”
So I hope this will help you to create a functional and clear Linkedin headline. Please post you Linkedin headline in the comment section. I would love to see yours, or hear your view on my article.
