7 LinkedIn Headline Tips that Get you Hired

Did you know that simply changing your LinkedIn headline can seriously help you find a great job?

Every day, every hour, every minute, hiring managers and recruiters are looking through LinkedIn to find possible employees. They breeze through hundreds of LinkedIn profiles, most of the time not clicking on any names, but just seeing the name and headline. What are you doing to get their attention?

You have 120 characters to say something that makes you stand out and gets the hiring manager to click your profile.

The better your headline, the more likely you are to get interviews. This is because more hiring managers will be viewing your profile and their response rate will generally increase.

Is your profile headline just the name of your position and the company you work for? Would you like to know how to get more recruiters and hiring managers to view your profile and contact you for job offers? If you said yes to either, this article will really help you out. Here are 7 tips to creating a great LinkedIn headline that grabs the attention of employers and gets you hired.

1. Don’t be Boring

So what are you going to write in your headline? There’s no one right answer, because it fully depends on who you are, the type of job you’re looking for and the skills and experiences you have. Let’s start with what you SHOULDN’T write in your headline.

Here are some terrible headlines that you should avoid using:

I actually got these from other articles suggesting "good" headlines. These are basic headlines and they do the complete opposite of catching a hiring manager’s attention. They’re boring, they’re dull and they don’t say anything about a person that would make a hiring manager click their profile. Who on earth is going to click a name with a headline “Unemployed and Looking for Work”, sounds desperate and negative from the start – what an awful first impression!

Here are some examples of great headlines:

As you can see, the possibilities for a great headline are limitless. If you’re looking at these LinkedIn headlines and wondering if you can take some of their ideas, you’re one step ahead of us…

2. Copy Other People

Find people on LinkedIn that have the exact job you want and use their headline as a guide to make your own. Nothing unethical here, you’re just trying to get ideas to make your own headline. Obviously don’t copy someone’s headline word for word.

3. Use Strong Adjectives

Use strong adjectives to spice up your identity. Don’t just put your profession, use adjectives to create an image of the kind of employee you are.

Remember, you are trying to separate yourself from everyone else, use strong, descriptive adjectives to do exactly that.

4. Be Specific but Not Boring

If you have certain designations, technical certifications, or anything career specific that is important, mention it in your headline. But don’t ramble on, remember, the headline is supposed to be eye catching. If you’re a programmer, do not list every programming language you know; list one, two or three and use the rest of the 120 characters to describe yourself in a way that would make clicking your profile irresistible to hiring managers.

Here’s an example of a profile that’s specific, but boring.

Alternatively, here’s an example of a profile that’s specific AND eye catching.

Which programmer is likely to get more clicks from recruiters and hiring managers? Rob’s headline is specific, eye catching and impressive. Martin’s is basic, dull and it just rambles on. Be specific, use strong adjectives, and tell them what makes you great.

5. What Makes you Great

Here’s a shocker, no one wants to hire average employees. I have to work on my sarcasm, but the point remains – employers are looking for great employees. What makes you unique, what makes you good at your job, why would you make a great employee?

You may be an ambitious insurance broker, but what makes you a GREAT employee is that you always exceed your monthly targets. Here’s an example of how you could state that in a headline:

Or let’s say you’re a customer service rep, what makes you great at your job? Maybe you pride yourself in being a quick learner and have the patience to deal with the hardest of customers. Here’s an example of how to incorporate that into a headline:

Tell me, if an HR manager is looking for customer service reps, are they more likely to click on Tammy’s great headline, or one that just says “Customer Service Rep”?

Give hiring managers a reason to click your headline and view your profile, use your headline to catch their attention by saying what makes you great at your job.

6. Be Creative but Careful

Your LinkedIn headline is used to advertise yourself and get the attention of hiring managers. Some of the best headlines I’ve ever seen were very creative; you have 120 characters, be inventive and come up with something unique. After all, if a headline is meant to catch someone’s attention, some originality is a great way to do that.

If you choose to think outside the box and come up with something creative, you have to follow one very important rule – be careful. What you may think is ingenious and creative can turn a lot of people off. A lot of people use humor in their headline to show their lighter side, which is perfectly fine if used correctly. But remember that comedy is subjective, and what makes you laugh, may very well make you seem childish and immature to a senior hiring manager.

Here are some examples of creative headlines to give you some ideas:

These creative headlines will definitely get people’s attention, but they can turn people away because they seem unprofessional. Be creative, be careful and see what works for you. If anything, ask people for advice, start with recruiters…

7. Contact Recruiters for Advice

Even if you think you have a great headline, you should still do this. You should always be looking for excuses to start a discussion with recruiters.

Message a recruiter on LinkedIn and ask them for advice on your headline. You should find recruiters that live in your area and who are in your industry, a simple LinkedIn search can accomplish this:

People like to give out advice, especially if it’s on their expertise – recruiters are no different. You’ll be surprised at how many recruiters message you back, just make sure to properly message them, not just blatantly ask for help. Here’s an example of a message you can send:

Message a couple of recruiters and see what they say. Most of the time, they’ll reply back with some feedback. Start by messaging recruiters in your network, use Inmails to directly message anyone you’re not connected with. If you don’t want to spend money on Inmails, simply join a LinkedIn group for recruiters and message them for free. Joining a group for recruiters is easy and LinkedIn allows you to message anyone in a group. As shown below, do a little research and find the right group for you.

After you message a recruiter, don’t forget to send them an invitation to connect, you should constantly be networking on LinkedIn.

Time for Action!

Stop reading and start doing, go back to your headline and see if any of these 7 tips can make your headline better.

Of course, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you'd like to learn more about how top performers job hunt, you can learn more about Job Hunting University at jobhuntingu.com