Your LinkedIn headline is that line just beneath your name.
It is the most heavily weighted line in your LinkedIn profile. It's where hiring managers and recruiters first look to see if you match their opening. Their search tools also look there for matches. This is primo location for your keywords, so don't waste this space. Is your headline what they are looking for?I can guarantee you they are
not looking for these or similar words in your headline:
- Unemployed
- Professional seeking new position
- Intern
This one is a good try but is a weak headline:
Experienced Retail Professional seeking new opportunities
Why is it weak?
Let's see why, word by word:
Experienced = What does this mean? Does it mean "successful"? If so, say so.
Retail = This word covers such a large area that it says little. Does the person mean Merchandising? Retail Operations? Channel Marketing? We don't know. Be specific.
Professional = With 80% of LinkedIn members being "professionals", this, too, also means little.
Seeking new position = Sometimes recruiters do look for this phrase because it signals that the person is available. However, they will find it easily in your Profile's Summary, so use it there instead. Don't take up space in that valuable Headline for it.
Things keep changing on LinkedIn but the current practice for headlines is that one should use a mix of specific titles and specific functional areas. So the candidate above, who is a Merchandising Operations Manager who's heavily involved in analytics, should instead use this or very similar:
Merchandising Operations Manager | Retail Analytics Manager | Retail Operations | Merchandising Analytics
Use the whole space that LinkedIn gives you so that you load up your Headline with vital keywords. My clients do this and like them, this is what will make you findable.
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