Editorial Team
It’s a sad truth that it’s getting harder and harder for some people to find work that is right for them in this day and age, with potential positions receiving hundreds if not thousands of responses from people. LinkedIn has become a way for recruiters to quickly look for potential prospects, but even there, the market seems somewhat saturated. So, what can you do to make sure your profile stands apart? What are the best headline tips for LinkedIn?
Elevator Pitch
“Anyone who has been through employment workshops will tell you how you learn to refine your elevator pitch,” claims carer blogger Alice Munoz of Subjecto and Academadvisor. Your elevator pitch is a quick summary of who you are and what you are looking for career-wise. It’s your quick sales pitch of yourself, which can be hard to do but is vital in today’s career market. You want to keep the pitch concise. LinkedIn has moved from 120 to 220 characters for the headline, but this doesn’t mean you have room to waste space.
To do this well, you might consider following a checklist of key points or answering a few key questions you know will be asked. This checklist might include:
- Job Title
- Expertise and Value
- Hard Skills
- Certifications
- Affiliations
- Location
- Big Achievements
- Personal Values
From this list, you quickly let recruiters know what you are all about and answer any basic questions people may have. They know where you are, what you do, and what you offer to potential workplaces.
Something Personal
While you want to stay as professional as possible, a great headline tip for LinkedIn is that there is nothing worse than a dry bio that leaves recruiters wondering just who you are as a person. Companies nowadays look for a skill set but also want someone who will mix well with their existing team. Your LinkedIn Header has a few things that are part of it beyond the text section. Make use of the profile picture and header image to get across who you are in a professional but personable way. Show off your pets in your cover photo or perhaps art projects you are working on. Make it a profile that people want to interact with.
When it comes to your bio, don’t just dismiss the personal values section as it can be just as important as what your skills are. Let people know who you are and what you stand for, this firstly shows off your personality but also means you shouldn’t end up being contacted by recruiters who don’t fit your values. It saves time for you rejecting offers that aren’t right for you and saves the recruiters time trying to find someone to fit the values of the potential workplace.
Make it Relevant to Your Desired Audience
This can be hard, especially if your desired audience is wide-reaching. However, you should tailor your bio depending on what career path you want to join and what industry you would be interested in working in. For your job title, use one that is recognizable to all prospects and not a niche name that leaves people confused as to what your job is. It’s worth considering a few key questions here, see Elevator Pitch, to help you in tailoring:
- What industry am I trying to Join?
- What are the industry keywords?
- What are the relevant accomplishments for this career path?
These will allow you to fully focus the bio on the audience and ensure the basics are covered.
Highlight Your Value
“One of the things people are the worst at,” laments Katie Taveras, a LinkedIn bio writer at Ratedwriting and Top essay writing services, “is selling themselves. We hate trying to show our own value, and so we miss out on potentially amazing opportunities.” Trying to highlight the value you bring to a company is a difficult task, especially for those who have lower self-confidence or are more introverted. However, it is vital that you do so. Let people know what you do in a way that highlights the value you bring to a role. It’s your ‘So What?’ makes recruiters want to know more.
If you already work for a company, another one of the headline tips for LinkedIn is to look at your job description and see if there’s a specific task you do well and phrase it similarly to the company’s value statement. If you don’t, look up potential job descriptions and use these as your base. An example of a sales representative might be “Sales Representative: Helping Provide Support from IT Professionals anytime, anywhere.” Or, if you are an analyst, “Project Analyst: Helping Teams Define their Project Goals.” You quickly get across what it is that you specifically will bring.
Avoid Hyperbole
While you want to highlight your value and sell yourself, it’s important to be honest, and avoid hyperbole. You will get caught out eventually if you lie about a skill set or certification you do not have. No one likes to see someone bragging about themselves, it feels very egotistical and puts recruiters off. As such, you should avoid words like “Expert,” “Winning,” “Superior,” etc. to avoid sounding arrogant and self-absorbed. However, there are also some terms that you may think are ok but also fall into this hyperbole trap:
- Capable
- Proactive
- Dedicated
- Hard-Working
These words are likely ones you’ve had drilled into you by previous CV writing courses and can be hard to let go of. Instead of using these words with no context, give examples of success stories. It all goes back to show don’t tell, don’t tell us you’re dedicated when you can show us. Add lines like “On average, helped cut client support tickets by half” or “Improved project completion rates by 30%”.
Wrap Up
To wrap up the headline tips for LinkedIn, writing your LinkedIn bio is mostly about common sense and trying to sell yourself. It’s hard to do, but once you’ve done it, you will see the results yourself. Remember to try and keep your bio concise, highlight your own value without hyperbole, tailor it to your desired audience and add a touch of personalization to help you stand out from the crowd.
Writer Jenny Han, Best essay writing services and Assignment writing services reviews, writes about career tips and advice. When she can, she also blogs for Research paper writing services.