Applying to jobs on LinkedIn? Here’s some advice from a hiring manager that will put you ahead of 95% of applicants. (Pt. 1: Your ‘Headline’ will get your resume reviewed or it will weed you out)

Hello, I’ve been in the online employment space for 20 years directly hiring candidates for my teams as well as in a consulting role working with talent acquisition teams on their recruitment strategy. I want to share some tips for those of you trying to land a job because I know it’s difficult out there and getting more competitive by the day as layoffs escalate and hiring slows, which means there are more applicants to fewer jobs available.

I’m going to post this in 2 parts so it’s a little more digestible, and I’ll link to each one. Focusing on these tips when applying to jobs on LinkedIn will help you stand out from 95% of applicants.

Brush up your LinkedIn ‘Headline’ section. Why? This is the key part of the summary that LinkedIn creates for your application, and is your first impression with the hiring team.

When you apply to a job, the recruiter or hiring manager sees a brief summary that LinkedIn provides including your name, location, ‘Headline’ if you have one, and your most recent roles. They can click to review the summary, may choose to view your entire profile, and/or review and download the resume you provide as part of your application. On a related note, this is the same summary of your profile that recruiters see when they are running searches for candidates. Based on what you do or don’t have in this summary, your application will be shortlisted or passed over.

1) Write a Headline if you don’t have one. This is an important way to define who you are and what you bring to the prospective employer. The key is making it relevant to the roles to which you are applying. It can be your current or most recent job title (IF you are applying to the same role elsewhere, more on that below), it can be a few terms that best describe your skills and experience, or it can be a little about you and what you are looking for in your next role and your unique value proposition. Here are a few good examples I’ve seen recently:

Job title – Here is a good way to incorporate your job title in a way that would sound appealing to other similar companies hiring in marketing: Marketing Director driving brand success and customer adoption for leading Tech firms

Top skills – This is a way to incorporate top skills that would be key for someone applying to roles in talent acquisition: Senior Talent Acquisition | Recruitment Life Cycle | Employer Branding | Building Strategic Recruiting Plans

Value proposition – This would be a standout way to show your experience and skills while incorporating a value proposition (much like you might have at the top of your resume as a Summary). It sounds like it’s highly personalized for one particular institution but will appeal to any org claiming they are dedicated to quality patient care: Nurse Practitioner with 9+ years of experience in NICU, Level III and Level IV settings. Excited to bring my expertise to your esteemed institution and contribute to your commitment of excellence in patient care.

Statement of purpose – Finally, here is an example of a Headline as a statement of what the candidate is looking for in a new opportunity with a mission-led organization: Seeking a long-term career aligned with values, integrity, and a positive-mission-driven company that works beyond the corporate purpose and seeks to change the world around them for the better.

The KEY for any approach is that you use keywords and experiences relevant to the jobs to which you are applying. In other words, if your headline reads that you are a Dedicated Business Analyst and you are applying for Finance roles, you might not get enough of the recruiter’s attention to explain why and how you are qualified for a Finance role. Your application will look unrelated and you’ll be passed over before your resume and cover letter even have a chance to explain how you are qualified.

2) Check your current Headline and update it if you need to. It may appear as your current or last job title if you used that for networking or outreach (Ex: Sales Rep at XYZ Co). Now that you are in the job market, that may or may not be the most relevant thing for prospective employers to see first. Ask yourself, “Will my Headline be relevant to the new role I’m applying to and will it be impressive to the hiring manager?” If you are a Senior Sales Lead applying for another Sales role, that could help you. If you are a Senior Sales Lead applying for a Marketing job, you probably want to lead with something that sounds a little more relevant to Marketing.

3) Without a Headline, the summary LinkedIn provides with your job application is basically just a listing of your current or most recent job titles and employers, education, etc. It looks bare in comparison to other candidates’ summaries, and can be particularly unimpressive if your recent jobs don’t match up perfectly with the jobs to which you are applying. It’s easier and safer for an employer to hire a candidate who has already done the job for which they are hiring, so they pay careful attention to the types of roles, industries, and employers for which you’ve worked.

When recruiting teams have hundreds of applications to sort through for every job they post, they’ll look for any excuse to exclude candidates from the shortlist. And the primary way they start is by seeing at quick glance who has recent experience closely related to their opportunity. Make sure you are putting your best foot forward. You can’t change or hide from your experience, but you can control the narrative by giving recruiting teams a reason to keep reading so you have a chance to sell them on your fit for the role as told by your resume and cover letter.

To recap:

Write or update your Headline so that your first impression shows that your profile is relevant to the role you are applying for.

There is no ‘right’ way to write it, but multiple approaches to take that will lead to success.. The only ‘wrong’ way is if you don’t use one at all and your most recent jobs don’t help you land your next role, or if your Headline uses keywords unrelated to the prospective role.

Any questions I can answer?