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4 Mistakes Job Seekers Make With Their LinkedIn Headline

Being on LinkedIn is a must today. Not only can you find recent and relevant job openings, but it also opens up the opportunity for employers and recruiters to find you, for you to do research on the company and specific individuals within the organization, and for you to build your professional network.

Most of LinkedIn's revenues come from recruiters who use it as a major source for finding talent and you want to make sure you come up in their searches. You also want to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is compelling and gets people to want to contact you.

Your LinkedIn headline is the first thing people will see about you when they search for certain skills, job titles, and keywords inside the platform. Here are some mistakes to avoid making in your LinkedIn headline, and a few tips to improve it:

1. Letting It Default To Your Current Job Title & Company

Man on laptop fixes his LinkedIn headline mistakes

When you don't manually change your LinkedIn headline, it'll default to your current job title and employer name. While it's alright to leave it like that, especially if you have a self-explanatory job title and work with an employer that is recognized, you can get better results when you take the time to customize it.

Write a LinkedIn headline that's relevant to your target audience and includes a few keywords (hard skills). The difference is a LinkedIn headline that reads: "Sales & Marketing Executive | Data Analysis | Social Media | Advertising" instead of "Sales and Marketing at XYZ Company."

The revised LinkedIn headline does a better job of informing others of what this person does, who they do it for, and what their expertise is.

2. Not Presenting Your Selling Point

Woman on laptop changes her LinkedIn headline

Your LinkedIn headline needs selling points or a value proposition that makes you stand out.

What is it that separates you from someone else who may hold similar skills and experience? Which hard skills or transferable skills will make you a great candidate for the job you're applying for? That's what you need to think about.

3. Not Peppering Your LinkedIn Headline With Keywords

Man on laptop edits his LinkedIn headline

If you want your LinkedIn profile to show up in search results, it has to have the relevant keywords recruiters and hiring managers are searching for. Determine what those keywords are and make sure they're in your LinkedIn headline. Be sure to include the skills needed for the position you want to get, not the one you're currently in.

Let's say a recruiter is searching for talent to fill a sales position at a pharmaceutical company that sells cancer drugs. If your LinkedIn headline only reads "Sales Professional," you'll probably show up much lower in the search results than someone with a LinkedIn headline that hits on some of the keywords.

An example of a good LinkedIn headline might be:

Sales Executive | Pharmaceutical Sales | Sales Management | Lead Generation

4. Not Being Memorable

Woman brainstorms what to write in her LinkedIn headline

A LinkedIn headline displaying your skills and expertise will entice others to want to know more about you. Work your brainpower to come up with something powerful and unique.

Write a LinkedIn headline so powerful it'll make recruiters stop scrolling and write down your name!

A major battle job seekers have on LinkedIn is getting others to look at their profiles. But with a customized LinkedIn headline that speaks to the audience you want to reach, you'll get results.

The LinkedIn headline may only allow 220 characters, but it's your best chance to stand out to recruiters and get them to view your profile!

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4 Mistakes Job Seekers Make With Their …

Looking for a job has become relatively tough for many people. Even some professionals with advanced academic qualifications, such as bachelor's degrees and even MBAs, are currently having a rough time on the market. However, there are still plenty of jobs out there for the right candidates.

One of the ways of differentiating yourself from other job seekers is by having transferable skills. Broadly speaking, a transferable skill is an expertise that you can use across a wide range of industries.

According to the University of Southern California, many graduates change jobs as many as four times within a period of five years. If you are a job seeker, identifying your transferable skills and articulating them to employers is likely to increase your chances of getting a job.

Here are five transferable skills all job seekers need:

1. Communication

Two professionals with good communication skills

In almost every career, from banking to the hospitality industry, good communication skills are vital. As such, it would be to your advantage if you have the ability to articulate your ideas in writing as well as orally. Since communication normally involves more than one party, you should be a good listener as well.

Employers often look for people who can communicate with co-workers effectively and in an objective manner.

Don't know your workplace communication style? Take our FREE quiz today!

2. Analytical Skills

Woman uses her analytical skills on the job

This is a vital skill in almost every field of work mainly because the majority of businesses generate revenue by solving problems that clients face daily.

For example, cloud-computing companies provide data storage solutions, thereby ensuring that their clients have a backup of data stored on site. Employees can access company data on the go knowing they have secure storage for their information. In such an environment, analytical skills are likely to come in handy when clients face problems such as uploading data or updating certain files. To solve those issues, one would have to identify and define the problem's parameters.

This skill also involves collecting and analyzing data in order to design creative solutions to complex problems.

3. Leadership

Most organizations and business enterprises employ more than one employee. Because of this, it may not be possible to have all the employees in leadership positions. Therefore, a few employees who show the ability to lead generally take charge of the others.

Leadership is all about motivating fellow employees and leading them to work toward a common goal. In addition, leaders analyze tasks and set priorities for the other employees as well as identify and allocate resources that employees need.

4. Information Management Skills

Woman uses her data and information management skills at work

Traditionally, businesses kept a few records such as sales, purchases, and salaries in-house. In most cases, this data was no more than a few gigabytes. However, the emergence of social media, the adoption of e-commerce by consumers, and the large number of data points generated by businesses and corporations have upended the traditional model of managing information. As a result, most employers need employees who can sort and present data objects in an understandable manner.

Information management also involves evaluating and synthesizing information against industry standards. Industries where you can apply this skill set include finance, education, manufacturing, and print media.

5. Project Management

Project managers are in high demand in many industries. Your work as a project manager will involve planning projects, assessing potential risks associated with the project, allocating project finances appropriately, and overseeing the execution of the project on time.

You can use this transferable skill in industries such as education, energy, consulting, and even the military.

The job sector is becoming increasingly competitive with every passing day. With this in mind, job seekers need to broaden their horizons when searching for a job.

Leverage the power of transferable skills acquired in previous jobs to get ahead of the competition. Just remember to quantify these skills on your resume. Also, make sure to mention them in your job interview, and you'll surely stand out from the competition.

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This article was originally published at an earlier date.

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