Is Your LinkedIn Title a Turnoff?

Jobseekers (and all career professionals) - is your LinkedIn title turning people off?

I learned this the hard way from having three over-40 job searches myself and from helping many other jobseekers. The below examples of LinkedIn titles/headlines are all examples I have seen. Each of these will hurt your chances and there are 3-4 different reasons why that is. I listed some comments beside each one to help you think about what to avoid.

Don’t kill the messenger here… just trying to help you think hard about your LinkedIn title/headline so you can win.

AVOID These LinkedIn Titles/Headlines:

-  "Servant leader"   (over-used, takes up space, doesn't mean anything)
-  "ex-Google", "ex-Amazon", etc   (braggy and says your worth is based on a big name)
-  "Global___ leader"   (at the top of your profile you haven't demonstrated leadership yet)
-  "Demonstrated history of___"   (extremely over-used phrase, stand-out more)
-  "Blank___ LinkedIn title"   (don't keep it blank, it looks like you don't know what you're doing)
-  "Fractional___"   (when trying to get a full-time job this is not the time to try and be a consultant)
-  "Career break"   (is it really a career break, and how will this help you attract a job?)
-  "Unemployed"   (The "Open to work" banner already said you need a job, use the title wisely)
-  "Searching"   (This is vague and doesn't help you, plus the "Open to work" banner says this)
-  "Part-time___"   (Don't ever say the words "part time" when looking for a full-time job)
-  "Freelance"   (If people are looking for full-time, committed employees, this will turn them off)
-  "Need a job"   (The "Open to work" banner already told them this, this shouts "I'm needy")
-  "Looking"   (This one is too short, it looks like a mistake or a lack of attention to detail)
-  "Available"   (This one is too short and shares your need but nothing to attract a job)
-  "Need work"   (This one is too short, not great grammar, incomplete, doesn't say "why you")
-  "Desperate"   (This is a turn-off as it is needy and does not build your brand at all)
-  "Laid off"   (Not the place to communicate this, wasted opportunity to stand-OUT)
-  "Seeking new Opportunities"   (Use the title area to attract people, not communicate a need)
-  "Over 40 years of experience in___"   (Bad self-generated ageism failure, it shouts "I'm old")

You have a lot of value and experience so try to use your title/headline to catch the attention for jobs related to that experience. There are a number of different ways to do this, but the goal is to boost your credibility for the specific type of job you’re going for and also try to be eye-catching.