15 Great LinkedIn Headline Examples (Optimise Your Profile)

With over 575 million users, LinkedIn is one of the most effective professional networking platforms. It enables users to build valuable connections with key decision-makers in their industry and acquire exciting job opportunities.

To get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to build yourself a professional brand on the network. This involves adding a good headshot, writing an engaging summary and drawing attention to your key experiences.

But the most important aspect of your LinkedIn profile is the headline.

In this guide, we provide 15 hard-hitting LinkedIn headline examples and explain how to write them. We also detail CV Nation’s unique LinkedIn headline formula and provide multiple LinkedIn headline tips to help you make a powerful impact.

The LinkedIn headline examples provided in this guide are designed to help people in all industries and professions, as well as those with no experience.

This guide includes 15 LinkedIn headlines for various professions and industries. These extend to:

- Sales LinkedIn headlines

- Project management LinkedIn headlines

- Executive/CEO LinkedIn headlines

- Marketing LinkedIn Headlines

- Graduate LinkedIn headlines

- Business management LinkedIn headlines

- Flight Attendant LinkedIn headlines

- No experience LinkedIn headlines

- Author LinkedIn headlines

- Customer Service LinkedIn headlines

- Engineer LinkedIn headlines

- Accountancy LinkedIn headlines

LinkedIn headlines appear at the top of users' LinkedIn profiles. They briefly outline who the individual is and what makes them unique. The headline also appears next to users’ profile pictures in search results.

The aim of the headline is to encourage LinkedIn users to click on your profile and provide an overview of what you do.

LinkedIn headlines have a 120-character limit (with spaces). This amounts to around 18 words.

How can you condense your complex character, unique experiences and valuable skills into just 18 words?

It’s easy.

Just use our formula and you’ll soon have a LinkedIn headline that does you justice.

Start your headline with your job title. If you don’t want to include your job title, add your area of expertise or specialism.

This is an important step is at articulated what you do.

If you are not currently employed, insert your most recent job title or the term that best describes what you do.

Include the name of the company you work for. This shows your commitment to your employer.

If you’re currently unemployed, skip this step and use the extra character space to focus on your unique selling point in more detail.

Describe what makes you unique. This is the part where you can make yourself stand out.

What are examples of unique selling points?

Your unique selling point could be related to achievements, an ability to solve specific problems, years of experience or a unique skill.

Here is an example of a unique selling point from one of our LinkedIn headline examples:

'Saving companies over $4.6M since 2011.'

Notice how, in just six words, this LinkedIn user makes himself stand out from the crowd and provides a tangible example of how he can add value.

Here is another example of a unique selling point:

‘Generating growth for clients for 10+ years through robust marketing initiatives.'

In this example, the individual draws attention to her track record of improving business performance. Rather than simply stating that she is a marketing professional, she shows how she can help companies grow.

The final step is to ensure your LinkedIn headline contains relevant keywords.

If you want hiring managers and recruiters to visit your profile, you need to get it ranking in searches. Ensuring your headline is keyword optimised will help your profile to rank well.

The most important keywords will often be your job title, which we have already covered in step one. Other relevant keywords might be areas of expertise that are vital to your professional.

For example, if you’re a project manager but a key aspect of what makes you unique is your financial management skills, you may want to add ‘financial management’ to your headline.

Here is an example:

‘Project Manager | AT5 | Delivering £5M+ Projects To High Standards For Over 10 Years | Financial Management Specialist’

Notice how the project manager inserts the ‘financial management’ for keyword purposes and it improved his headline.

Please note, you don’t have to follow this headline formula in any particular order, or in any way at all. If you like, you can start with step 3 and end with step 1. Or feel free to skip step two if you would prefer to use the extra character space to further articulate your unique selling point.

CEO • Example Company Ltd. • Business Leader of the Year 2019 • Former Managing Director at Dreams Ends Horror

Sales Director · B33 R6 Enterprises · 68.8 M in Software Sales Generated Since 2014

Take a look an an amazing sales/account management LinkedIn summary.

Project Manager | AT5 | Delivering 5 M+ Projects to High Standards for Over 10 Years | Financial Management Specialist

Need help preparing a job-winning project management CV? Take a look at our optimised project management CV example.

Grow Your Customer Base Threefold in Three Months with our Marketing Supercharger Class | 120,000 Happy Clients

Graduate | Oxford University | Former Intern at London Law Company | Small Plane Owner

One of Major Media Outlet's 5 Most Influential Business Leaders in 2019 | TEDx Speaker | Business Optimisation Expert

Customer Service Advisor | Amazon | Developing Positive Customer Relationships for 6+ Years | 12% Complaint Reduction

Business Optimisation Specialist | Example Company | Saving Companies Over 4.6 M Since 2011 | Business Transformation

Mechanical Engineer | Example Company | 7+ Years’ Experience in EMEA | Strategy Development & Regulatory Compliance

Positioning Businesses at the Forefront of Their Industry for 18+ Years | Change Management & Transformation Specialist

Aspiring Accountant | Progressing Towards AAT Qualification | Professional Maths Geek

Marketing Associate | Generating Growth for Clients for 10+ Years | £30M in Ads Spent in 2019 | Traditional & Digital

CRO Specialist | Ex. Company | 14% Conversion Increase in 2019 | Using Data & Analytics to Generate Growth for 10 Years

Bestselling Author of the 1 Muffin, 2 Muffin Self-Help Book | 8 Million Copies Sold | Former Journalist | Cat Lover

Flight Attendant | British Airways | Making Passengers’ Flights More Pleasant | 5+ Years’ Cabin Crew Experience

Take a look at our flight attendant resume examples.

The headlines listed above showcase the individuals’ key assets. For example, the sales director draws attention to his biggest selling point – the large number of sales he has closed in recent years.

Likewise, the customer service advisor demonstrates her broad experience in customer-facing environments, as well as her ability to enhance customer satisfaction.

Number 6 is a great example of a LinkedIn headline with excellent unique selling points. The individual’s recognition from a national media outlet, along with her experience as a TEDx speaker, make her stand out from the crowd.

As LinkedIn headlines appear in searches, they are the first part of LinkedIn profiles that users come into contact with, along with profile photos. For this reason, it’s important that your headline is sending out a strong message.

Andrew Hutchinson, a Content & Social Media Manager, stated in his post on VitaminTalent: 'It’s your headline that stands as the most important element — your key opportunity to make a positive first impression and entice the reader to want to know more.'

Do you want healthy click through rates from LinkedIn searches? Do you want hiring managers to click on your profile? If so, you need to entice them in with a hard-hitting headline that makes you stand out from the millions of other LinkedIn users.

The headline also plays a key role in ranking users for specific keywords and search terms. Including relevant keywords in your LinkedIn headline can help you rank in LinkedIn searches, which can result in attracting hiring managers to your profile.

If you have no experience, you may be wondering how to write your LinkedIn headline.

If you have no professional experience, the key is to identify your strongest selling points and focus on those. These may be academic achievements or skills gained during work placements.

Here is an example of a school leaver’s LinkedIn headline:

‘Aspiring Accountant | Progressing Towards AAT Qualification | Professional Maths Geek

Despite the school leaver having no work experience, her LinkedIn headline is engaging and it shows that she is a strong candidate for entry roles in accountancy.

It achieves this by focusing on her career aspirations and her ongoing training.

Notice how the school leaver includes a fun fact in her headline – ‘Professional Maths Geek’. This articulates her interest in numbers, which is an important aspect of accountancy.

If you don't have any work experience and you’re struggling to come up with a complete LinkedIn headline, include a fun, engaging fact that tells the reader something interesting and relevant about you.

Don’t use your LinkedIn headline to state that you’re hardworking, well-organised or any other such clichés. While good work ethics and organisation skills are highly sought after, these terms don’t separate you from the millions of other LinkedIn users in any way, shape or form.

Instead, be unique. Identify your key selling points and avoid generic phrases.

Here is an example of a generic LinkedIn headline:

‘Highly-organised Sales Manager, with a passion for exceeding expectations’.

Why is this a weak LinkedIn headline?

It uses clichés like ‘highly-organised’ and it doesn’t demonstrate anything unique or interesting about the individual.

Instead of writing lackluster headlines like the one above, identify what makes you different and effective as an employee. Then convey this in your headline.

If you’re still struggling to write an effective headline, feel free to use our bespoke LinkedIn profile writing service.

Some LinkedIn users use their headline to state that they are actively seeking employment. These users often include something along the lines of ‘actively seeking roles in…’.

We don’t recommend this approach.

There’s a common perception in recruitment that the best candidates for roles are already employed. As such, it’s more effective not to draw attention to the fact that you are actively seeking roles.

Instead of stating that you’re seeking new job opportunities in your headline, build a professional brand on LinkedIn that articulates your qualities and key experiences. This way, recruiters and hiring managers will come to you, whether you’re seeking jobs or not.

Additional Tip: Ensure your LinkedIn headline and profile is consistent with your CV. This is important as recruiters and employers often view your LinkedIn profile immediately after viewing your CV.

For help writing a powerful, interview-generating CV, check out our CV examples and templates here.

Hopefully you can use the example LinkedIn headlines in this guide to prepare one of your own that makes your profile shine. To find out what a great LinkedIn summary looks like, check out our 20 LinkedIn summary examples.

If you would like any further assistance, feel free to get in touch with us to see how we can help you with your LinkedIn profile.