“Looking for new opportunities…”

The initial post was inspired by, well, profiles we see every day on sites like LinkedIn, and more precisely taglines like this: “looking for new opportunities”.

[Spoiler alert: we’ll explain, why it is not a good idea to post that on your profile. You can also skip reading the entire post and simply change your tagline back to the position you most recently held and/or are looking for.]

Here are the numbers in comparison.

2014 2016
looking for new challenges 136 367 264 119
looking for new opportunities 306 724 621 907
open to new challenges 126 407 264 132
looking for a job 418 043 772 404

We particularly liked the following entires:

“Position: Nevermind. still looking for a better job.”
Still Looking for a job at Currently unemployed
looking for any suitable job at any well reputed organization
“looking for a good job pls, any help?”
Looking for a job so hire me at unemployed
“Actively looking for a new opportunity anything considered need a new start”
Desperately looking for job at Will take anything
im awesome!!!! hire me please! at need an employer!
“Looking for a new job at a successful company!”
“Problem solver and project manager is looking for new opportunities at an interesting workplace that can challenge me!”

No headhunter or potential employer will look for employees with the above mentioned key words. It communicates desperation. It also shows that you are lost on the job market and have no idea how to maneuver it. Your intentions may be different, but that’s the message you are sending. The more senior you are, the more inappropriate such a tagline is.

“But I wanted to let my network know that I am looking”. Great. Networking 101: personalize! Reach out to your contacts individually. If it’s your friends, use Facebook.

Our advice?
Quick fix: easiest and most neutral → change your tagline back to the position you most recently held and/or are looking for.
Advanced: think of what phrases & key words are compelling for your target group.

If you have a colleague with an unfortunate tagline, send them a link to this post.

Is your tagline good? Feel free to request a complimentary LinkedIn Report, that assesses the overall impression & professionalism of your profile. You’ll also receive feedback on all the sections. Just send an email to Bichl.Sandra@CareerAngels.eu (Subject: LI Report) and add a link to your profile.