As brain-based coaching tells us, the brain loves specificity, so when you can be more exact about what your goals are, recruiters will know when to pickup the phone to call you.

Also, let's face it, it "Looking for opportunities" sounds desperate as well. LinkedIn profiles are seldom read line by line. Savvy searchers are using LinkedIn as a database to mine information about potential candidates that meet their specific requirements.

The headline is searchable, and if you use keywords in the headline that match your job title and industry, your name will appear in search results when the recruiter searches for those specific terms. It may sound a bit tedious, but it is easy to do and takes only a few seconds to change.

Are you feeling stuck writing your headline? First of all, you have exactly 120 characters for your headline. If you're unsure how to count characters in your profile, you can use Word's word count option. From the ribbon at the top of your document choose (1) Review (2) Word Count. It's that easy.

Here are a few suggestions that will help to hit several bases at one time.

If you are a CIO who is currently looking for a new role in the energy industry, consider the following headline for your LinkedIn profile:

High-Energy CIO | CTO | VP IT Operations | Renewable Energy | Electricity | Power Generation in Southern California

Pardon the high-energy pun, but do you see how commanding this headline is? Recruiters and decision-makers will quickly determine where you fit into their organization.

Also, the headline will pique the interest of search engines when recruiters are looking for:

You never really know for sure what recruiters will search on as they are recruiting for a senior role, so provide as much bandwidth in your titles as possible.

Now some people say to me: "Maureen, I've never worked as a CIO.”

However, organizations of various sizes, will use job titles specific to that size of organization. Larger organizations will use CTO whereas small organizations may use CIO or VP IT Operations, for example (there are no rules on this). Your job is to ensure your profile gets found as the recruiter casts his net.

See, this is very simple! And it's powerful, and it only takes moments to do. You will benefit from being found in more searches by more recruiters.

If you need help optimizing your LinkedIn profile headline, contact me today. I offer an in-demand LinkedIn Profile Energizer package. Contact us today for a confidential conversation.