I spend three to six hours every weekday scrolling through hundreds of pages of LinkedIn profiles. You guessed it: I’m a recruiter. Looking for candidates who might be a fit for one of our active roles (what we in the recruiting game call “sourcing”) is a huge portion of my job – and if you’re wondering, yes, it can certainly get tedious.
My teammates and I are constantly strategizing the best way to zero in on right-fit candidates by playing with Boolean strings, adjusting LinkedIn filters, and toying with different search terms; but LinkedIn is not a perfect system, and there are always going to be search results that don’t reflect what we’re looking for. As such, we’ve grown adept at quickly analyzing profiles based simply on the information presented on the basic search page, where the only information we can see is a profile picture (or lack thereof), a headline, and a snippet of skills or work history.
Unless a profile picture is highly inappropriate or offensive, or a headline is complete gibberish, there’s never a time my colleagues and I refuse to click on a candidate’s LinkedIn profile – but when we’re scrolling through thousands of pages of results, there are certain photo and headline indicators that give us pause. Some of these points may be surprising, and while several of these “red flags” are almost universally agreed-upon by recruiters, some are more specific to our firm, and there are exceptions to every rule. Lastly, keep in mind that none of these items means that we absolutely will not click on your profile, they’re simply elements that make us less likely to bite.
1. No profile photo
Numerous studies have shown that LinkedIn profiles with photos receive more clicks than those without. A profile photo offers you the chance to make a positive first impression, and of course, a first impression can play a big role in landing an interview or receiving a response from someone you want to get to know. Neglecting to upload a profile photo doesn’t necessarily mean no one will click on your profile – but why not up your chances? Your LinkedIn profile photo doesn’t need to be a professional headshot – a simple headshot taken against a neutral background on a phone with a nice camera is perfectly fine.
2. Unprofessional photo
In our 10+ years of business, we’ve seen some absolutely wild LinkedIn profile pictures: bikini pics, images with the cat ears Snapchat filter, photos clearly taken in a nightclub bathroom; you get the drift. LinkedIn differs from other social media platforms in that it’s primarily a professional networking platform – not the place to share your wedding photos, vacation pics, or family portraits. Your profile photo can even play a big role in determining whether you land a job, so stick with a nice headshot from the neck up, and you’ll be good. The exception here is photos that clearly relate to a relevant line of business – pictures of a Sports Marketing Manager with a basketball, a chef with a plate of food, or a scientist in a lab are generally okay to use, as long as they’re clear images without distracting elements or backgrounds.
3. Out of date photos
At Treehouse Partners, our interviewers note whether our interviewees resemble their profile photos. Most of the time, candidates’ photos match up well with what our interviewers are seeing on Zoom, but every once in a while, someone comes along that makes us do a little double take. Even if you’re not actively looking for a job, LinkedIn is a great resource for networking – doesn’t it make sense for your profile picture to reflect what you look like today? In addition, our sourcing team often comes across profile pics that were clearly taken at least a decade ago. Even if your appearance hasn’t changed much in ten years (lucky you!), elements like poor lighting and framing can indicate that a profile is out of date, raising a red flag as to the accuracy and currency of the rest of your profile.
4. Vague or generic headlines
This one’s a bit nitpicky and perhaps a Treehouse-specific pet peeve, but our favorite headline formatting is “Title at Company” – for example, “Finance Manager at SpaceX” or “VP of Human Resources at StitchFix.” We scan through hundreds of LinkedIn search results every day, so knowing exactly what someone’s current title and company are is a big help (assuming the title and headline are, in fact, up to date). Another one we come across frequently is a simple “–,” which is entirely unhelpful to anyone trying to get a glimpse of what you do. Headlines like “operations guru,” “marketing professional with digital, retention, and email marketing experience,” or “spreading smiles wherever I go” won’t drive us away, but a simple, self-explanatory headline is more likely to draw us in.
5. “Actively seeking employment”
LinkedIn now has a feature that allows users to put a banner over their profile pictures reading “open to work.” We like the open to work banner. It’s a great way to let potential employers know you’re – well, open to work – which is always great news in our book. However, we’re generally wary of headlines that read “actively seeking employment” or similar phrases (“currently unemployed” is another common one – generally, it’s not a great idea to use the word “unemployed” on your LinkedIn profile, no matter the reasoning behind it). We’ve often found profiles with this type of headline to be inactive, as though the user created a LinkedIn profile to look for a job years ago, but no longer uses the account. Plus, an “actively seeking employment” headline doesn’t tell anyone anything about what you do. If you want to signal to recruiters that you’re open to a new job, it’s much better to configure your settings so that recruiters and hiring managers can see you’re open to work than stating the fact in your headline.
6. Graduation pics
Using a graduation photo for a LinkedIn profile picture is perfectly acceptable – IF you’re a recent graduate. We find that the majority of the time, LinkedIn users who have a graduation profile picture have a year or less of work experience. This is a great help when we’re looking for candidates to fill junior roles – however, when we’re looking for candidates with significantly more experience, we tend to subconsciously deprioritize profiles with graduation pics. If you’ve been in the professional world for over a year, it’s a good idea to switch your profile picture to a professional headshot.
7. Extremely long headlines
Outsiders can only see a short snippet of your headline from the search results page – about 70-80 characters will show up if your profile is viewed on a desktop computer, and 60-70 on mobile, but LinkedIn allows 220 characters in total. This is another reason we prefer the “Title at Company” format for headlines here at Treehouse Partners – most people’s title and company fit easily into the allotted space. We come across many profiles where the headline is cut off on the search results page due to extremely long headlines. Quotes are a big culprit, but another mistake we often see is keyword-stuffing in LinkedIn headlines (e.g, “HR Professional | Stanford MBA | SHRM | Organizational Development | Learning & Design | Ex-Google | CHIEFS Member | Forbes contributor”). Our CEO recommends leaving your degree out of your LinkedIn headline unless it specifically relates to your job or field. When creating or updating your headline, save it, then search your profile on your phone and desktop to make sure the whole thing is readable.