If you are applying in a market you do not live in yet, the headline has to do two jobs at once: name the work in the words that market's postings use, and make it clear that a reader can act on your application. Those are two different questions, and only one of them belongs in the line that follows your name — the terms a role is searched by.
The other one — where you are, what you are authorised to do there, whether you would need sponsorship — is a screening fact. It has to be settled before an interview is useful to either side, and no search matches it. So it belongs where a reader can find it and act on it: one plain sentence in your About section, and at most one short clause at the end of the headline if you want it visible there at all. Leading with it is what most cross-border headlines do, and it is the first thing this page is written to stop.
Three slots, and the two facts that are not slots
- The role, in the market's words. The title the postings you are aiming at use, spelled the way they spell it. A title that only exists in your own market is the commonest reason a strong profile never matches a search there — and translating it is not a demotion, it is the same job under the name that market hires for.
- Your specialism. Two or three things that are true of you and searched in that market: the stack, the systems, the domain. Pick the ones the postings name, in the language those postings are written in.
- One proof. A scope, a number, a credential, or the surface you own. One. A certification or a system that is recognised in the market you are targeting is worth more here than a local one a reader there cannot place.
- The market, last and optional. One place, and a month if you have one: “Relocating to Berlin in March”. It says which market you are applying into and when you could start — the two things the line can add that the location field cannot.
A LinkedIn headline is limited to 220 characters, and only the opening stretch of it is visible in search results and on the mobile profile card. The headline and About limits — and how much of each field actually displays before it truncates — are set out on LinkedIn headline and About character limits.
The location field, and the one sentence that is not a search term
Two facts get confused here. Where you are is a field, and a recruiter can narrow on it — which is why it has to stay honest until you have actually moved, and why which market you are aiming at is a different decision from what the field says. The market is a sentence, and the headline is the only sentence a searcher reads before deciding whether to open your profile at all.
The visa question is different in kind again. It is a yes/no fact rather than a phrase anyone searches with, so a headline built out of it spends the opening characters on something no search matches. Say it once, plainly, in your About section: what you are authorised to do today, and what you would need. If you want it in the line as well, make it one short clause at the very end, after the role and the proof.
Before and after
Three more lines you can paste
- Data Analyst | SQL, Power BI & Reporting | Relocating to Toronto in Q1 — a place and a quarter do the market job in five words. The location field itself is a separate decision, covered here: LinkedIn headline when you're relocating.
- Registered Nurse | Acute Care & ICU | NMC-registered, targeting NHS trusts — the credential the destination market recognises goes in the proof slot, where a reader can check it.
- Product Manager | B2B SaaS & Payments | Targeting roles in Singapore from June — the market and the month sit after the terms, which is the only place they cost you no searches.
Mistakes that keep an international headline out of search
- “International candidate” as the whole line. The phrase describes you rather than the work, and no posting is searched by it. The line has room for a title.
- “Visa sponsorship required” in the opening slot. A screening fact where a term belongs. It goes in the About in one sentence, or at the end of the line in four words.
- Your own market's job title, untranslated. The postings use their own words, and a synonym is not a match — the same job under a different name is a different search.
- A market you never name. If you are applying into another country, say so once: a reader there should not have to work out whether opening your profile is worth their time.
How the free score works on this page
On this page the score reads your pasted text for what the line should be doing across borders: whether a target role appears and appears early, whether the specialism next to it is one the market you are writing for searches in, whether one concrete proof is there, and how much of the line is spent on status — “international candidate”, “seeking sponsorship” — rather than on the words a role is searched by. A line that is mostly status scores low even when the situation is real.
Paste the headline you run today — plus a couple of sentences from your About if you have them — into the box at the top of this page. The free score is computed from your own words: whether your target role appears early, whether the terms recruiters filter on for your role are present, how concrete the line is versus filler, and whether it carries any evidence of scope or impact. The 0–100 number and a rewritten headline come back immediately, in full and unblurred. The rewritten About and your top 3 experience bullets are the $1 one-time part.
- Paste your current headline — or a few lines of your About — into the box at the top of this page. Text is the input: nothing is fetched, so there is nothing that can fail to load, and a profile URL is accepted in the same box if you have one handy.
- Read your 0–100 visibility score and your rewritten headline — free, in full, no signup and no card. A score in the 80s means the terms and evidence recruiters filter on are mostly there. A score in the 40s means most of them are missing.
- Want the rest? $1, one-time, unlocks the rewritten About section and your top 3 experience bullets, written from the same text — no subscription, no account access, nothing posted anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Should “visa sponsorship required” go in my LinkedIn headline?
Usually not. It is a screening fact rather than a search term, and at the front of the line it takes the place of the role a reader is filtering for. Put it in your About in one plain sentence — what you are authorised to do, and what you would need — and if you want it visible in the line too, keep it to one short clause at the end.
Should I write my headline in English or in the language of the market I am targeting?
Write it in the language the postings you want are written in, because a term only matches when it is spelled the way the posting spells it. A profile carries one headline, so write it for the market you want most and carry the other language's version of your terms in your About section.
Does my headline need to name the country I am applying to?
Only if you want the move to be visible. The location field is where a search reads where you are; the line is where you can say which market you are aiming at and when you could start. One place name, and a month if you have one — not a list of countries.
Is the score really free, and what does the $1 unlock?
The 0–100 visibility score and your rewritten headline are free — no signup, no credit card, and no email address needed. The $1 one-time charge unlocks the rewritten About section and your top 3 experience bullets. It never recurs: $1 per review, no subscription, and you only pay when you want fresh rewrites.
Do you need access to my LinkedIn account?
No. Standout never asks for your LinkedIn password, never connects to your account, and never posts or edits anything on your profile. You paste text you can already see on your own public profile, and the review is written from that text.
Why paste my headline instead of just my profile URL?
LinkedIn blocks automated reads of public profiles, so a review built from a URL alone would fall back on a public preview and whatever search-indexed copies exist — a thinner picture of you than the ten seconds it takes to paste your real headline or About. The same box accepts a profile URL if you have one handy, and you can paste both.
Do you store my data?
We keep the review we wrote for you — the score, headline, About, and bullets — and the email address you give us. If you pay for a review, we also keep the headline or About text you pasted, so we can deliver it and re-deliver it if anything goes wrong. We never connect to your LinkedIn account, never post or edit anything, and never sell your data.
What if I'm not happy with my rewrites?
If you're not satisfied, email us at [email protected] and we'll make it right — including a refund if needed.
What if my role or situation isn't covered on this page?
Paste your current headline into the box anyway — the score is computed from your own text, and the rewritten headline is written from the same text, so any role works. The role pages exist to tell you which words are worth having, not to limit who can use the tool.
See where your headline stands across borders. Paste it and get your free 0–100 score and a rewritten headline — no login, no card, no email. Jump to the score box →
Related guides
- LinkedIn headline when you're relocating
- How LinkedIn recruiter search works
- Free LinkedIn profile review: what recruiters see
- A full sample review (score, headline, About, bullets)
Other situations
Same tool, same free score — copy tuned to the situation you’re in:
- LinkedIn headline for a career change
- LinkedIn headline with no experience
- LinkedIn headline after a career break
- LinkedIn headline when you're between roles
- LinkedIn headline for veterans
- LinkedIn headline when you're relocating
- LinkedIn headline for freelancers and the self-employed
- LinkedIn headline when you're open to work
- LinkedIn headline for job seekers over 50