Brown says she sees a lot of people simply put "Student at X University" as their lead LinkedIn headline. She also sees a lot of professionals who are looking for jobs with old titles as headlines.
You have a lot of room to be descriptive in this area of your profile!
"If you're a job seeker and you have a [vague or outdated] title, I have no idea you're looking for work," says Brown.
So, it's better for a student to write that they're an "Advertising major at Syracuse University who has experience with nonprofit work" or for a job seeker to write, "Experienced advertising professional looking for a opportunities in the med-tech space." Her official job title comes in the "Experience" section of her profile.
Even people with concrete job titles should use the headline space to give more detail about what they do and are passionate about. Brown's headline, for example, reads "I help SU students and alumni to craft their career stories | Connector | Speaker | LinkedIn Trainer | CNY Promoter."
Never, never write "unemployed" — highlight what you're looking for, instead.