By Emily Seamone

Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash

The LinkedIn About section (or what used to be called the Summary, as it will be referred to mostly in this article) is one of the most important sections of your profile. Situated at the top of the page after your headline and photo, it is one of the first sections that readers will see and, for some, perhaps the only section they will really pay attention to. Furthermore, this section counts toward your profile strength (i.e., “All Star” status), and LinkedIn algorithms focus strongly on this area for keywords in searches. With a 2,000-character count limit, this section is one of the largest sections on your profile and thus can contain many important keywords.

There are no exact rules for how to write an effective Summary. In the end, you must decide what makes most sense for your field, your background, and your overall strategy. It can be helpful to search for other professionals in your field and take note of how they construct their Summaries (as well as the rest of their profiles). Although each person’s Summary section will be unique, this blog post will summarize some of the latest thoughts, ideas, and examples of LinkedIn Summaries from various career experts.

LinkedIn Summary Basics

Most experts seem to agree that you can be less formal in your LinkedIn profile than your resume. Thus, in a profile, you may either use “I” statements or drop pronouns as you would on a resume. In terms of tone, consider your field. Are you targeting a more creative field? A more traditional, business-like one? Notice how others in your industry put together their Summaries and use them as a guideline for your own.

Think of your Summary as an expansion of your headline or personal brand. This is where you can set the context and stage for the rest of your profile; this is where people can get to know who you are and what you offer. This is your chance to talk about who you are as a professional—think about the message you want to communicate to potential employers, professionals, and clients. What makes you interesting and unique? What makes you stand out amongst others in your field?

In addition to describing who you are, you want to speak to your readers. As they read your Summary, Each visitor will be asking themselves, “How can this person help me? How can this person solve my problems?” Write for your targeted field and employers (or clients), even if you have not worked previously in this industry. As mentioned earlier, keywords for your field are very important in this section, not just for search engine optimization, but also to attract the right readers by speaking their language.

Finally, consider the length. Some experts recommend taking advantage of all 2,000 allotted characters. Others suggest keeping it short. No matter what you decide, you will want to write for the web. Devise short paragraphs and break them up with headings using all caps and bullet points. To facilitate this, you may need to draft your text in a word processor and then copy it over.

Writing Your Summary

To begin writing your Summary, think about it as having three parts: an introduction, body, and closing.

The Introduction

The introduction to your Summary is extremely important, especially because the About section is collapsed on your profile, showing only the first one to two lines. You therefore want to carefully craft those first two sentences. How can you grab the reader’s attention and entice them to read more? Here are some introduction possibilities (note that some of these are examples from LinkedIn’s blog, which may also be worth reading):

The Who Intro

Describe who are you as a professional. What is your brand? This introduction is more straightforward, business-like, and gets right to the point.

I am a creative, forward-thinking, and performance-driven digital marketing professional who has demonstrated an ability to analyze and interpret social media metrics to plan innovative marketing and communication strategies.

The Personality Intro

Show your personality with a creative hook. This introduction can be especially good for creative fields.

When I want the freshest oysters, I don’t go to the fish counter at the grocery store; I go to John, the East Dennis oyster guy.

The Story Intro

Start with a story or anecdote. This is another possibility for a creative introduction, but also emphasizes a strength or skill that you have.

My superpower is connecting the right people with each other. When I was a doctoral candidate at Stanford, a friend of mine used to complain that we couldn’t walk across the main quad without having to stop and talk to at least two people I knew.

The Mission Intro

Highlight your mission or passion. This introduction could be especially beneficial for the service, helping, or non-profit fields.

I love to dig into customer problems and solve them with modern technology.

The Body

In the body of your Summary, think about who you want to attract to your profile. Write about what you want to do, not necessarily what you have done. For example, if you are focusing on a non-faculty career path and you first emphasize your academic studies and accomplishments, you are most likely not going to attract professionals in your targeted field. Below are several items you can include in the body of your Summary. You do not need to incorporate everything listed; pick and choose what makes the most sense for you.

Background

What aspects of your background would employers in your targeted field be most interested in? Consider your education, employment and volunteer experiences, and companies and organizations that you’ve been a part of. Keep in mind that you most likely will not include everything; choose the most relevant facts.

Uniqueness

What are your specialties, key strengths, and top skills? How are you unique? What is your personal brand?

Career Achievements

Highlight your transferable successes, whether in educational or work experiences. Can you summarize your accomplishments?

Validation

Include any quotes, awards, testimonials, or accolades that relate to your field or highlight your strengths.

Personal Life

Consider hobbies, interests, and volunteer roles, especially if they relate in some way to your target field/career area.

Categories

As mentioned above, break the body of your Summary into sections using headings such as Non-Profit Experience, Research Experience, Achievements, Career Highlights, Specialties, Contact Information. These headings can help communicate your brand. Remember to place them in ALL CAPS.

The Closing

At the end of your profile, you may want to wrap up by including a “call to action” and a specialties section. The call to action is a way to communicate that you are open to new job opportunities (if you are openly searching), networking opportunities, and/or whatever else. It is also a good opportunity to provide contact information, especially if you want to make it as easy as possible for people to reach you. (Note: your contact information is also located in the top section of your profile, but visitors must click on the “contact info” link.) The specialties section is a strategic place to list the most important keywords for your industry and targeted role. Remember, the more keywords in your profile the better. Here are two examples of a call to action:

As I will be graduating this spring, I am currently seeking new opportunities and building my network in the program evaluation field. I would love to chat with people in this line of work and share best practices—I can be reached at [email].

I enjoy meeting new people and hearing new perspectives. Reach out if you want to talk to me about emerging tech, creating software, or baseball. Please contact me at [email].

Construct your own unique and effective LinkedIn Summary statement, keeping in mind who you are targeting and what they are most interested in reading. Create an introduction that draws the reader in, a body that summarizes your strengths, skills, and experiences as they relate to your target career area, and a closing that encourages professionals to get in touch with you.

Further Resources

If you’d like to learn more about how to optimize your LinkedIn profile overall, read our blog post about optimizing your LinkedIn profile and review the recording of our “Stand Out Online: Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile” webinar.