Whether you are just having thoughts about leaving your current workplace or are already in the middle of a job search, chances are you have an eye towards either joining LinkedIn or updating your existing profile on this platform. It seems, by all accounts, to be one of the best steps you can take on your way to landing your dream job: LinkedIn boasts hundreds of millions of users, and odds are that you will meet your next employer there.
To succeed on LinkedIn, you need a competitive profile that showcases your strengths and expertise. One of the building blocks of your LinkedIn profile is the summary. Also called the LinkedIn About section, or the LinkedIn bio, it is text that appears underneath your LinkedIn profile picture and explains who you are career-wise. It has a character limit of 2,600, meaning it should be a pithy summation of your skills and accomplishments. You can treat it as your personal elevator pitch when it comes to networking on LinkedIn.
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What Is a LinkedIn Summary, and Why Is It So Important?
A LinkedIn summary is vital for a successful job search as it allows you to introduce yourself to a huge network of potential employers and explain why you are a great candidate. Since recruiters have to sort through hundreds of LinkedIn profiles to find the best match for a vacancy and they are often pressed for time, a proper summary is your best bet for standing out from the crowd.
It is the first thing users see when viewing your profile, and it impacts people’s first impression about you greatly. As the job market is getting more and more competitive, those few lines appearing at the top of your LinkedIn profile are likely to make it or break it in getting a job offer. In this article, you will learn the top LinkedIn summary hooks and see some excellent LinkedIn summary examples.
How to Write a Good LinkedIn Summary
Nailing the summary section of your resume is an important part of your job-seeking strategy. When it comes to LinkedIn, your profile’s summary should be a concise yet compelling description of your professional identity. Its aim is to bring your unique personality to the digital world and help you make the most of LinkedIn, so you should do your homework and check out the dos and don’ts of putting together a job-winning LinkedIn profile summary.
Obviously, it all depends on your unique experience and individual traits as a jobseeker. For instance, there are seasoned experts navigating LinkedIn in search of high-paid positions. At the same time, inexperienced workers flock to the platform, hoping to secure their first jobs and start their new careers. Companies looking for top talent and businesses that are ready to hire employees who’ve just made a radical career switch look for different things when looking through LinkedIn profiles, which means you should tailor the About section according to your background.
With that in mind, we’ll get back to the peculiarities arising from different expertise levels later. The good news is, whether you are an expert or a rookie, some LinkedIn bio rules apply everywhere. So, no matter where you are in your career arc, here are the top 10 LinkedIn summary tips that will help you land as many job interviews as you wish:
1. Draw up an engaging story
Your summary is not a copy of your resume. It should make for an engaging read and look more like a story. Your aim here is all about catching the reader’s attention with a compelling narrative. However, make sure to strike the right balance: while casual tone and personal details are appreciated, your summary should not be too informal or off the point.
Here is how a talent acquisition lead tells their story in the summary:
2. Bring more personality
The bio section on LinkedIn is a great place to showcase your uniqueness. While the summary is not your autobiography, you do want your personality to shine through. Avoid clichés and do your best to sound human and natural. It is also a good idea to highlight your values and interests so that a potential employer could see whether you are a cultural fit for their company.
This is how an HR adds a personal touch to their summary by sharing their beliefs:
3. Target the right audience
When crafting your LinkedIn profile summary, your goal is to reach the right people. If you are on the hunt for a new job, your summary should show that you have what it takes to fit a certain role. We also recommend stating what kind of company you would like to join or collaborate with. This way, you will target businesses that fit you best, attracting more interviews and job offers in shorter times.
You can see how a coach and marketing expert starts their resume by defining their target audience:
4. Start with a hook
The first three lines of your summary are of utmost importance: visitors see that text the moment they land on your page, and the rest can be accessed only by clicking “read more”. This means that you should hook your reader right off the bat – otherwise, they will just leave your profile without seeing the rest of your bio.
Here is how a growth expert starts their summary with a few intriguing lines:
5. Be straightforward
Your LinkedIn profile summary should be an authentic account of your career path. Be honest about your experience, skills and achievements and keep in mind that there is no room for misleading information when it comes to LinkedIn networking. Everyone can see your page, which means lies and deceit will not succeed and the truth will be exposed sooner rather than later.
Take a look at how a senior director of marketing shares provable details about their career:
6. Add the right keywords
When searching for the right candidate, a recruiter usually enters certain work-related keywords, including job-specific titles, skills, and qualifications. You should use relevant keywords in your summary to make sure potential employers can easily find your profile on LinkedIn. It is quite easy to find out what keywords should be included in your About section: examine job postings for the positions you are interested in and take notice of the words that are regularly repeated.
Here is how a marketing manager uses a bunch of well-researched keywords in the LinkedIn bio:
7. Highlight your strengths and talents
Are you an excellent communicator with advanced people person skills? Or maybe you are proficient with languages? With the help of your LinkedIn summary, you can let the world know how talented and experienced you are. Don’t be afraid to showcase your accomplishments and what you are proud of.
You can check how a communications manager uses the summary to bring their marketable skills to the fore:
8. Include numbers and data
To secure job interviews and offers, you need to provide specific details. Data and numbers look impressive to recruiters: they give a full understanding of your experience, showing what exactly you have achieved.
Here is how Neil Patel, a digital marketing expert, uses numbers to showcase his impressive bio:
9. Share your plans
Your potential employer would like to know where your ambitions lie. Mentioning your plans for the future in your LinkedIn summary is a good way to demonstrate that you are an ambitious and reliable candidate. To make a good impression, your goals should be realistic, relevant and achievable.
For example, Amy Cuddy, a speaker, psychologist and bestselling author, concludes her LinkedIn profile summary by sharing her work in progress:
10. Conclude with a call to action
Don’t let the reader just leave your profile. Your goal is to entice them into contacting you, and including a call to action (CTA) into the summary is an effective way to achieve that. The right CTA will make a recruiter want to know more about you and your professional journey and perform a desirable action – such as connecting with you on LinkedIn.
Mike Kamo, an entrepreneur and investor, does an excellent job of ending his summary with a straightforward and compelling CTA:
LinkedIn Summary Tips For Experienced Workers
With years of experience behind and a list of remarkable achievements, you can bring a lot to the table. In such a case, a few impressive lines in your LinkedIn bio will be enough to attract tons of offers. Nevertheless, mid-level experience can cause quite a stir as well – all you need is a good LinkedIn summary that shows what you are best at. Your bio should include your unique value proposition, which is what makes you stand out amidst a sea of candidates. Use the right words to articulate your uniqueness and let everyone know that you are pursuing new opportunities.
We all have unique career paths, so there is no universal way to translate your professional experience into an awe-inspiring LinkedIn summary. That said, we have prepared a few bits of advice on how to craft a LinkedIn summary that will get you noticed and show everyone that you are good in your field:
1. Share your passion
The best summary is all about love and inspiration. If you enjoy what you do, you are certainly a candidate that is highly sought after, so enable recruiters to see that through your summary. Start it by explaining what makes you tick.
2. Describe what you do
Your current role is of interest to your potential employers. Let them know how you approach your tasks, how you solve problems, and what difference you make.
3. Reveal your past
Your job history explains who you are to those visiting your LinkedIn page. Therefore, you should connect all the dots and avoid ambiguities. A non-linear career path and a number of unrelated jobs would not scare off recruiters, yet you should focus on what is most relevant today and how it makes you the right candidate.
4. Avoid clichés and jargon
We have mentioned earlier that keywords are important, but overusing them is not a good strategy. Buzzwords repel recruiters – they are empty and do not resonate. To win an HR expert’s heart, your LinkedIn summary should be fresh and creative.
Another thing you should keep in mind is that overusing professional jargon also weakens your summary. It can create clutter and confusion, and recruiters may fail to see your true value behind industry-specific language. A better way to show your expertise is to use only those terms that add meaningful value to your summary.
5. Be concise
Another important rule here is to avoid verbosity. While you might want to make your profile more impressive with elaborate descriptions and embellishments, remember that a recruiter might bounce off your page if the summary looks complicated and intimidating. You need to make sure that your LinkedIn bio is easy to read. The sentences you use should be easily understandable, and only relevant details must be included. Keeping your language simple and your writing smooth and reader-friendly is key to success.
LinkedIn Summary Tips For Workers With No Previous Experience
Embarking on a new career journey? LinkedIn is a great place for those planning a career switch or looking for their first job ever. You can meet employers looking for fresh talent there and establish valuable connections that will help you succeed in your new profession. Here are our tips on how to craft a great LinkedIn summary for freshers and career changers:
1. Explain your motivation
Switching a career path is a life-changing decision, and there must be some serious reasoning behind it. Share what inspired you to seek a new occupation. If you are a recent graduate with no previous work experience, make sure to convey why you have chosen a certain field to start your career in. It is easier if the role you are applying for is directly related to your degree, yet do not be afraid to redirect your ambitions – just make sure to explain what motivates you.
2. Highlight transferable skills
Transferable skills can be used in multiple career fields and are highly valued in the job market. Coding, critical thinking, adaptability, language fluency, computer proficiency, and problem solving are just a few examples of them. Analyze job postings that are of interest to you and see what employers are looking for – you are sure to possess some of the skills listed there.
3. Include relevant experience
Your coursework, university projects, academic activities, extracurriculars, and volunteer experience can save the day if you have little or no work experience. Listing them can help you prove that you have enough knowledge and proficiency to succeed in your first job.
LinkedIn Summary FAQs
What is the right length for a LinkedIn profile summary?
Your summary can be no longer than 2,600 characters. It is a good idea to keep it to three paragraphs. This length is enough to create a snapshot of your professional identity without boring your readers.
How to make a good LinkedIn profile summary?
The secret is to make it genuine and likable. Another important point is to highlight relevant skills and accomplishments that let you stand out from the rest.
What information is usually put into a LinkedIn summary?
Job seekers usually add their previous and current job roles, professional experience, and relevant skills. Volunteer work and educational details are often included too.
Conclusion
We hope our LinkedIn summary tips will help you secure your next job. Once you are hired, remember to keep your LinkedIn summary up to date.