LinkedIn is considered one of the world’s largest professional networks online, with over 810 million members from over 200 countries and regions worldwide. It is a platform where you can interact with people in your industry, including large and small business owners, students, job seekers, companies/businesses, and even institutions. In short, LinkedIn is a great way to start networking and establish yourself as a skilled expert in the industry.
To navigate LinkedIn, you must have a LinkedIn user profile in place; a complete LinkedIn profile forms a powerful part of your personal brand. With a strong profile, you will find it a lot easier to connect with others and allow others to connect with you! You can then use your profile to share engaging content, informative and relevant to your niche.
However, one important aspect of your LinkedIn profile is your profile summary. Many LinkedIn users often neglect the LinkedIn summary or “About” section. Some may add a few generic lines or leave their email address as a poor rendition of a CTA, and others may simply leave it blank. This needs to stop because without a professional LinkedIn summary in place; you are missing out on a lot of networking opportunities.
Why Add a LinkedIn Summary?
First, let’s address the important question: Why do you need to add a LinkedIn summary to your profile. Your LinkedIn headline section only allows 120 characters to sum up what you do. Comparatively, your LinkedIn summary, which allows for 2000 characters, is the real deal; this is where you can actually showcase what you do, why users should connect with you, your career story, and some inspiration for your audience.
Moreover, if you are a job seeker, specifically using LinkedIn to connect with recruiters, consider this: 6 people are hired every minute on LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn summary is what employers will look at when they consider hiring you. This is why you need to add a LinkedIn summary to your LinkedIn profile to better communicate what you bring to the table.
What Should Your LinkedIn Summary Deliver?
What should your LinkedIn summary include? What should the summary deliver to those who read it? Should it include your prior work experience, enlist the accomplishments you have made, and the certifications you hold? Where to start and where to end?
Writing a LinkedIn summary is no easy task, but we will make it a whole lot easier for you through this guide. It helps to first understand what you hope to accomplish with your LinkedIn summary.
Simply put, your summary is your “elevator pitch.” Your summary needs to describe your professional background in an interesting way, show your personality by adding a little flair (but keeping it professional, of course), and establish yourself as an expert in your field. People should read your profile and trust that you have a stronghold in the field, you know what you are talking about, and they can make a beneficial connection with you.
How to Write a LinkedIn Summary?
If you understand what you need to deliver, let’s move on and start crafting a LinkedIn summary that makes your profile pop!
- Create an Outline
As mentioned earlier, your LinkedIn summary should fall under just about 2000 characters, which falls to roughly around 200-300 words. Utilize this space well; you don’t want to add large paragraphs with no real structure. Your audience may as well stop reading after the first few lines and move on if you aren’t communicating clearly enough.
Instead, create an outline of your summary; choose where you will discuss what. The important components you want to address are your opening sentences (essentially the hook), what you do and why you do it, your expertise/skills, and your accomplishments. You can then wrap it all up with a nice conclusion paired with a call to action.
- Pay Attention to the First Three Lines
The first three lines are probably one of the most important sections of your summary. The first three sentences are what someone will first see when they land on your profile page; if they find it interesting enough (if they are hooked), they may click on the “show more” tab to continue reading the remainder of your LinkedIn summary. This is why you need to absolutely nail the first three opening lines of your summary.
What to include here? Talk about what you do and what is unique about you in a professional yet friendly manner. If you are looking to get hired, include the number one skill you have mastered that you want recruiters to know about. Talk about what sets you apart in your industry and how you achieve results. This will all lead to a compelling opening statement about you.
- Show Readers What You do and Why You Do It
Once you have your opening lines laid out, you need to dive into your professional history. But this doesn’t mean simply noting down your work experience and history; your profile already has a dedicated section for that.
Here you need to connect with people, don’t just include what you do, also discuss the “why.” Explain what career choices led you from point A to point B and what your goal is in your current profession. Don’t be overly rigid; add a bit of emotion and deliver some personality for a more authentic feel. Tell us why you are great at what you do, talk about your personal experience or express your values. The goal is to build a connection with the reader.
- Note Down Your Selling Points
Once you have highlighted your expertise, you need to talk about your specialties and skills next. It is one of the best LinkedIn profile tips. Think of any 2-3 special skills you have acquired that are a core part of what you do; make sure to mention those skills that align with what recruiters are generally inclined towards. You can also discuss some of your best attributes and the things you are best at doing.
- What are Your Most Significant Professional Accomplishments?
You have discussed your expertise and skillset, but readers want more than your word of mouth. You need to share some actual significant achievements you have made in your career. Add data to back your claims and prove that you are an expert in your field. You don’t have to enlist all your accomplishments one by one; that would be overkill. Instead, talk about a few of your most impressive accomplishments in your profile summary.
- Make Your Summary Keyword-Rich
When people search for candidates on LinkedIn, they may use a unique mixture of job titles, skills, and other keywords. LinkedIn also has an interesting feature where it showcases the keywords your searchers used to find your profile. If you aren’t seeing any search terms on your profile, it means you have yet to optimize your page for searches. Add specific keywords to your LinkedIn summary that people relevant to your industry are using and keywords that recruiters are searching up when looking for candidates.
- Add a Compelling CTA with Your Conclusion
Finally, you need to wrap up your summary with a few concluding sentences. You can discuss what you are hoping to find on LinkedIn, what you can do for your audience; it always helps to include a call-to-action. By adding a specific call-to-action, you invite people to connect with you and let them know exactly how they can do that.
You can also include your contact information and assure your audience they can reach out to you if they hope to collaborate, find out more about what you offer, or simply connect with you.
- Write, Read, Edit, Repeat
You can’t possibly write a LinkedIn summary in one sitting. Reread your summary as you go and make edits as required. It always helps to have a trusted friend go over your summary and share their thoughts. You will find that every time you read your summary, you will find a new adjustment you can add, keep on polishing up your summary until you are satisfied with the results.
Things to Keep In Mind When Writing a LinkedIn Summary
There are a few things you should best keep note of when creating your LinkedIn summary:
- Write in the first person for a more personal and authentic feel. Writing in the third person can make your summary feel distant.
- Break up your summary into smaller readable paragraphs, so it is easier on the eyes.
- Make sure to check your summary for any grammatical/spelling errors; any errors can reflect poorly on your credibility.
- Skip the cliché terminologies. Don’t call yourself a guru or a master; describe what you do in a more practical way.
- Don’t copy and paste points from your resume; add a fresh introduction to who you are.
Now you know how to write LinkedIn summary but for better results, you can take help from a LinkedIn summery generator.