When you need to score someone's undivided attention, trust in the power of the keyword-rich LinkedIn profile summary.
Let us let you in on a secret: when it comes to getting noticed by recruiters or people you want to work for, your LinkedIn profile pretty much defines your success. That's why we even have an entire course about optimizing your LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn runs on clever algorithms designed to point like-minded people to your page. Your work history, word choice, relevant skills, geography, uploaded media, and other components define how the algorithm will respond to your profile.
Sure, your background is a done deal, but the summary section of your LinkedIn profile is your chance to put whatever spin you want on it. Ultimately, your summary (and LinkedIn headline) defines your potential for recruiters and future employers.
Table of Contents
- What is a LinkedIn Summary?
- 3 Advantages of Writing a Great LinkedIn Summary
- How to Write a LinkedIn Summary
Your profile is the first impression the outside world has of you. Putting your best foot forward is best done through first-person storytelling via your LinkedIn summary.
Use it to entice your reader, offer insights about your proudest career accomplishments, and let your voice shine through. Not only will this approach hit SEO targets, increase your profile's visibility, increase job prospects, and attract potential employers, but it will also get your profile viewers to take action!
First, let's go over what exactly a LinkedIn summary is.
What Is a LinkedIn Summary?
A LinkedIn summary is the text box located at the top of your LinkedIn profile. It is the "About" section. This is the area where you can define who you are as a professional beyond just listing your work experience and skills.
Your summary is the part of your LinkedIn profile that showcases what you're currently doing, the kind of jobs you are seeking, what you're passionate about, or even what types of projects excite you.
Here are some great examples of LinkedIn summaries from people at the top of their field.
Jenna Johnson's LinkedIn summary works great because she explains what she does in a clear and concise manner. Plus, she shows how all of her prior experiences have coalesced into the role she currently holds.
Her final line "Jenna has an Executive MBA from the University of Washington, and her roles as a wife and a mother of two keep her grounded, living simply and optimistic for a more environmentally just future" shows that she aligns with Patagonia's core values.
Brown's LinkedIn summary does a great job of showcasing her passions and specifically how she puts them into practice in the workplace: "Passionate about advancing women and minorities in leadership, in business and in tech, by leading from a place of authenticity and excellence, and by building an inclusive workplace."
She also mentions several powerful keywords in her specialties. Listing keywords like this will most likely help your profile show up in search results.
Our final LinkedIn summary example comes from Luis von Ahn. Ahn's summary is short but impactful. Written in first-person, he clearly states his career objective and motivations. He also puts his objectives in the context of a bigger picture. In just a few words, he answers how he is actively trying to improve the world.
3 Advantages of Writing a Great LinkedIn Summary
If you're still not convinced about the benefits of having a thoughtful LinkedIn summary we hope these next three points will convince you.
Although it may feel uncomfortable listing all of your accomplishments and passions to put on public display, but we promise it's worth it. Here are three reasons you should write a LinkedIn summary.
1. Summaries Quickly Summarize Your Expertise
Let's be honest. In the online world, attention spans are short.
By adding a summary to your profile, you are providing a condensed overview of your expertise. The LinkedIn summary provides a CliffsNotes version of your resume and piques the viewer's interest to continue reading your resume.
2. Summaries Ensure That Major Keywords Make Your Profile Searchable
Using a keyword-rich skills list in your summary is a great way to ensure that your profile will be found by the right professionals. Let your profile do the job-searching work for you by incorporating relevant keywords in your summary.
3. Summaries Let You Show a Little Personality
Unlike bullet points in your resume, your LinkedIn summary allows you to speak in your own voice. Whether you're writing in first person or third person, write your summary in a way that weaves a vivid story about your interests, personality, skills, work expertise, and more.
How to Write a LinkedIn Summary
Now that you know the value of a good LinkedIn summary, let's work on yours.
No matter where you are in your journey as an employee or job seeker, you’ll find inspiration from some of the following LinkedIn summary examples, taken straight from industry changemakers.
As we touched on earlier, the key to writing a great LinkedIn summary is to have a balance of professional language sprinkled in with some personal touches.
Here are six steps to crafting the perfect Linkedin summary.
Step 1: Use Clear Language to Communicate Your Value
There's nothing worse than having confusing language on your summary (or resume and cover letter for that matter). Opt for the clearest language to communicate your value. Don't use unnecessary jargon or over-explain. Keep your summary relevant to your career objectives.
Here is an example of clear and concise language from former IDEO CEO, Shayna P.
As you can see, this summary is short and to the point. It packs in important keywords and skills to clearly communicate her value as a Lead Designer.
Jenny Foss, Founder of jobjenny.com, does something similar.
Entrepreneurs, consultants, and business leaders take note: your methodology sets you apart from the crowd so you should make it a transparent selling point in your profile.
Foss is a sought-after leader in her field with a long list of clients, subscribers, and fans. Her principles and personality created those connections so she lets her voice shine, giving the reader a feel for her personality and a clear idea of how she would fit with a company.
She lists her official (and unofficial) job titles followed by a concise summary of her values, passions, and specialties. She also shows off a bit of her personality by including that she makes "a mean margarita and will slay you in Scrabble."
Step 2: Emphasize Your Perspective
In order to emphasize your perspective, make sure to highlight your values and professional point of view. How do you approach your industry or field? Does your insight as a working parent influence the way you manage a team?
Kathryn Minshew, CEO of The Muse, emphasizes her perspective on leading a company.
From Minshew's summary, we know that she believes in the importance of having a healthy company culture that prioritizes inclusivity and a comfortable working environment over a typical "fast growth" hustle mentality.
Adrian Granzella Larssen, Founder of Society Content, interweaves her impressive accomplishments with honest retrospection about the kind of work she's done and how that plays into her professional goals for the future.
In Granzella Larssen's summary, we get a strong sense of her relevant personality traits, many talents, and achievements, plus the reader is left with a cohesive understanding of her profile.
Step 3: Communicate Your Passion
By communicating your passions in your LinkedIn summary, you are demonstrating the authenticity that you bring, or will bring, to your workplace. Your passions give the viewer a more holistic understanding of who you are as a professional.
Here's a great example:
Without even mentioning the word "passion" you can tell what Mason is passionate about. Her summary showcases her philosophy when it comes to recruiting, and she communicates this by clearly explaining why diversity and inclusivity make for a better work environment.
Paige Allenspach, a Manager of Global Brand Activation at Allbrids, begins and ends her summary by mentioning her passions.
Not only is this summary personable and gives you a good idea of Allenspach's personality, but it also paints a clear picture of how she can be an asset to any team.
Step 4: Celebrate Your Successes
Celebrating your successes and flaunting your accomplishments may feel a bit uncomfortable, but LinkedIn is arguably one of the most appropriate places to highlight your accomplishments. So, go for it! List your successes and maybe even explain why you're proud of what you've accomplished.
Loan Hoang, WMG Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, spells out her accomplishments in an organized list.
Take note that Hoang also quantifies some of her accomplishments: "1.2M+ total views" or "83M video content views". Providing data to support your successes is a great way to validate your accomplishments.
Leadership expert, Kea Meyers Duggan, organizes her accomplishments into different categories.
By listing signature talks, awards + recognitions, and speaking appearances, Meyers Duggan provides us with a clear snapshot of accomplishments that serve as proof of the amazing work she does.
Step 5: Highlight Your Abilities
Your "abilities" could look like a lot of things. If you have skills (which we know you do) here's the section to list some of them. By the way, if you need a list of skills to get you started, we've brainstormed a few for you.
We love how Emma Galli, Creative Director at Classpass lists her skills at the beginning of her summary so the reader gets an immediate understanding of her strengths.
Here's another great example.
As a recruiter, Bennett knows how to work the keywords in her LinkedIn summary. Her skills and abilities are hyper-specific making it easy for the reader to understand what Bennett is good at and what types of clients and companies she's interested in working with.
Step 6: Use Your Voice
As we mentioned earlier, your LinkedIn summary stands out from the rest of your profile because you are able to write in your own voice.
This is especially important if you're applying to any kind of writing or communications job.
For example, if you're going out for a creative writing job, make sure your summary showcases your personality and tone of voice. Not only is it a sample of your work, but it also gives a hiring manager an idea of how you would fit into a company's culture.
Carrie Laven, Senior Copywriter at Headspace, packs in her personality by writing in her voice.
By weaving a narrative about what an average day-to-day looks like for her. We are able to get a taste of Laven's writing. It's friendly, funny, and most importantly approachable.
Another strong voice example is Jane Helpern's summary. Helpern works as a Creative Director at Ritual.
Helpern's summary works because it reflects her as a creative. We love that she incorporated tidbits about her life outside the office. And instead of writing something generic such as, "previously led brand copy at Sweetgreen" she opts for a more unique and creative line: "previously, elevating vegetables to celeb status at Sweetgreen".
