Look, if you’re thinking about finding a new job, you don’t need me to tell you that LinkedIn is probably the first place you should go.
Head over to your LinkedIn profile right now, and be honest with yourself: how does it look? How do your work history and education appear? What kind of photo are you using? And most importantly, what does it say about you in that short, sweet, beautiful summary section on your profile?
When most people use the Internet, they don’t read text line-by-line, they scan. When recruiters are looking to hire folks on LinkedIn, they also scan. I hate to break this to you, but almost no one is excited about reading through your entire life story, they’re quickly scanning through your background for bits and pieces that might be relevant for the role they’re hiring for.
A good candidate has a good LinkedIn summary. Lucky for you, we have the perfect LinkedIn summary template, just waiting to be downloaded.
Ready to craft one? Let’s learn how to write an exceptional LinkedIn summary!
Tips For Creating An Effective LinkedIn Summary
1. Follow a Clear Structure
Don’t make your LinkedIn summary into an essay- outline the things you want to say.
The last thing any visitor wants to see after searching your LinkedIn profile is a long boring narrative about everything you did in grade school.
Engage, inform, surprise, and delight your reader, while showcasing your personality, interest, and career goals.
You can create a format similar to this:
-Hook
-Mission
-Expertise and skills
-Proof of those
-Call to action
2. Hook Your Audience
Your first sentence/ opening line should catch the attention of a reader and surprise and intrigue them. A great hook is very important to make the reader spend an extra minute or two to get to know you.
Be creative with your hook- write your first two sentences with the most important thing you want people to know about you.
What sets you apart from everyone else in the same industry? What combination of skills makes you a problem solver? Why do you love your work? Anything you would like to share? – Answer these questions to come up with a compelling opening.
Source:https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammgrant
3. Include Keywords
To appear in LinkedIn’s search results, you’ll have to sprinkle keywords throughout the summary. This will make it easier for potential employers to find your profile. For example, if a recruiter is looking for a content writer, they might search terms like “writer, marketing writer, content writer, writing”.
A secret tip for keywords- Use words and phrases directly from the job description to tailor your resume to a specific job title.
4. Tell Them About Your Career Goal
Your LinkedIn summary is the perfect place to let people know about your career trajectory. Show off your accomplishments, and tell people what makes you best at what you do.
Recruiters are interested to know what is distinctive about you and what role you can play for them.
Also, leave hints for them as to why you moved from one company to the next, or why you are looking to leave your current role.
5. Include Contact Information
Make it easy for recruiters to reach out to you by including your email, phone number, and other contact information in your profile’s summary section.
Add a clear and relevant call to action at the end of the summary to win brownie points.
Source:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hughestony
6. Break It Up
If you have written a long summary, don’t post it as one paragraph as recruiters might not read it. Try breaking it into smaller blocks and making it visually easy to read.
Source:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennbellso/
7. Proofread Before You Post
Since most people consider LinkedIn as a professional site, it’s best to avoid typos or grammar mistakes.
It is always good to stay safe and proofread a few times. Also, don’t shy away from getting feedback from colleagues in the same field before you post it online.
Those are some tips on what you should do when writing your effective LinkedIn summary.
Now, let’s look at a few things you should NOT DO!
The Don’ts for LinkedIn Summary
1. Don’t Recite Your Resume
No copy-pasting from your resume to your LinkedIn Summary.
Remember there’s an entire work experience section on LinkedIn to list down your achievements. In your profile summary, tell people about your personality, your skills, and your unique talents. Present your achievements contextually.
2. Don’t Share Your Whole Work History
Let’s keep the summary as an opportunity to share professional details. Promote your career in a summary and not make it an autobiography.
3. Don’t Refer To Yourself As Third Person
A LinkedIn summary is about making a human connection. Referring to yourself as the third-person sound strange in the summary – when we know you are the one who wrote it.
Even if someone else wrote it for you, ask them to do it in the first person.
4. Spelling or Grammatical Mistakes
Yes! To err is human. But before publishing, you can proofread a few times and get rid of those mistakes that can drive recruiters away from your profile.
There’s no hurry here, stay on the safe side!
5. Making Vague Claims of Experience
Unoriginal statements like a natural-born leader and team player add no value and take away space.
If you want to speak about your actual skills or abilities – do that in context with your experiences.
Remember, your LinkedIn summary is an important part of your LinkedIn profile. Make it personal, unique, and engaging, and visitors will feel like they know you already.
Awesome, you made it! If you’re looking to craft a LinkedIn summary, but don’t know where to start, you are in the perfect place.
We’ve created a LinkedIn summary template that you can download right away to boost your LinkedIn summary to get recruiters inspired to reach out to you for a job interview!
You can download it below!
