How to Write a LinkedIn Summary That Helps You Stand Out

A LinkedIn summary is the “about” section on your LinkedIn page, a space where you can highlight your professional experience, major achievements, relevant skills, and other important information you’d like to share. When done well, it can grab people’s attention and get them excited about connecting with you.  

You have a max of 2,000 characters (around 300 to 500 words) with a LinkedIn summary. Crafting a summary that reads more like a story than a CV recounting your professional history is essential in that space. In other words, avoid lists and aim for an engaging narrative that “hooks” recruiters, potential employers, or others. 

Review the factors that make for a compelling LinkedIn summary and tips you can apply to your summary.

The elements of a strong LinkedIn summary 

Your LinkedIn summary is an opportunity to promote yourself through a brief introduction. It should read like an elevator pitch—a concise summary of who you are, what you do, and what you’ve accomplished—while showcasing your personality. 

Four key strategies you could use to enhance your LinkedIn summary include the following:

1. Create a hook in the first 300 words. 

Your first 300 words must be impactful. LinkedIn displays it before prompting users to “see more” and unfurl the rest of your summary. As such, it helps to pick a compelling opening so your first 300 words “hook” your readers and make them want to learn more about you.

Be genuine and personal. Consider starting with an anecdote, sharing your passion, explaining something significant you’ve accomplished, or speaking directly to readers. However, avoid opening with a question or using empty buzzwords that don’t convey much. 

2. Write so it reads like a narrative. 

Similar to your hook, your LinkedIn summary should read like a narrative—representing who you are. Aim to write in paragraphs that tell a story rather than paragraphs that list your experience. 

Write your LinkedIn summary in the first person. Doing so will let your personality show through and add personality and ownership while showing off who you are (and what you might be like to work with). 

3. Use optimised search terms.

Include industry-specific keywords where possible, but don’t overuse them. Embedding terms when describing your skills is a natural way to incorporate keywords. For example, if you work as a software engineer, you'd likely want to highlight the programming languages you know. Similarly, if you work as a graphic designer, you'd like to highlight the programs you use.  

If you need help finding keywords, do an organic search or look at job postings to see what skills come up most often for the type of work you’d like to do. Once you’ve identified some terms, use them in your summary when discussing your industry, expertise, skills, and experience. 

4. Employ elements of readability. 

It helps to add text that’s reader-friendly. To achieve this, break up your LinkedIn summary by using elements of readability, like short paragraphs, bullet points, and even appropriate emojis.

Use whitespace to your advantage by giving the page some “breathing room.” When listing accomplishments, for example, consider using a short series of bullet points that you connect to your larger story. You can also format your summary by making specific keywords bold when you’d like to draw attention to them.

The idea is to make your summary easy on the eyes and easy to read. 

6 ways to improve your LinkedIn summary

Ultimately, your LinkedIn summary should serve as a spotlight, framing your unique story and helping readers understand who you are, what drives you, what type of work energises you, and (if applicable) what you’ve achieved. Outlined below are six tips to strengthen your LinkedIn summary. 

1. Open with personality. 

Use your first sentence to pique interest. In your opening, share a bit about why you do what you do. This can be a personal anecdote, a reflection, or even a straightforward address to the reader. For example, “I love finding out what customers want. That’s what drove me into brand marketing.” 

Discussing how you first discovered your passion for your work, what excites you about your career, or what you’re most proud of can be a great way to highlight your personality and expertise.  

2. Discuss your background. 

At some point, you'll want to explain your professional journey. Whether you’ve followed one clear path or tried different things, this is a chance to contextualise your choices. Provide background about your career history in a simple story rather than a list summary. If you open with an anecdote, segue into your professional history and explain how you ended up where you are now.  

3. Open up about your current role. 

Once you’ve explained some of your previous work, share details about your current role. If you’re comfortable doing so, provide information like your day-to-day tasks and accomplishments since starting. This information shouldn’t read like a job description. Think of it as a window into your daily life, focusing on what energises you about your work. 

If you are not currently employed, this can be a great place to discuss your professional goals and what you hope to find in your next role.

4. Detail your accomplishments. 

Highlight your professional accomplishments by focusing on how you earned them. What have you done that made something better? Explaining what led to your accomplishments will help readers understand your impact beyond the result. 

Noting your accomplishments also gives you credibility and helps you build a reputation as a successful professional in your industry. Don’t discount the power of these details. 

5. Highlight relevant skills and talents.  

Discuss what’s made you successful by detailing your specific skills, talents, and areas of expertise. You can reference these as you discuss your professional background and previous roles or create a list detailing your technical skills and interests at the end.

After all, companies want you for your expertise, but they also want to make sure you’ll be a good fit. Knowing who you are outside of work can help them understand what you’d add to their team, personality-wise. 

6. Close with a call to action. 

Many LinkedIn summaries end with a list of technical skills, but a call to action can be equally effective. While a call to action isn’t always necessary, it can be beneficial when looking for a new job. Close with some details about your goals and how you hope to achieve them through your future career moves, then encourage readers to get in touch by connecting on LinkedIn. 

If you’re not seeking a new role, you may still want to keep yourself open to new connections. If you choose not to end with a list of your technical skills, tell readers to connect with you on LinkedIn, especially if they work in your industry, are passionate about similar things, or want to know more.

Why a strong LinkedIn summary is important

A good LinkedIn summary can help you make a big impact and achieve your professional goals, whether getting a new job or moving up in your career. You can use this short write-up to attract potential employers, connect with others in your industry, reach out to recruiters, and even land potential clients. 

• It makes a big first impression: The LinkedIn summary is one of the first things readers see on your profile—it’s their introduction to you. Make a good first impression with a quality summary that is error-free. 

• It strengthens your searchability: Google regularly indexes LinkedIn, meaning that if you want better search visibility, you should craft a LinkedIn summary that helps people find you when they search for relevant industry terms.

• It adds personality to your LinkedIn page: Your LinkedIn profile is full of details about your work history, education, skills, and professional organisations. But your summary is a chance to infuse some personality and help frame that information. 

Explore further how to strengthen your LinkedIn profile

A solid LinkedIn presence can help you find new roles, advance in your career, and network with other industry professionals. Add credentials to your LinkedIn profile by taking a course or completing a programme on Coursera. For example, you can hone your social marketing skills with the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate or explore job search strategies with The Career Design Lab: Change Your Job, Change Your Life, a course from the University of California, Santa Cruz, on Coursera.