The Best LinkedIn Summaries And Advice On How To Make Yours Shine

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Over the past decade, I have probably read tens of thousands of LinkedIn profiles as part of the work I do to help companies maximize the value of LinkedIn. Your profile is so important to your career success (it is often people’s first impression of you) that you should make more than a cursory attempt to get it right. Just having a profile is not enough. In fact, an incomplete or unimpressive profile will actually work against you, telling decision makers “stay away” rather than “get to know this person.” To build a compelling profile, four components are especially important to personal branding:

1. Headline (check out this Forbes piece for advice on how to craft a brilliant headline)
2. Headshot
3. Summary
4. Background

In this post, I share examples of some of the most authentic, differentiated and compelling summaries I have read.

Your LinkedIn Summary is the place where you tell your story. Don’t confuse it with the Experience section. In the Experience section, you share facts about what you do and all your brilliant accomplishments. In your Summary, your accomplishments are just part of the story. The complete narrative should share your values, passions and strengths, telling people who you are and why they should care.

The first few lines are absolutely critical. They’re the only thing viewers see when they first look at your profile. This means the words need to be so magnetic and enticing that they make the reader click on “show more” to get the whole story.

When I inventory all the Summaries I think are excellent, the first few lines fall into six categories – all that begin with the letter P.

• Purpose
• Promise
• Punctuated list
• Passion
• Point in time
• Provocative statement

Here’s an example of those critical first two lines in each of the six categories so that you can get a feel for how it works.

Purpose

Tristan Gorrindo writes, “I believe that ‘education is powerful medicine.’ As the Director of Education for the American Psychiatric Association, I am committed to advancing the field of Psychiatry by creating innovative education, engaging millennial learners, advocating for mental health education in governmental...”

Promise

Daniel Smith starts his summary off with a promise: “I can grow your business by driving deeper understanding through data analytics. I am a data explorer. I figure out and present data. I have spent tens of thousands of hours extracting insights from data...”

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2018/06/03/the-best-linkedin-summaries-and-advice-on-how-to-make-yours-shine/