In this article, we will unpack everything you need to know about the LinkedIn Summary and how you can craft a profile summary that will make you stand out. <ol><li>What a LinkedIn Summary is </li><li>Why Writing a Great LinkedIn Summary is Important for your Job Search </li><li>How to Write the Best LinkedIn Summary </li><li>LinkedIn Profile Summary Examples and Why They’re Great <ol><li>For Job Seekers </li><li>For Career Changes </li><li>For Students Seeking Internships </li> </ol> </li><li>Top Linkedin Summary Tips </li> </ol>

A competitive LinkedIn summary or about section strengthens your profile in the eyes of recruiters and shares your personal career story.

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Did you know that you can land more job interviews, make your LinkedIn profile more visible to prospective employers, and get noticed by recruiters and hiring managers by making your LinkedIn summary great and optimized?

You heard that right. The often underutilized and overlooked LinkedIn summary (LinkedIn Bio or About Me section) is important real estate and it matters more than you know.

In this article, we will unpack everything you need to know about the LinkedIn Summary and how you can craft a profile summary that will make you stand out.

Here’s a quick rundown of what we will cover:

<ol><li>What a LinkedIn Summary is </li><li>Why Writing a Great LinkedIn Summary is Important for your Job Search </li><li>How to Write the Best LinkedIn Summary </li><li>LinkedIn Profile Summary Examples and Why They’re Great <ol><li>For Job Seekers </li><li>For Career Changes </li><li>For Students Seeking Internships </li> </ol> </li><li>Top Linkedin Summary Tips </li> </ol>

The LinkedIn Summary is one of the most important sections of your LinkedIn profile. It is right below your photo and is one of the first things people would see when they open your LinkedIn account.

While the headline allows just 220 characters, the LinkedIn profile summary has a 2,600 character limit. This means that you have around 370 words to hook your readers, make a great first impression, and keep them wanting to read more.

Why is writing a great LinkedIn summary important for your job search?

Writing a <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/blog/8-tips-to-create-the-perfect-linkedin-profile/">great LinkedIn profile </a>top-to-bottom is the easiest way to set yourself apart from half a billion others who use LinkedIn especially when you want to land a job. More specifically, writing the best LinkedIn summary provides you a great opportunity to share about who you are and differentiate yourself from other candidates.

Even if you’ve uploaded a great profile photo, customized your headline, created a <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/blog/linkedin-cover-story-video/">cover story video </a>, and detailed your work and education history, leaving the profile summary on LinkedIn blank or just typing a short tagline that’s better suited for a <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/blog/impactful-linkedin-headline-examples/">LinkedIn headline </a>is a huge missed opportunity for the following reasons.

1. Your LinkedIn summary makes the first impression

The LinkedIn profile summary is one of the first things people see when they come to your LinkedIn profile. It’s part of the introductory business card at the top of your profile that also includes your name, photo, headline, most recent company, education, and contact information. More so, this information is “above the fold” on both desktop and mobile which means that it’s one of the first elements visible to people visiting your LinkedIn profile and they don’t have to scroll down to find it.

When most users visit your profile, they’ll see the first 300 characters or so of your summary (and can then click “Read More” to open up the full description. However, LinkedIn Recruiter shows the entire summary by default.

That’s why you need to pull the recruiters and hiring managers in and grab their attention right off the bat by having a LinkedIn summary that is striking and compelling enough (especially on the first 300 characters) to make them stay in your profile, read through your entire page, and eventually reach out to you.

2. Your  LinkedIn summary is a chance to tell your story

Compared to other social media networks, LinkedIn carries a certain expectation of decorum and professionalism. Although this expectation varies from industry to industry, the profile summary is your best opportunity to inject a little personality into your LinkedIn profile. In an age where <a href="https://labs.openviewpartners.com/culture-fit-vs-culture-add/#.W6qYbRNKjBI">culture fits or culture adds </a>are top of mind, the LinkedIn summary is where you can really use your own authentic voice to let recruiters, hiring managers, and prospective employers see who you are, what you care about, and what you can bring to the table.

More than any other LinkedIn profile section, the LinkedIn summary provides you an opportunity to address other LinkedIn users directly and share multiple sides of yourself — from professional accomplishments to life motivations and even non-professional details that make others comfortable to reach out to you.

3. LinkedIn uses your profile summary for search results

Let’s face it. When <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/blog/job-seekers-linkedin-recruiter-search/">recruiters search for you on LinkedIn </a>, your LinkedIn summary content plays into the results. Although it is not weighted as heavily as your headline or the job titles and descriptions in your work experience section, it can still strengthen your searchability and help you rise above similar candidates.

Be sure to include in your LinkedIn summary some terms that a recruiter might plug into a search bar such as hard skills, job titles, or industry keywords. Doing this increases your visibility, raises your chances of showing up on recruiter searches, and reveals opportunities.

Jobscan’s <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/linkedin-optimization">LinkedIn Optimization tool </a>saves you time by analyzing your LinkedIn profile against jobs you’re interested in and industry data to show you exactly which keywords you need to include in your summary.

How do you write the best LinkedIn summary for your job search?

You already know that the profile summary plays a critical role in your job search. Now how do you write it? What should you include? Here’s a quick guide.

By default, LinkedIn shows only the first three lines of your profile summary before readers have to click to see more. This works out to around 290-310 characters. That means that those first 300 characters need to be strong enough to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to learn even more about you.

If you’re a creative writer, you might start your summary with a catchy hook that invites readers to click “See More.” Otherwise, top load your LinkedIn summary with the number one thing you want recruiters or hiring managers to know about you.

What sets you apart from everyone else? What combinations of skills help you achieve results? Why do you love your work? What outstanding accomplishments do you have? Answering these questions can help you uncover a compelling opening statement.

2. Make your LinkedIn summary keyword-rich

Recruiters search for a combination of job titles, skills, and other keywords to find the right candidates. LinkedIn even shows you some of the search queries used to find your profile. On your LinkedIn profile, check out the dashboard underneath your summary. One of the stats will be “search appearances.”

Click on it to see a report detailing your searches. For example, this week some of my searchers found my profile by using these keyword combinations:

If you don’t see any search appearances or relevant search terms on your profile, it means your profile keywords aren’t optimized for recruiter searches. Review job descriptions that interest you and take note of recurring hard skills and keywords that you think recruiters would want to look for. If applicable to you and your career goals, add these words to your LinkedIn summary and profile.

<a href="https://www.jobscan.co/linkedin-optimization">Jobscan’s LinkedIn Optimization </a>tool helps automate this process by comparing your profile to three or more relevant job descriptions. It then shows you which keywords you’re missing. These specific keywords tend to be the search terms used by recruiters when looking for candidates.

If you’re not much of a writer — and you don’t need to be for most jobs — using your summary to list your most important skills and technologies in a bulleted list format is a smart alternative to crafting a narrative.

Your LinkedIn summary isn’t the same as a cover letter and it definitely isn’t the place for your unabridged biography. However, it is the perfect place to add context to your career trajectory, show off your accomplishments, and dig into what makes you great at your job. This is information that recruiters and prospective employers are interested in knowing.

Leave hints as to why you moved from one company to the next. Recruiters want to know if the position they’re filling makes sense as your next step.

“I want to see the progression of not only what job title and what company you were working for, but also a snapshot of the progression of your career,” a healthcare recruiter told Jobscan. “I’m also looking for the logic of why you went from this job to the next job. What caused you to make that transition?”

Much of this will be detailed in your work experience sections, but you can use your summary to control the narrative. For example, you might use your summary to share your interest in a specific discipline within your field. Or how you motivate and enable your team as you look to move into a management role. Or your desire to work with companies that make an impact on a specific segment of the community. Placing these ideas in your summary will help color your entire career history.

Controlling the narrative of your career might also look like explaining career gaps or changes, or skills learned through a university setting if you have minimal or no work experience. There are many different ways to express your value and abilities from personal experiences, volunteering, and other training opportunities.

Specific accomplishments should be peppered throughout your work experience sections, but the summary is a great place to combine your greatest accomplishments into a highlight for additional impact.

You can also generalize and get creative with presenting accomplishments in this section in ways you can’t in your work experience. For example, if you’re a sales manager who has worked with three different companies, you can showcase that information in your summary on LinkedIn as, “Increased regional sales by an average of 72% in my first year at three different companies.”

Learn more about how to write strong accomplishments:

Additional questions to answer in your LinkedIn summary

Using these questions as prompts for writing your LinkedIn profile summary can help show prospective employers what you value, why you’re going places in your career, and whether you’d be a great fit for the role.

These six questions can help show your personality and values:

<ul><li>What are your goals and ambitions? </li><li>What are your guiding principles? </li><li>Why are you passionate about your current job or industry? </li><li>Were there any specific pieces of wisdom that you took away from past jobs? </li><li>Is there any unique knowledge you’ve brought into your industry from other life experiences? </li><li>In what ways do you add to the culture of your workplace? </li> </ul>

LinkedIn Summary and About Section Examples

Here are examples of strong LinkedIn summaries that use different approaches. Take inspiration from these sample LinkedIn summaries but DO NOT copy them.

LinkedIn Summary Examples for Job Seekers

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/caldavis/">Cal </a>, Marketing & Communications Director

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinalouie/">Dina </a>, Marketing Executive

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tworsandtwols/">Daniel </a>, Customer Experience Specialist

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alainachiappone/">Alaina C </a>., Social Media Director

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellevancza/">Michelle V. </a>, Software Developer

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonhaselden/">Alison H. </a>, SEO Content Writer

LinkedIn Summary and About Section Examples for Career Change

Here are several examples of how to write a LinkedIn summary when you’re making a career change or pivot. Again, use these as guides for your LinkedIn About Section, but don’t copy and paste.

Jacob H., Airline Pilot to Aviation Technical Writer

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rub-007935125/">Michael R. </a>, Staffing / Recruiting Account Manager  to Software Sales Account Executive

LinkedIn Summary and About Section Examples for Students Seeking Internships

A good LinkedIn summary is also important for students who are not yet in the workforce, still working on a college degree, or applying for internships. Here are three examples of how to “work with what you’ve got” and make a great first impression on LinkedIn.

Daniel R., Public Policy Analysis Student

Sarah T., Arts and Culture Management Student

Kelly L., Digital Arts & Sciences Student

<ul><li>Know your audience and identify what they are looking for. </li><li>Start strong with a catchy opening statement. </li><li>Use optimized search terms and keywords in your summary. </li><li>Don’t be afraid to inject some personality into your writing. </li><li>Add context to the stages of your career story. </li><li>Brag about your accomplishments (don’t forget to use specific data and awards!) </li><li>Longer is often better. Utilize as much of the character limit as you can. </li><li>Keep it readable with short paragraphs or bullet points. </li><li>Don’t go overboard with special characters. </li><li>Use a “call to action” at the end. </li> </ul>

Get automated tips for your profile with <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/linkedin-optimization">Jobscan’s LinkedIn Optimization tool </a>.

Congratulations! You made it to the end! Now all that’s left to do is for you to take some time to write down your ideas, incorporate the tips and examples outlined, and put in the effort to come up with a winning LinkedIn summary. Be sure it’s compelling, genuine, and optimized! You may also check our <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/linkedin-profile-writing-guide">comprehensive guide to writing your entire LinkedIn profile </a>.

Need a little extra help to create the best LinkedIn summary for your profile? Try Jobscan’s <a href="https://www.jobscan.co/linkedin-optimization">LinkedIn Optimization tool </a>— figure out exactly which keywords you’re missing for the job you’re trying to land.

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