LinkedIn, the professionals networking site, continues to connect professionals who are seeking to build a strong network. LinkedIn has come a long way from being just a job seekers platform and is now where connections and relationships are made and businesses are built. Your profile is no longer a copy-paste of your resume.
Your LinkedIn profile is your online voice as it describes your professional experience, tells why you are there and what you can offer to the community. This is the one platform where you as an individual are the focus and self promotion is expected. Two of the most important aspects of your profile are your photo as people want to see who they are connecting with and also your summary.
Writing a Killer Summary
Your summary is what is searched and also skimmed. Yes, skimmed. People take a quick once over and will continue on unless they find something in your summary that compels them to want to connect and learn more.
Tip: Write in the first person. It is you, your profile so avoid speaking in any other person than first.
1. Opening Paragraph. Your first is what is skimmed first. Make it powerful. Your first paragraph needs to tell why you are there. Are you seeking employment? Are you a consultant who can help small businesses or are you there just to network and learn from others? Say that.
Ex: I am seeking a full time position in Social Media, specifically as a Social Media Manager or Director of Community, with a small to mid-sized company who is looking to increase their online presence through a comprehensive social media marketing strategy.
There is no question as to why you are active on LinkedIn. Connections and Employers will have a clear understanding what you are looking for and how they can help you.
2. Middle Paragraph(s).The middle paragraphs are where you delve into what you currently are doing as well as your previous positions and how they relate to your current skills and what you are seeking now. Be sure to use keywords and core industry phrases as these will appear in search results. If you education is relevant to what you are seeking, add that (if not, skip it as it is prominently placed above the summary in the blue box).
If you are a consultant here is where you would discuss what type of work you do most (ie SM consultant broken down further to blog consultant, community builder, etc), what types of clients you would be looking for (ie small businesses) and be clear as to where you want to go. Be precise and to the point and avoid long paragraphs. Break them up into smaller more inviting paragraphs.
Ex: As (position – president, consultant, etc) for (company name), my role is to build and execute strategies for companies seeking to engage their community via the social web. I focus primarily on four core areas: listening, content marketing, community management, and outreach.
I have worked in both the advertising and marketing industry for the past 12 years. During this time I worked closely with clients in various industries which afforded me the opportunity to learn about management, fostering successful client relationships, professionalism and team work. Through my experience I have learned that I am especially skilled at creating a winning strategy that set forth goals, objectives, strategies, tactics and the proper measurement tools.
I understand that social media is about building relationships with people through offering a unique and valuable experience. I have built a network that of influential people which has provided an opportunity to contribute on highly authoritative blogs as a guest.
3. Closing Paragraph. This is the where you have to shine. Your 3rd paragraph is all about the self promotion. Answer why you. Why should a potential employer consider picking up the phone or sending an email to discuss a position with you? Why should a potential client do the same? What makes you better than me?
Ex:I want to make the Marketing Communications industry with emphasis on driving user interaction and education my career. As a fast learner, I can grow beyond my current entry level experience quickly, offering your company a great asset as an employee. I thrive in both independent and team-oriented work environments and can effectively represent the company in professional settings.
4. Specialities. Your specialities are the industry specific buzz words. Be honest of course and do research on terms. Be sure that you are in-line with the terminology that is being used within the industry. These also appear in search results. The closer you match to search terms, the more your profile will appear in search queries.
5. Contact. This is one place where we see people leaving blank. If you are a job seeker how do you think the potential employer will get in touch with you? Send you a request to connect so that they can send you an email? Seriously? Be sure to have at least a direct email and/or phone number so that it is easy to contact you.
The examples above show how you can create a killer LinkedIn Summary. Whether you are a job seeker, someone who is looking to grow your business or just there to network, the key is to let people know. After their IPO and going public, LinkedIn CEO’s executive contact information has become one of the most sought after.
Does your summary need a bit of work?
Never before have used this social network, has proved very useful tool for searching for a partner for business.
Really really humbled. Thank you for including my closing paragraph as an example, Suzanne.
An important thing to remember about job hunting is that even if you don’t have every specific experience or skill set asked for, you may have skills that compensate. For example, years ago I was hired as a web designer. The job posting required knowledge of JavaScript, and experience using Macromedia Dreamweaver.
Thanks.. I actually just decided to update my LinkedIn after a few months of nothing.. I've used the tips to update my profile info.. checking out their new q&a section now.
Thanks.. I actually just decided to update my LinkedIn after a few months of nothing.. I've used the tips to update my profile info.. checking out their new q&a section now.
You seem a fan of linkedin. I just joined linkedin and still learning from this network and how to boost traffic there. Thanks
I like how you executed your closing paragraph example including the keypoints. This post is very informative. Thanks.
I just work on one thing for my summary that is keywords. Keywords are especially important if you’re looking for a new job or hoping to pick up some consulting work. Although you should use a few keywords in your professional experience paragraph, you should really use all the appropriate keywords for skills you’ve acquired when you write the Specialties section of your summary. Potential employers will scan that section looking for the right qualifications first, before making any contact.
1. Be consise
2. Focus on goals, accomplishments & skills
3. Be humble not not shy
These three rules are standard for anything you’re writing about yourself. Keep it short, no longer than you would truly want to read if you didn’t know yourself. Use goals & accomplishments as the roadmap while writing. Never be arrogant & boastful but explain what you’ve done. Always think, “we not me” when writing & explain about the team first then your role.
I have new account in Linkedin still it is confusing for me. Thanks i will implement each and every factor you have mentioned there in my account and hope will get better results.
LinkedIn is one of the most famous website for corporate linking. It's better if we have a strong profile in LinkedIn. Thanks for your information it will really help me to build an attractive profile.
At the end you mentioned the contacts and i think this is the most important section that we have to focus.
thanks a lot for the nice post its really informative.
I think Linkedin is a great, underrated resource for entrepreneurs. I am surprised Facebook hasn’t gone more the business route to compete with them personally.
I have finally got round to signing up and building my own linkedin profile. I really like the website, very professional.
The thing is I can’t ever see the websites quality going downhill either. Not the type of place to get overrun with lower quality or spammy types.
A good place to network and make good contacts as well!
This is probably the best guide for writing a Linkedin Summary on the internet. Very, very helpful. Thank you.
I think the ideas are solid i.e. write in the first person, say why you are on LinkedIn, etc but the examples used are just full of business buzz words. They are all fur coat and no knickers.
I have never had visitors to my linked in stories. I will try your tips and let me how this help me in creasing visitors to my stories. I would be interested in developing some relationships through the website and business.
What should one do if you have been a full-time parent/child advocate. I hate to say it but for the longest time (and even still sometimes) I really don’t like be at home full time. Now that I have been out of the “corporate” world for some time, and the job market isn’t booming, how should someone like me write this to spare the “gap”? Please don’t say it will be obvious. With the job market and this – I have two strikes against me – what is the “wow-me” phrase that helps me get in the door so that I at least get a chance in person?
I agree with all of the issues you outlined and I did just this way for all concerning my LinkedIn profile, but there’s a major question to be outlined.
Working on your profile is very important, even because it shows you’re active in LinkedIn and you’re really updated, but the first step is widen your network, because your status updated can be seen only by your connections (1st and 2nd degree), which means the more you have of them, the more you’ll have visibility in LinkedIn. If you know less than 100 persons, only 100 persons out of 500 millions can see your profile and your activity which means it will be almost impossible for someone to find you with a Google search.
Heads up, building a network isn’t only a matter of quantity but mainly of quality as to your connections.
You must get to the people hiring or (if you want to develop your business) to people having power to make decisions (managers, CEO’s and so on), belonging to the industry you’re interested in.
For example, I want to start a career in IT and my connections are mostly IT persons or recruiters, i.e. people who can help me develop this kind of career.
Hope you’ll find my remark useful.