The About section on a LinkedIn profile allows you to provide detailed information about your professional background, skills, accomplishments, and goals. It’s one of the most important sections on your LinkedIn profile since it gives viewers a comprehensive overview of who you are as a professional.
Why is the About section important?
The About section serves multiple purposes:
- It’s often the first section people look at when viewing your profile, so it needs to make a good first impression.
- It allows you to showcase your professional summary, experience, skills, accomplishments, certifications, and other credentials.
- It provides context for the rest of your profile and shows viewers why they should connect with you.
- It gives you space to include relevant keywords that recruiters may search for.
- A strong About section establishes your professional brand and expertise.
In short, the About section is your chance to tell your professional story and present your qualifications. An incomplete or weak About section can diminish the strength of your entire profile.
What are the key elements to include?
Here are some of the key components to include in your LinkedIn About section:
Profile Photo
Your profile photo appears at the top of your About section. Choose a high-quality, professional headshot of just you (no group photos). Dress professionally and smile. This will be the first impression you deliver to profile visitors.
Headline
Your headline appears right below your photo. It should be succinct (under 120 characters) and describe your professional identity and current role. Include relevant keywords that recruiters may be searching for.
Summary
Your summary paragraph or two should provide an overview of your professional capabilities, experience, and goals. Focus on your most selling relevant points and accomplishments. Use first person language.
Experience
List your current and past work experience in reverse chronological order. Include company names, position titles, dates of employment, and bullet points describing your responsibilities, achievements, and skills gained.
Skills
Showcase the key skills and areas of expertise that make you qualified for the types of roles you are seeking. Support these with tangible examples from your experience section.
Education
List your degrees, fields of study, universities attended, and graduation years. You can also include courses, certifications, or training programs that are relevant.
Accomplishments/Awards
Highlight special projects, recognitions, publications, certifications, or achievements that demonstrate your capabilities. Quantify your accomplishments with numbers or specific details when possible.
Additional sections
You may also choose to include sections on licensures, languages, volunteering, courses, projects, publications, honors & awards, test scores, and interests. Only include details that strengthen your professional brand and are relevant to your goals.
How long should the About section be?
There are no strict length requirements, but aim for quality over quantity. A succinct and focused About section is best for engaging viewers. Most experts recommend keeping your summary under 700 words. The full About section with experience and education can be 1-2 pages when expanded.
Here are some tips for length:
- Keep your summary short, lively, and scannable – about 2-3 paragraphs or bullet points
- Use concise bullet points in other sections rather than long blocks of text
- Make good use of spacing, headers, and formatting to organize long sections
- Cut out content that doesn’t directly support your professional brand
The key is crafting a About section with enough detail to showcase your value, but not so much that viewers lose interest. Quality trumps quantity.
What tone/voice should you use?
Write your About section in a professional, confident, and authentic tone. Here are some tips:
- Use clear, direct language. Avoid over-used jargon.
- Incorporate keywords naturally and mention skills that align with your target roles.
- Adopt a warm, approachable voice. First person works best.
- Convey your true professional identity, interests, and motivations.
- Focus on accomplishments but avoid sounding arrogant.
- Be selective – only highlight successes relevant to your brand.
Finding the right tone involves balancing professionalism with personality. You want to sound accomplished yet approachable.
How to craft an engaging summary
As the introduction to your profile, your summary paragraph needs to draw readers in. Follow these tips:
- Hook with a strong opening line about your top strength or achievement.
- Emphasize what motivates you and the value you offer employers.
- Use words like “passionate,” “excels at,” “expertise in” to convey capabilities.
- Mention specific skills, knowledge areas, and methodologies you possess.
- Highlight why you succeed at what you do.
- Close with your overarching professional goal or objective.
An engaging opening summary helps establish credibility and gives viewers context before they dive into your background details. Strike the right tone and highlight your differentiating skills and traits.
Do’s and Don’ts
Here are some best practices to follow when writing your About section:
Do:
- Tailor each section to support your professional brand and goals
- Quantify achievements with numbers and specifics when possible
- Use concise language and break up long blocks of text
- Include relevant keywords where appropriate
- Cater content to your target audience and industry
Don’t:
- Simply regurgitate your resume bullet points
- Use cliches, buzzwords or flowery language
- Exaggerate or include false accomplishments
- Use first-person excessively or overshare personal details
- Leave sections sparse or incomplete
Proofread thoroughly and check for typos, formatting issues, repetitive points, and inconsistent tense. Craft each section with purpose to reinforce your professional brand.
How to optimize with keywords
Using relevant keywords can help increase your visibility and chances of being found by recruiters. Here are some tips for optimizing with keywords:
- Research keywords commonly used in your target roles and industry
- Take inventory of your top skills and capabilities
- Organically incorporate relevant keywords into your profile sections
- Prioritize keywords in key visible fields like your headline and summary
- Avoid overstuffing – keywords should flow naturally
- Leverage LinkedIn’s Skills section to add keywords
- Check your profile’s keyword optimization with LinkedIn’s free tool
The right keywords can boost your visibility in LinkedIn searches. But focus first on writing strong content – the keywords will flow naturally after that.
Common About section mistakes
Here are some common mistakes to avoid in your About section:
- Typos and grammatical errors
- Generic, cliched, or exaggerated language
- Outdated information
- Self-centered focus rather than value provided to employers
- Disorganized structure that is hard to scan
- Too much repetition of the same keywords
- Blocky, dense chunks of text rather than bullet points
- Irrelevant personal or sensitive details
- Inconsistent verb tense
- Excessive buzzwords or industry jargon
Proofread carefully and run your About section by a few trusted colleagues to get feedback. A clean, error-free About shows attention to detail.
Should you customize for each application?
While keeping one standardized About section to use across all LinkedIn profiles is more efficient, customizing it for each job application is ideal. Here are some customization tips:
- Tweak your headline to use keywords from the job description
- Expand on the most relevant skills and achievements for that role
- Add new sections that position you for that company’s needs
- Cut any irrelevant sections to keep it more focused
- Align language and keywords to the job description
With a strong base About section in place, customizing for each application does not have to be overly time consuming. Even minor tweaks can better position you as a match.
Examples of strong About sections
Here are two examples of concise yet compelling About summaries:
Marketing Director
Award-winning marketing leader with 10+ years driving growth for leading lifestyle brands. Passionate about leveraging data and design thinking to create personalized digital experiences. Excel at delivering integrated campaigns that engage audiences and promote brand loyalty for companies like Apple and Nike. Eager to bring my creative solutions and analytical approach to drive innovation for a customer-centric brand.
Software Engineer
Software engineer with 5+ years of experience developing robust applications in Python and JavaScript. Passionate about using technology to solve complex problems and improve people’s lives. Core strengths in AI, machine learning, and analytics help me design smart, user-friendly solutions. I thrive on collaborating cross-functionally to build world-class products. Focused on staying on the cutting edge of web development best practices.
Both summaries open strong with a value proposition, highlight relevant skills, convey motivation and strengths, and end with a forward-looking objective. This engages viewers and makes them want to learn more.
Tips for standing out
With millions of LinkedIn profiles out there, how can you make your About section stand out? Consider these tips:
- Open with a compelling headline or hook to capture attention immediately
- Use visuals like charts or icons to communicate accomplishments
- Tell a story and illustrate skills through brief anecdotes
- Share unique hobbies or interests to convey well-roundedness
- Feature multimedia like videos, presentations, or image galleries
- Adopt a warm, conversational tone using first-person voice
- Spotlight awards, testimonials or press mentions as social proof
Think beyond just text on a page. Infuse creativity and visually engaging elements to make your About section memorable and shareable.
Should you add media to your profile?
Visuals and multimedia canenhance your LinkedIn profile when used strategically. Here are some ways to incorporate media:
- Profile photo – Use a professional headshot
- Background photo – Showcase your profession or industry
- Videos – Give a career overview or project demo (under 5 mins)
- Presentations – Share slide decks from speaking engagements
- Infographics – Display data from projects in a visual format
- Photos – Show company culture, products, or work events
Before adding media, ensure it reinforces your professional brand and strengthens your profile. Keep any text crisp and readable when pairing with graphics.
Putting it all together
Crafting a stellar About section takes time. Follow this process to compile the pieces:
- Brainstorm your key skills, accomplishments, differentiators
- Research any keywords to work in naturally
- Draft an engaging summary paragraph focused on your value
- Flesh out the Experience, Education, and Skills sections
- Add other sections like Courses, Awards, Volunteer work
- Select relevant media pieces to incorporate if desired
- Proofread extensively and refine language
- Solicit feedback from colleagues or mentors
- Update periodically as your career progresses
Your LinkedIn About section is never “done” – continue refining it over time. Use it as your professional calling card online.
Conclusion
Your About section is core to your LinkedIn presence. Make it robust, focused, and strategic. Convey your value clearly within the first few lines. Showcase the qualifications that make you a strong candidate. Finding the right balance between concise and compelling takes work, but the investment pays dividends in how recruiters and connections perceive you.