How do you write a compelling LinkedIn summary that attracts recruiters?

Begin with a dynamic introduction showcasing your current role, key skills, and competencies. Highlight your unique achievements with measurable outcomes. Illustrate your professional journey, not just a resume recap, showcasing how you've leveraged skills to solve problems and drive growth. Include any distinguishing qualifications or awards. Express your career aspirations and your interest in new opportunities. Specify the impact you intend to make in your next role. Invite connections, signalling your readiness for new ventures. Ensure clarity and engagement in your language while avoiding jargon. Proofread to maintain professionalism.

Knowing your audience is key; there's no doubting that. However, with your LinkedIn profile About section, you're not trying to reach a specific type of recruiter in a specific company. Your resume is for that. Therefore, you need to emphasize your most valuable skills or areas of expertise. These usually come in the form of technical knowledge and transferable skills. No personality/adaptive skills, please. I stress upon my clients that the areas of expertise in their About section should follow closely those of them in their Headline. This will contribute nicely to their story, along with a paragraph or two that describes their drive for what they do, or how they solve problems in their industry, etc.

Start by asking yourself several questions: What benefit or contribution do you offer? What are your greatest strengths? What is unique about yourself and how you do what you do? What key results have you consistently produced?

Three prompts to get you started: 1) What got you to where you are today (what made you study what you did, enter the industry that you did, what roles have you had), 2) what are you up to now, 3) where do you see yourself headed

I can't emphasize enough that the opening four lines are some of the most important. The methods described above are spot on, but following the first four lines with cohesive and fluid verbiage that backs up what you write in the first paragraph will be very impactful. What you do to solve a major problem in your industry followed by a few short paragraphs or bulleted items that illustrate your value add is the recipe for a great About section.

People don't read, they eye scan. The higher up you go, the less you should say because the decision makers above you expect you to be able to bottom line it. Brevity rules.

Personal branding should be a form of self awareness and self expression, not fake packaging. Use it as a way to help people get to know your professional side. Not sure how to visually express your strengths? Take some assessments to identify your brand archetype and discover what colors and words activate it.

Ask yourself if when asked by someone at a networking event or interview will you be able to recite and back up what you've written in your About section. If you can do this, you will accomplish your goal of showing the world your value statement. Occasionally I will be asked during a webinar/workshop or the job club I lead to promote myself, as I ask my clients to. What I say is nearly identical to what I have written in my About section. This speaks to professionalism and authenticity.

Given that many LinkedIn members rarely write about their greatness in the Experience section, the About section is one of the most, if not the most, important sections on a profile. Don't neglect this section if you don't make the effort to express your greatness in the Experience section, as well as your Headline and Education sections. They're all important.