tech360 and BetterHiring.com Blog : Three Steps To Writing The Perfect LinkedIn Summary

Guest Blog: William Arruda

If you read my Forbes article “Move Over, Resume, You’ve Been Replaced,” you understand why your bio (I call it a 3D brand bio) is the most powerful personal branding tool you have. And in the digital world, the most important version of your bio is your LinkedIn summary. This will likely be read by more people than any other form of your bio. This added exposure gives you a great opportunity to capture the attention of decision-makers—but only if you have summary that shines.

An effective LinkedIn summary makes people want to know more about you and ultimately connect with you one-on-one, so congruence is critical. You need make sure the bio you present online matches your real-world self.

How can you create a summary that stands out from the crowd while still being true to the real you?

Yong woman with notebook

Over the past few years, I have worked with career-minded professionals and executives at many of the world’s global brands to help them build compelling bios for LinkedIn and their corporate intranets. The approach we use is part of a comprehensive day-long workshop, but I have created a simplified, three-step version that you can use to make your profile pop:

Step 1: Set the scene

Before putting pen to paper or finger to key, it’s important to know what you want your summary to communicate and what you want to readers to do. Before writing your bio, answer these questions:

Who do you want to reach with your summary? Who is your ideal audience?

What do you want them to learn or do?

How do you want them to feel?

When you’re clear about your intentions and goals, it’s time to pull together the content.

Step 2: Gather your raw content

Think of your content in terms of these buckets, and then fill them to the brim:

Your most important accomplishments. Write a sentence for each one in terms of the value you create/created (“I saved my company $500k in returned products by ensuring customer satisfaction on the front-end of the transaction; I built our first world-class customer service team from the ground up.”)

Your values and passions. Articulate your operating principles and the things that energize you (for example, optimism, creativity, yoga and meditation).

Your superpowers. Describe the things you do better than anyone else (“I can assemble seemingly disparate facts into a cohesive, tangible story,” or “I inspire and engage even the most skeptical client.”)

Fact, figures and stats. List interesting points that are quantifiable. (“I ran five marathons in five different countries; I speak three languages and travel to five continents every year; I worked in six different areas of the business before becoming the head of sales.”)

Differentiation. Cull the things that make you YOU and help you stand out from your peers (“I do my best work from 6 a.m.-8 a.m. before anyone gets to the office.” “Acknowledging others is important to me, so I like to type personal thank-you messages to team members and colleagues on the typewriter I was given on my 16^th birthday.”)

External validation. Include testimonials from others while showcasing all the awards and accolades bestowed upon you (for example, graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan, was named top 30 under 30 by the Chicago Chamber of Commerce).

Step 3: Put it all together

Before writing your summary decide if you would like to write in the first or third person. Either is acceptable – it’s a personal choice. Put yourself in a creative place – literally and figuratively so you can produce your best work. Then:

Start with a bang. You want the reader to want to know more, so you need to start with something enticing. It could be a question, statement or even a few words with punctuation, like: High-Energy. Results-Driven. Focused.

Next, fill in the details, weaving elements from the various Step 2 buckets into a compelling narrative about the brand called you. Mix up content from the different categories to enhance the storytelling style. Here is how I did it with my summary.