Many people don’t take advantage of the LinkedIn summary option that they have available. Most summary boxes are left empty or with a sentence or two that might fit the LinkedIn headline much better.
That’s why I’m here today – to teach you how to write a LinkedIn summary in a way that will benefit you greatly!
A LinkedIn summary is quite an important part of your profile, but regardless of that people don’t put much thought into how it should look like.
There are some quick and easy solutions such as a LinkedIn summary generator that may seem like a good idea, but actually aren’t, and I’m going to explain to you why.
But for the time being, let’s stick to how to write it, and then later on I’ll show you some tips and tricks on what not to do and what to exclude from your summary.
Now that you know what we’re going to talk about exactly, let’s jump right in and write a perfect LinkedIn summary!
What Is A LinkedIn Summary?
In order to write a good LinkedIn summary, you have to understand what it is and what it’s intended for.
A good majority of people don’t know this, and that’s a big part of the reason why people leave it empty.
Well, we’re going to change that for some people since we’re going to take a look at what this summary is and how it should be utilized to your advantage.
| The LinkedIn summary space is an open-ended space where you can type 2000 characters at maximum where a person can give an overview of their professional life. |
Now that you’ve looked at the definition, the importance of this part of your LinkedIn profile starts to become obvious. Well, that’s why I’m quite surprised every time I see someone leaving this box empty.
Using 2000 characters to tell someone about your professional life may seem a bit too short, but trust me when I tell you – it’s more than enough!
Besides people not using this field, if they do use it, they write way too little and tell even less. That’s why you have to utilize those 2000 characters as best as you can.
If you don’t waste a letter, you’ll have enough space to say everything that’s important and that you would want to say.
What Is LinkedIn Summary Used For?
A complicated question requires a complicated answer, and a complicated problem requires a complicated solution.
That’s why in order to write something as complicated as a LinkedIn Summary, you have to know a few things that may seem a bit complicated.
People often ask “How to write a good LinkedIn Summary?” or “Do I talk about myself, or my career?” and those are all valid questions, but the answers to them are quite difficult.
In order to unravel the answers, you have to know what these summaries are used for, and what the goal of using them is.
First of all, LinkedIn summaries are used for describing your professional life in a way that won’t sound like you’re selling something or that you’re over-representing your skills.
It has to have a serious voice while still holding a tone that isn’t as formal as possible. That’s done in a few different ways that we’ll talk about, but the most important thing is that the end product has these characteristics.
Using LinkedIn summaries you can rank higher in search results, increase your chances of being hired, or be contacted by someone who’s interested in offering you a job (potentially your dream job).
Using them wisely will definitely put you in front of the part of your competition that doesn’t utilize this field to its fullest potential!
In addition to that, you’ll have a more professional and well-put-together LinkedIn profile that will look more appealing to anyone and everyone that comes into contact with it.
How To Format Your LinkedIn Summary?
When writing your LinkedIn summary, you have to be careful about formatting it. Paying close attention and ensuring that your summary has structure and format is crucial.
Now, before you start doing that, do keep in mind that there are a few ways to go about this.
- Formal (Gold Standard) – This way of formatting your LinkedIn summary is the safest way to do so. Going for an easy-to-understand summary that will clearly list your strengths and attributes is something that should lead you to land every job you apply for.
- Informal (Innovative) – An informal summary may attract the attention of companies owned by younger people that understand the importance of being relaxed and “chill”. These types of summaries don’t end up well with some old-fashioned companies, but if you’re not aiming for them, you should consider this template.
- Assertive (Confident) – Showing confidence in what you’re capable of is of crucial importance. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect other people to do so? This summary template is perfect for those who know how much they’re worth and can back up their words.
Now that you’ve taken a look at three of the best (in my opinion, at least) templates for writing your LinkedIn summary, we’re going to take a closer look at how you’re going to approach every single one of them and make sure you get the most out of them.
- Formal – Gold Standard
The formal template is used most often, and it definitely shows the most results. There are a few things that you have to mention when using this format, and we’re going to tell you everything that you mustn’t skip.
- Your strengths
- What you bring to the table
- What’s your background
- Show motivation
When these 4 things are present while using the formal template, you’ll secure your success. Your strengths show why you’re perfect for your job, but they shouldn’t be just thrown in there for the sake of listing them and showing off. You should try to make them look appealing to anyone looking to hire you.
What you’re bringing to the table isn’t very different from what your strengths are. That means that you should join these two, but not completely. What you’re offering to the company aren’t just your skills, but the results you’re going to accomplish using said skills!
The background is quite important. In what branches of niches you’ve worked in and/or what your education is also a way of validating yourself in front of a potential employer.
Being motivated 100% of the time shows your potential employers that enthusiasm isn’t a transient thing. By doing so, you’re putting “the icing on the cake” and that’s what makes it important!
- Informal – Innovative
Being informal is starting to become a trend in business. That’s because more and more young people have their own companies or are becoming real entrepreneurs and that makes them in charge.
Writing a LinkedIn Summary knowing that you’ll end up in one of these companies that are led by young people makes it completely fine to not be formal.
But, this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to have a structure. The important things for this template are:
- Being witty and funny from time to time
- Talking about what are the advantages of hiring you
- Emphasizing the importance of your knowledge on certain topics
- Being open-minded and enthusiastic about working
Being witty and funny is the “mandatory” part since if you’re informal without showing that you know you’re informal will make you look a bit rude. Joking around with the fact that your LinkedIn summary isn’t written in an old-fashioned way is acknowledging that your summary is informal.
The advantages of hiring you instead of someone else may be the most important point in your informal summary. You can fuse this with the importance of your knowledge on certain topics since they go well together.
You have to keep in mind not to sound overly confident but to make it clear why you’re a candidate worth considering in a potential job interview.
If you’re using this template, chances are working is your passion, but you don’t allow your work to overtake all of your free time. That’s why you have to make sure to mention that you’re open-minded to new concepts of employment and enthusiastic about working overall.
- Assertive – Confident
There’s nothing wrong with confidence, but only if it’s presented in a way that’s not rude and aggressive.
That’s why you have to take a close look at this template since it’s not for everyone. Stating your strengths and why you’re where you are in your life may come off as overly confident.
There are a few things that you have to keep in mind, even when it comes to this template.
- Tone down the self-confidence
- Use fact backed statements
- Don’t assume
- Use a neutral sentiment while writing
First of all, there’s nothing wrong with being self-confident, but if that’s all that you are – we have a problem. Confidence is good, but shoving it in other people’s faces isn’t, so try keeping it to a level that’s acceptable to the majority.
When talking about what you’re competent in and what qualifications you have, try staying within the borders of fact-backed statements. For example, if you claim you’re fluent in a foreign language, mention a diploma that you have.
Not assuming is a big part of coming off as confident, but not overly confident. Stick to the facts and use only them to talk about why you’re competent at what you’re doing.
Writing The Summary
When you start writing your summary, it’s important to stick to one of these templates and use the advantages of that particular template.
Using a bit from every template will lead you nowhere and leave you with a summary that’s confusing and hard to read.
Make sure that you’re double-entering every two rows or so in order to keep it clean. Also, use punctuation correctly.
Sending a clear message about who you are and what you’re capable of, professionally speaking, is quite important, so you have to dedicate time to writing your LinkedIn summary. It’s not wasting time!
How To Write A LinkedIn Summary – Conclusion
Even though I presented the answer to the question of how to write a LinkedIn summary as something quite complicated, it really isn’t if you have a couple of things in mind.
First of all, you have to know what these summaries are used for and what your end goal for writing one is.
After that, you have to know that the construction of this summary should exist. After that, you should pick a template and stick with it.
This will give you structure and a tone of seriousness that your competition probably doesn’t have which will set you apart from all the others.
When you have all of that figured out, the last thing is to actually sit down and write one. When you have everything written down and planned out, writing it is just the formal part.
Don’t be afraid, and remember that you can change it any time you’d like!