How to write your LinkedIn About section for today's market
At the end of last year, I spoke with Aki Ito from Business Insider regarding the "new rules" for job search.
In a market where you are potentially competing with 1000s of online applicants, what worked before isn't necessarily going to work in 2025. Even if you aren't job searching this year, there are things that you can do to position yourself defensively.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: optimizing your LinkedIn profile is the biggest and best thing you can do for yourself in this market, especially if you are an executive. You don't need to necessarily use LinkedIn Premium - you may need it if you are trying to grow your account, but it's not imperative for me. What you do need to do is optimize your profile.
Let's start with your About section.
You are limited to 2600 characters in your About section and we want to use that space to show your value proposition to potential employers. The trend right now is to write your About section in 1st person, but really I am fine with either 1st person or 3rd person as long as you have a clear value proposition.
The About section previews the 1st three lines of your summary, so we want to catch the reader’s eye with the introduction. A recent study shows that only 3% of profile viewers click through the About section, so you want to write something compelling that prompts the reader to want to read more.
There are 2 different ways that I like to start my About sections.
Version 1: Mission statement or value proposition
Use your opening statement to show how you can deliver value to future employers.
Examples:
My mission is to drive multi-million dollar sales growth for world-class SaaS start-ups.
My mission is to optimize spend for Fortune 1000 companies.
My mission is to build high-performing marketing organizations for top global chemical companies.
Version 2: Lead with your title and/or name-drop your experience
If you have strong experience, it may make sense to lead with that in your introduction.
As an award-winning Marketing Executive, published author, and widely-sought speaker, I have built a career jumpstarting growth for Fortune 500 retailers including The Gap.
Throughout my career with award-winning start-ups, world-class technology companies, and Fortune 500 leaders, I have consistently launched cutting-edge products and services to drive growth.
In roles including VP of Procurement for GE, I made it my mission to optimize our supply chain processes and cut costs while ensuring supplier quality.
Once you put together a compelling opening statement, you can use the rest of your About section to tell your story. Some folks prefer to be brief, others prefer to use as many of the 2600 characters as they can. Use the highlights from your resume (executive summary and experience) as a starting point. You don’t have to go crazy here – you just need to give enough detail so that recruiters can find you when they are searching for appropriate candidates.
Here are 15 sample sentence starters for you:
I have built a career delivering ***
In my current role as a TITLE with COMPANY, I advise **
I actively foster collaboration with ***
I served as a Subject Matter Expert in **
I was also named a *** (insert award or honor here)
I previously served as TITLE for COMPANY
During my 10+ years as TITLE of COMPANY, my team focused on ***
Our team launched ***
As TITLE with COMPANY, our organization ***
I focused on *** as TITLE of COMPANY
My early career experience with ** forms the basis of my insights into **
My proudest professional accomplishment is ***
I have provided expert insight to **
I have served as a speaker and moderator at leading industry conferences including **
I consistently expand my business acumen, earning an MBA from **
Bonus Tips: Here’s how my Gen X client landed a CMO role by attracting attention to his LinkedIn profile: My client was a Fortune 500 VP of Marketing. His goal: Pivot from VP to CMO. He was advising the CMO in his current role. We emphasized that work in his profile.
This has 2 purposes:
- Demonstrates that you understand the role
- Allows you to show up in “CMO” searches
We didn’t hide his Big Name experience. He has awesome experience with top companies. We emphasized this in his Headline/About section. We also highlighted his quantified results He jumpstarted growth for multi-billion dollar firms. We shared this extensively in his resume/LinkedIn.
My last takeaway: A few LinkedIn tweaks can make a big difference. You can use these techniques at any level. 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find talent. Make it easy for them to find you!!!
Ready to change things up in your career?
I'm committed to helping you become more visible and find a new role, so through the end of the year, I'm offering the Ageless Careers Toolkit (my complete guide for job search, resume, LinkedIn, interviewing, and cover letter best practices) for $29 ($249+ value).
Use the coupon code NEWJOB2025 at checkout
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Want more personalized help? I have limited spots available for 1:1 strategy calls, resumes, LinkedIn profile upgrades, and LinkedIn ghostwriting. (Learn more here)
FYI - January + February are always a busy time, so reserve your spot now!
Take care of yourself -
Colleen
