Having a complete LinkedIn profile is essential for any professional looking to advance their career or business. One of the most important parts of a LinkedIn profile is the About section, which provides a summary of your background, skills, and experience. But is the About section really necessary? Should you spend time crafting this part of your profile? Here is an in-depth look at the purpose of the LinkedIn About section and why it is a critical component of your online presence.
What is the LinkedIn About Section?
The About section on LinkedIn appears near the top of your profile, right under your name, headline, profile photo, and background photo. It is essentially your professional biography on LinkedIn. This section allows you to provide a detailed overview of your career history, qualifications, skills, accomplishments, and goals. You have 2,000 characters to succinctly summarize your professional background and capabilities.
The About section gives you an opportunity to shape how others perceive you in the LinkedIn community. It enables you to highlight your most relevant experience, skills, and achievements. You can use keywords in your About section to help others find you when searching on LinkedIn. The About also provides context for the rest of your profile, explaining your career path and direction.
Why Have a Strong LinkedIn About Section
Here are some of the key reasons it is important to invest time in developing a compelling About section for your LinkedIn profile:
Make a Strong First Impression
Your About section is one of the first parts of your LinkedIn profile people will see. It offers a window into who you are professionally and the value you can provide. A well-written About section makes a powerful first impression, showing off your qualifications in the best possible light. This section can influence whether viewers will continue looking at the rest of your profile.
Increase Your Visibility
LinkedIn profiles with complete About sections have a much higher chance of appearing in search results. The About provides prime real estate for you to incorporate keywords and phrases related to your industry, experience, and skills. This optimization helps you come up in relevant LinkedIn searches within your field. A fully fleshed out About section boosts your discoverability and visibility.
Showcase Your Expertise
The About section presents an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, capabilities, and proficiency. You can use this space to highlight specific areas of expertise, thought leadership, and competencies. This enables you to establish credibility and position yourself as an authority in your niche. A compelling About communicates the unique value you bring based on your skills and qualifications.
Tell Your Professional Story
Your About section allows you to share your background and career path in your own words. You can explain important milestones, accomplishments, and how your experience relates to your current role and goals. This narrative gives depth and context to the rest of your profile, helping viewers understand where you come from and where you plan to go next. The About section expresses your professional identity and story.
Expand Your Network
A complete, engaging About section encourages others to connect with you on LinkedIn. It gives people reasons to relate to you, sparking potential conversations and shared connections. The About provides launching points for establishing new relationships. An optimized About section helps expand your professional network organically.
Get Noticed by Recruiters
Recruiters and hiring managers often search LinkedIn to find qualified candidates. A compelling About section that clearly summarizes your background makes you more discoverable. It enables recruiters to quickly assess your fit for job openings. An About section focused on your target roles and skills helps you get noticed by the right people.
Complement Your Resume
Your LinkedIn About section serves as an online resume that you can point people to. It highlights all the valuable information found on your resume in an easily digestible way. Your About section and resume work together to reinforce your top skills, achievements, and career goals. Having both shows alignment across your professional profiles.
Share Updates and Articles
The About section prominently appears at the top of your LinkedIn profile underneath any articles or updates you share. This placement gives your posted content more context, meaning anything you publish has more impact. An optimized About section lends you more credibility and authority when sharing insights.
Best Practices for Your LinkedIn About Section
Follow these tips and strategies to create the most effective About section:
Craft an Attention-Grabbing Headline
Take advantage of the 120 characters LinkedIn provides for your headline. Summarize your current role and top skills concisely using power words. This is the first thing people see so make it compelling.
Leverage Keywords
Research keywords related to your target position and industry and work them into your About section naturally. This boosts your search rankings and discoverability.
Highlight Relevant Skills and Accomplishments
Focus on showcasing skills, achievements, certifications, and credentials that align with your goals. Emphasize capabilities that differentiate you.
Use Numbers and Metrics
Quantify your accomplishments with numbers and metrics. For example, mention the size of budgets you have managed, number of projects completed, revenue generated, etc.
Adopt a Professional Tone
Write your About section in an authoritative, industry-specific voice. Keep the language formal without being overly promotional.
Explain Career Changes
If you have made major career pivots, briefly explain your reasoning. This provides continuity to your professional narrative.
Proofread Thoroughly
Carefully proofread your About section to eliminate any typos or grammatical errors. This content represents your personal brand.
Include Relevant Links
Hyperlink to your website, blog, or published articles to provide supporting evidence for claims you make.
Update Regularly
Revisit your About section every few months to refresh content. Add new skills, achievements, roles to keep it current.
About Section Length Best Practices
Aim to use between 700 and 2000 characters for your LinkedIn About section. Here are some recommendations on About section length optimization:
About Section Length | Recommendation |
---|---|
Under 700 characters | Too short to effectively summarize professional background and skills. Add more detail. |
700-1000 characters | Provides a concise overview for visitors scanning your profile. |
1000-1500 characters | A good length to highlight your most relevant qualifications and achievements. |
1500-2000 characters | Gives you room for an in-depth profile summary with key details. |
Over 2000 characters | At risk of being too wordy. Trim content to most essential info. |
The ideal length depends on your career stage. Those with longer backgrounds may need closer to the full 2000 characters, while early career pros can keep it short and sweet.
About Section Examples
Here are two example About sections showcasing different approaches:
Marketing Professional
Results-driven marketing manager with 5+ years experience leading high-performing campaigns and developing branding strategies for F500 companies. Skilled in digital marketing, market research, content creation, campaign tracking, and budget management. Passionate about leveraging data and insights to deliver targeted, multi-channel campaigns that maximize ROI. Seeking to expand leadership role and take on more responsibility within a progressive marketing department.
Software Engineer
Software engineer with over a decade of experience designing, developing, and implementing technical solutions across the software development lifecycle. Expertise in coding languages like Java, Python, C++, JavaScript, and Ruby on Rails. Led multiple engineering teams to deliver high-quality products on schedule. Managed complex software projects from conception to launch. Looking to join a fast-paced company to take ownership over key development initiatives and mentor junior engineers. Let’s connect!
Should You Include a Summary or Objective?
Beyond the About section, LinkedIn also gives you the option to add a summary or professional objective underneath your photo banner. Here are some pros and cons of including these additional profile sections:
Summary
Pros:
- More space to highlight qualifications
- Reinforce main points from About section
- Increase keywords for search optimization
Cons:
- May be redundant with About content
- Additional length may cause viewers to skim
Objective
Pros:
- Succinctly states your career goals
- Communicates openness to new opportunities
- Focuses your profile for recruiters
Cons:
- Duplicative with About section information
- Many consider objectives outdated
- Takes up prime real estate
In most cases, a strong About section is sufficient for communicating your professional summary and goals. But if you have space, a summary can supplement your About, while an objective can sharpen your focus for job seekers.
Tips for Writing Your About Section
Follow these steps when drafting your LinkedIn About section:
- Research profiles of professionals in similar roles to get inspiration for format, tone, and keywords to include.
- Make a list of your top skills, achievements, credentials, and career highlights.
- Reflect on your career path and capabilities. What makes you stand out? What are you most proud of?
- Draft an outline organizing your professional background and accomplishments.
- Flesh out each section with descriptive language and key details.
- Read your About section out loud and remove any awkward phrasing.
- Run your content through Grammarly or Hemingway to refine wording and improve readability.
- Ask trusted colleagues or mentors to review your About section and give feedback.
- Edit your About based on feedback and continue optimizing over time.
Invest time perfecting your About section. This will pay dividends through increased profile visibility, recognition of your capabilities, and new career connections.
Conclusion
An optimized LinkedIn About section is mandatory for any professional’s online presence. This profile summary offers the chance to succinctly showcase your background, qualifications, experience, and goals. It enables you to make a strong first impression, get discovered in searches, establish credibility, expand your network, and get recruited. While the About section requires continued refinement, a well-crafted overview delivers immense value. So take the time to thoughtfully develop this critical component of your LinkedIn profile.