Guide for Young Professionals: How to write your Blurb/Bio for LinkedIn

If you’re a young working millennial who has joined LinkedIn to boost your personal brand online, congratulations and well done! Now, it’s time to make the most out of your presence on the world’s leading professional networking site by creating the best bio to market your career strengths.

You want to be noticed by recruiters so that you can snag that dream job and build your career. If you’re not quite sure of how to make your blurb on LinkedIn succinct yet attractive, check out our four-step guide and three stellar references for crafting a kickass LinkedIn bio.

1. Set your goals for LinkedIn

It’s good to know who you want to engage on LinkedIn and what outcomes you wish to achieve! This sets the stage and tone for your blurb. Be it reaching out to recruiters or making your presence felt among professionals online, do ask yourself what you are trying to market yourself as and what roles you want to be shortlisted for. The image you wish to portray will help you to create the content in your blurb.

2. Include keywords of skills that employers desire

When spotting talent to match their hiring needs, recruiters scan through LinkedIn profiles as if they’re searching on Google. So, you’ll need the right keywords to make sure your profile shows up in these search results. You can start by identifying and highlight your own skill sets. A helpful tip — visit the LinkedIn profile of veterans in your field to get a sense of how industry leaders are doing it!

For example, a possible job posting for a digital marketer may contain:

Join us as a digital marketer to grow brands and execute innovative social media campaigns. You will craft content to grow traffic flow.

A possible LinkedIn profile of a senior social media strategist could read:

I’m a marketer, an entrepreneur, a blogger and social media strategist. I believe in the power of branding.

Job postings also contain the exact keywords of skills or traits which recruiters are looking out for. If you highlight them in your LinkedIn bio, people will know what you do and what drives you.

3. State your Selling Points

You have a long list of skills and accomplishments from school and work, but how do you decide which to include in your career bio? Ideally, you should only state the credentials and selling points which fit into the jobs you’re looking out for. For maximum effect, categorise them into 4As — Achievements, Attributes, Attitude and Asset. It’s also important to mention at least one of each so that your bio is a holistic reflection of your profession.

1. Achievements

You’ve got important accomplishments after working in companies and in your own hustles, so do share them! Back it up with facts and statistics to show the value you have created.

Increased revenue with key small businesses by 30% through relationship building and networking

2. Attributes

You may list your language and software mastery here. However, for whatever you list, don’t stop at merely stating what you know, but show how you have applied it, especially if it is relevant to the the demands of recruiters. For instance, instead of saying that you are fluent in a foreign language, show how you have used your language skills.

Translated documents from English to Chinese for the purpose of creating marketing collaterals. Acted as a translator during meetings and conferences with Chinese VIPs.

The same goes for technological knowledge — do focus on how you have used your understanding and mastery instead of merely listing your certifications.

Used SEO as part of digital marketing strategy to increase profits by 300%

3. Attitude

When it comes to stating your values and passions, the same principle applies as with any other piece of content in your LinkedIn Bio. The summary is short and sharp, and each sentence needs to be crucially related to the roles you want and how your value can be harnessed by the company. List, but not for the sake of listing.

For an Operations personnel, you can mention, “I am systematic and passionate about people and processes. With strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills, I have led results-driven changes in various small teams across the organisation.”

4. Asset

Here is where you can set yourself apart, and show off a specific skill which makes you an asset to the organisation. What is it that gives you an edge over others? It could be something that your colleagues will need help with to solve problems.

I believe in efficiency and initiative. As a consultant, I read between the lines, assess clients’ situations and ask crucial questions to help in the delivery of customised solutions.

4. Package the Blurb

Let the writing and editing begin! Weave your selling points together into a compelling story with snappy sentences. If you can, state your email or portfolio website at the end, as a call-to-action for your audience to get in touch with you for enquiries or to view your works. LinkedIn also lets you upload media links to support your bio — which makes it super easy for recruiters to view them quickly.

You can refer to three examples of excellent LinkedIn bios here. Don’t miss out on joining LinkedIn to make yourself visible to recruiters and to build your own professional networks. And if you’ve already created a LinkedIn account, be sure to spruce up your profile and make a kickass bio to draw recruiters to your profile.

5. Examples of Awesome LinkedIn Bios

1. Andrew Cesarz, Recruiter, Facebook

What he does well:

1. Explains what he does and why: “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”
2. Shows career progress by detailing a steady climb of ascending positions
3. States brands he works for now and before, showing credibility and prid

2. Adrian Granzella Larssen, Content Strategist + Editorial Director | Editor-at-Large + Career Expert, The Muse

What she does well:

1. Includes email address at the end as a call to action for interested parties to contact her
2. Includes statistics to show her achievements, e.g. “spent the past 5 years recruiting a team of 800+ freelance writers, garnering awards such as Forbes Top 100 Sites for Women and Top 75 Sites for Your Career”, “increased our audience (6 million/month)”
3. Shows hustle and skill sets: “When I’m not at Muse HQ, I head up Sweet Spot Content, which helps emerging brands with their content efforts”

3. Marvin Gleaton, Technical Recruiting Lead, Lyft

What he does well:

1. Shows personality: “I love meeting new people and learning new things”
2. Highlights extensive expertise by listing different “recruiting specialties” ranging from “Front-End Development” to “Virtualization/Cloud Technologies”
3. Shares his career mission: “There is nothing greater than finding opportunities for smart people to do awesome things, and it’s a fantastic process that I feel lucky to participate in.”

Now that you have a four-step guide and three inspirations from some of the best bios, it’s time to write your own. Revisit your LinkedIn bio every six months to keep it updated and relevant to your latest career goals. Good luck!

Written by: Candy Liao

Edited by: Hazel Teng

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