How to Write a LinkedIn Summary That Gets You Hired (With Samples)
LinkedIn is the social media site of choice for professionals; they’re able to network and make meaningful career-changing connections all from the comfort of their phones. Whether you make it or break it depends on your profile, it’s your elevator pitch and resumé all wrapped in one with a ribbon on it (to quote Rihanna).
LinkedIn currently has over 610 million members with 303 million active monthly users. According to 99firms, 90 million senior-level influencers and 63 million decision-makers use LinkedIn monthly. What this means is that you have a higher chance of meeting someone who could potentially hire you on LinkedIn than on any other social media site.
LinkedIn is the professional’s goldmine, and sadly, not a lot of people know this or know how to utilise it. A lot of people don’t bother having a LinkedIn account, and the ones who do don’t put enough thought into setting up their profiles. If LinkedIn is a big business meeting, your profile is what you wear to it, and you want to look your best.
Putting your best foot forward starts with crafting the right profile summary. Your summary is who you are, what you’re interested in, what you’ve done, and why a recruiter should pay you any attention. You want it to be perfect, and this guide will help you achieve that.
What Is the Profile Summary?
Think of your Twitter bio, but with more characters. Your profile summary is your chance to sell yourself, much like your cover letter or the “Career Objective” part of your resume. These documents are a bit constraining because you have to keep them tailored to the job you’re applying for and your resume needs to stay short, but with your profile summary, you can add as much detail as you want. Your LinkedIn summary is your chance to show your potential recruiter or client why they need you on the team.
What Should be in Your Summary?
There isn’t a strict format for writing your summary, however, what you include should be able to strengthen your case and convince a client or recruiter to give you a chance. What you decide to put into your summary should be things that are relevant to your career and portray you in a good light. Your summary should include interesting and impressive facts about you. A person going through your profile should have an idea of who you are.
Here’s a sample summary for a final year student of the University of Calabar. We’ll call her Edidiong Ekanem.
Edidiong is a final year student of the University of Calabar, Nigeria where she studies Theatre and Media Studies and has been on the Dean’s honour’s list for the past three years. A member of the University of Calabar chapter of Enactus, she has served as the Vice President and Programs director of the chapter where she led a team of 5 people to organize an employability seminar that helped the students learn how to craft a CV, use LinkedIn and network properly with professionals in their field.
In her third year in the university, she contested and won the elections for president of the Student Union Government (SUG) beating three other candidates to become the first female SUG President in the school’s 50-year history. During her tenure as president, she was instrumental in improving relations between the school management and the students which had been at its lowest for a long time.
Leaning on her experience as Programs director at Enactus, she organized the first Career Day in the school where employers were able to speak with the students. The result was that 20 final year students were hired on a full-time basis and a further 30 were hired as interns.
She is also the founder of the Hope Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to providing access to education for the girl-child. In a little over a year, 30 girls have enrolled in school with 5 receiving scholarships through the help of partners.
She is highly skilled in video editing, social media management, and copywriting; having interned at top brands like Globacom and Access Bank. Currently, she is a freelancer and can be reached on edidiong@yahoo.com.
With a summary like this, any recruiter would want to have Edidiong on their team because her profile indicates that she has demonstrated initiative, leadership and is passionate about girl-child education, all qualities any recruiter would want.
You’re probably thinking, “but I haven’t done anything that impressive”. Well that’s where you’re wrong. We often make the mistake of thinking that there’s nothing impressive about us but in most cases, there is. Take out a pen and paper and list everything you’ve ever done in your life no matter how frivolous they look. Pick out the best four, and extract the values they represent. You can also ask your friends and family for what they think are your best qualities, and try to think of situations in which you’ve demonstrated them.
While it is true that employers prefer candidates who have some experience, most people have fair expectations of entry-level staff. More than an impressive resume, most employers want staff that are fast learners, good communicators and can make a contribution to the organisation.
In this second sample, we would create a summary for a fresh graduate who has no work experience. We’ll call him Leslie; he’s a graduate of Mass Communication and would love to get into TV or radio.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved telling stories. While in school, I took online courses in writing and communication earning certificates from schools such as the University of Pennsylvania. In my spare time, I hosted a podcast called “What’s the Buzz” where I talked about the latest happenings in the entertainment industry.
I currently volunteer with the Make Nigeria Great Again Foundation. As the social media lead, I have been able to create strategies that have resulted in increased engagement on all social media handles while facilitating trainings for the members of my team.
Leslie has no formal work experience in the industry he’s hoping to break into, but his summary shows that he has a passion for it and he’s been putting in the work. You don’t need to have done a lot, sometimes demonstrating that you have the drive for it is enough.
There you have it.
Use the examples as a guideline to create or revamp your summary.
If you have extra tips or want to share your success story, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or tweet at us.
Chimgozirim Nwachinemerem Nwokoma
Editor: Emma Nwosisi
