A LinkedIn summary is one of the most important parts of your LinkedIn profile. It's usually the first thing people read when they visit your profile, so you want to make sure it effectively sells your skills, experience, and value to viewers.
Crafting a stand-out summary that gets noticed isn't easy. While you need a summary that feels authentic, you also need one that's optimized for keywords and highlights your professional abilities. That's where summary templates and examples can help.
The first step to writing an effective LinkedIn summary is deciding what information you want to highlight to viewers. Your summary should focus on communicating:
Your career goals: What jobs or types of work are you pursuing or seeking to pursue? This helps viewers understand the direction of your career.
Your key skills and qualifications: What are the main hard and soft skills or qualifications you have that make you desirable for your target job or field? These can include technical abilities, knowledge areas, credentials, specialized training, leadership skills, etc.
Notable achievements from past roles: Mention one or two impressive wins that demonstrate valuable skills in action (e.g. “Increased sales by 30% over 2 years” or “Led workshop attended by 50+ industry leaders”).
Value you provide: Explain how your background enables you to provide tangible value to employers or clients seeking your targeted role.
In addition to communicating the above, optimize your summary for keywords that are often searched for your target industry or job titles. This boosts your profile's search visibility.
Also emphasize transferable skills that apply across jobs versus just focusing on past job duties. For example, communication skills, analytical abilities, project management, and leadership are valued across many fields.
Given the limited space, you need to convey a lot of information succinctly. Follow these best practices:
With an understanding of what to include, let's now look at some LinkedIn summary template examples to help craft your own.
Here are five LinkedIn summary examples covering different focuses and career levels, along with a template for each.
If you’re just starting your career, focus more on key achievements from education and internships versus full-time job experience.
Goal-oriented new graduate with a Bachelor’s in Business Marketing from UCLA and experience in market research, data analysis, content creation, and campaign tracking through coursework and internships. Passionate about leveraging analytics and creativity to drive strategic marketing initiatives. Seeking a full-time Associate Marketing Coordinator role to apply my skills in statistical analysis, project management, and communications towards building impactful campaigns.
Template
[Descriptive adjective] recent graduate with a Bachelor’s in [Degree] from [University] and experience in [Relevant skill area 1], [Relevant skill area 2], and [Relevant skill area 3] through coursework and internships. Passionate about [Broad passion area]. Seeking a full-time [Desired entry-level role] role to apply my skills in [Key skill area 1], [Key skill area 2], and [Key skill area 3] towards [Contribution you can make].
If you’re transitioning to a new career, use your summary to justify how your past experience translates. Lead with your new career goal.
Innovative professional pivoting from 10+ years as a Software Engineering Manager into Data Science after completing a Data Science Nanodegree with Udacity. Skills in Python programming, statistical analysis, machine learning, leadership, and communications uniquely equip me to take on an analytical role that also values project management abilities. Most proud of reducing debugging times by over 50% for my team of 15 engineers, demonstrating my optimization abilities. Seeking mid-level Data Scientist roles focused on impactful modeling and analysis.
Template
[Descriptive adjective] professional pivoting from [X] years as a [Past role] into [New role] after completing [Relevant training or education]. Skills in [Hard skill 1], [Hard skill 2], [Key soft skill 1], and [Key soft skill 2] uniquely equip me to take on an analytical role that also values project management abilities. Most proud of [Quantified past achievement], demonstrating my [Skill area] abilities. Seeking [Entry point new role] roles focused on impactful modeling and analysis.
Once established in your career, focus more on recent full-time job accomplishments vs. education. Lead with your specialization.
Seasoned IT Project Manager offering over 7 years directly managing large software development projects and leading cross-functional product development teams. Core strengths in Agile methodologies, client relations, full life cycle QA testing, performance monitoring, and risk mitigation. Successfully maintained 89%+ client retention year-over-year through aligning business priorities with technical capabilities. Technically proficient across multiple platforms including AWS Cloud and DevOps tools. Passionate about using proven PM methodologies to deliver high-value products on-time and under budget. Seeking Lead Project Management roles specializing in SaaS environments. PMP certified.
Template
[Descriptive adjective] [Specialization] offering over [X] years directly [Core Function 1], [Core Function 2], and [Core Function 3] and leading [teams or initiatives]. Core strengths in [Technical skill 1], [Technical skill 2], [Soft skill 1], and [Soft skill 2]. Successfully [Key achievement 1] and [Key achievement 2], demonstrating ability to [Value area 1] and [Value area 2]. Technically proficient across [Technology platform or tools 1] and [Technology platform or tools 2]. Passionate about [Broad contribution area]. Seeking [Next level role] roles specializing in [Desired focus area]. [Relevant Certification/Credential].
As a senior leader, focus more on high-level initiatives versus tactical details. Demonstrate strategic perspective.
Visionary VP of Sales & Business Development with over 15 years driving double-digit growth for SaaS companies, 8 of those years in Executive Leadership roles overseeing high-performance sales organizations. Core competencies include sales team leadership, new market expansion, strategic partnerships, product positioning, and delivering shareholder value through predictable revenue growth. Record of assembling talented teams and creating cultures of excellence focused on exceeding targets. Seeking Chief Revenue Officer opportunity overseeing $100M+ revenue organization and collaborating closely with C-suite to align sales initiatives to corporate strategy. MBA & BS in Computer Science.
Visionary [Senior leadership title] with over [X] years driving [results area 1] and [results area 2] for [industry or company size] companies, [X of those years] in Executive Leadership roles overseeing [teams or functions]. Core competencies include [Core strength 1], [Core strength 2], [Core strength 3], and [Core strength 4] and delivering [Value area] through [Mechanism]. Record of [Capability 1], [Capability 2], and creating cultures of excellence focused on [Shared value or approach]. Seeking [Next level title] opportunity overseeing [$X+ revenue, P&L, or other numerical measure] and collaborating closely with C-suite to align [Function] initiatives to corporate strategy. [Relevant Credentials].
For specialized roles, demonstrate deep domain experience along with broader leadership skills.
Experienced Marketing Ops Leader offering 13+ years managing data-driven marketing campaigns, platforms, and analytics efforts for leading B2C eComm brands.Core competencies span marketing attribution modeling, tag management, analytics implementation, platform consolidation, privacy compliance, executive reporting, and cross-functional team leadership. Record of optimizing return on marketing technology investments and enabling organizations to leverage customer data more strategically through unified architectures. Seeking senior-level Director of Marketing Operations opportunity overseeing $20M martech budget. Strong technology project management and communications skills. Six Sigma Green Belt certified.
Experienced [Domain Expertise] Leader offering [X+] years managing [Function 1] and [Function 2] for leading [Industry/Company Type] brands. Core competencies span [Technical Skill 1], [Technical Skill 2], [Technical Skill 3], [Soft Skill 1] and [Soft Skill 2]. Record of [Key Contribution 1], [Key Contribution 2], and enabling organizations to [Strategic Impact Area] through [Approach]. Seeking senior-level [Next Level Title] opportunity overseeing [$XM budget, team size, or other scope]. Strong [Capability 1] and [Capability 2] skills. [Relevant Credential].
Now that you’ve seen strong summary examples, use the following step-by-step process to craft your own:
Before drafting your summary, get very clear on the types of roles and employers you are targeting next. This includes:
This goal setting focuses your content.
Make a master list of all key qualifications and accomplishments you have that map to your target goals:
Now, for each target job title or employer type, tailor a custom summary focusing only on the most relevant items from your master list based on what that role or company would likely prioritize.
Refer frequently back to real job listings for keywords and key requirements to work into your summary.
Use the provided templates above as structural guidance, customizing the sections but maintaining the overall flow. Include goal statement, qualifications aligned to goals, stand-out achievements, specialized skills for the role, unique value offered, and next level position sought.
Edit down your draft for brevity and skimmability:
Plug your draft into tools like Google Keyword Planner, UberSuggest or Semrush to confirm you’ve incorporated keywords and phrases commonly searched for your target opportunities―and add any missing ones.
Ask trusted colleagues, mentors and professionals in your targeted field to review your draft and provide feedback. What key selling points are still missing?
Treat your LinkedIn summary as your website homepage―the crucial first impression to instantly intrigue visitors. Follow the steps above to develop an on-target, well-rounded, scannable intro showcasing the value you offer.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about crafting an exceptional LinkedIn summary that sells your skills and experience:
Aim for 2-4 well-crafted paragraphs or approximately 3-5 lines per section. LinkedIn provides a maximum of 2,000 characters (including spaces) for your entire summary section so concise writing is key.
You want a length that balances being robust enough to showcase your qualifications while remaining scannable in a short time. Avoid exceeding 600 words.
Yes, call out approximately 4-8 key skill areas in your summary. But rather than just listing one-word skills, incorporate them fluidly into full sentences demonstrating proof of those skills.
For example, “Successful track record of building top-performing sales teams and consistently exceeding demanding sales quotas” displays the skills of sales leadership, team development, and achieving sales targets without forcing a boring list.
First person (“I did X”) helps lend a personal touch but sparingly using third person (“John drove sales growth”) also works. Avoid overusing first-person pronouns like “I” and “me” excessively though, as that can sound egocentric.
Varying sentence structure adds engagement. Just ensure the tone feels approachable and authentic versus overly promotional. Think conversational elevator pitch versus formal resume language.
Your LinkedIn summary (up to 2000 characters) provides a robust, high-level overview of your professional experiences, skills, goals and value proposition. It’s optimized to appear prominently on your profile.
Your intro (up to 128 characters) offers an ultra tight tagline version appearing alongside your name and photo. Use keywords fitting your immediate goals.
Plan to revisit your summary at least every 1-2 years or whenever you take on a notable new role or set a significantly different career direction.
Gradual shifts in focus may merit slight tweaks in wording over time versus a major rewrite. But substantial career pivots or new levels of seniority warrant reframing your summary more extensively.
Don’t just take generic templates’ word for what an awesome LinkedIn summary entails. Here are excerpts from real-life summaries that stand out:
“Not your average accountant. I know, cue the yawn, but it's true! Where my peers quote GAAP chapter and verse (yawn again), I see the story behind the numbers.” – Susan Smith, Senior Accountant
“Passionate food chemist offering 6 years expertise developing shelf-stable consumer products. I leverage complex techniques like high pressure processing to create clean labels and healthy alternatives.” – Samir Patel, Senior Food Scientist
“Creative technical marketer with 7+ years specializing in developer communities:
“‘Simplify the complex’ has guided my 15-year marketing analytics career helping Fortune 500 brands untangle thorny data problems and extract accessible insights leading to smarter decisions and messaging.” – Amanda Chen, Marketing Analytics Director
“Dedicated sustainability professional with record of slashing costs 21% through eco-friendly operations changes in past 3 roles.” – Steven Lewis, Sustainability Manager
As these excerpts demonstrate, injecting a touch of personality while leading with tangible value helps profiles stand out while also clearly communicating skills.
Just Think AI makes writing compelling LinkedIn summaries easy. Here are tips:
With this information, Just Think AI can generate an optimized LinkedIn summary template positioning your strengths and expertise to resonate with your target audiences.
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Supplying this context allows Just Think AI to craft an effective LinkedIn summary showcasing your value!