LinkedIn Summary Examples: How to Write an About Section People Read
Your LinkedIn About section isn't your resume summary with the word "I" added. It's longer, warmer and read in a different way, mostly by people deciding whether you're worth a message. Here's how to write one, with 13 examples to borrow from.
By the ResJo Editorial Team
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Updated
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12 min read
The short answer
A good LinkedIn summary (the About section) is written in the first person, opens with one or two lines that make people tap "see more", explains what you do and who you help, proves it with one or two specific results, mentions the skills people search for, and ends with what you're open to. Aim for roughly 150 to 300 words; LinkedIn allows up to 2,600 characters.
How a LinkedIn summary differs from a resume summary
A resume summary is written for one recruiter, about one job, and squeezed into a few lines. Your LinkedIn About section is read by all sorts of people: recruiters, hiring managers, potential clients, former colleagues, people you've just met at an event. Most of them aren't comparing you to a job description. They're trying to work out who you are and whether to get in touch.
That changes how you write it. LinkedIn summaries are in the first person. They can be a little more personal: why you do the work, what you care about, how you like to work. And they're longer, typically 150 to 300 words, out of a maximum of 2,600 characters.
What doesn't change: specifics still beat adjectives. "Passionate, results-driven professional" is as empty on LinkedIn as anywhere else.
The first two lines do most of the work
LinkedIn shows only the opening of your About section before cutting it off with "see more", and on a phone that's not much. Most visitors decide whether to tap based on those first one or two lines. So don't waste them on "Welcome to my profile" or a list of job titles separated by pipes.
Lead with what you do and for whom, in plain language, ideally with a hint of what makes you different:
Easy to scroll past
Results-oriented professional with a passion for excellence and a proven track record in dynamic environments.
Makes people tap "see more"
I build backend systems that stay up when traffic doesn't behave.
A simple structure that works
You don't need a formula, but most strong About sections move through the same four beats.
The hook. One or two lines on what you do, who you do it for, or what you care about.
The proof. One or two specific achievements, with numbers if you have them. This is where a resume bullet can become a sentence with context.
The how. A few lines on how you work, what you're known for, or the tools and skills you use. A short "Tools I use:" line is a neat way to get searchable skills in without a wall of keywords.
The invitation. What you're open to: a new role, clients, collaborations, conversations about a topic. Be specific enough that the right person knows to message you.
Break it into short paragraphs. Long blocks of text are hard to read on a phone, which is where most people will see it.
Getting found in LinkedIn search
Recruiters search LinkedIn the same way they search applicant tracking systems: by job title, skills and tools. The words in your profile influence which searches you appear in, so your About section should naturally include the terms people would use to find someone like you.
If you're a data analyst, that means actually writing "data analyst", "SQL", "Power BI" and "Python" somewhere in it, not just "I love working with numbers". Mention them where they fit the story, and keep them honest. Don't stuff a list of 40 keywords at the bottom; it makes the profile harder to read and doesn't reflect well on you.
Your headline and job titles matter at least as much, so check they use the titles people search for too. The same thinking applies to your resume; see our ATS-friendly resume guide.
13 LinkedIn summary examples
Each of these is fictional but realistic. Take the shape, not the words: your About section should sound like you talking. Replace anything in [brackets] and every number with your own.
Computer Science graduate
Students and freshers
I like building things that people actually use. My final-year project, a library management system, started as a class assignment and ended up running the issue desk at our college library for 400+ students.
I work mostly in Java, Spring Boot and React, and I'm comfortable with SQL, Git and deploying to AWS. During my internship at [Company] I fixed bugs in a production codebase and learned how much of good engineering is careful testing and clear code review.
I'm looking for my first role as a Software Developer, ideally in a product team where I can learn from experienced engineers. If you're hiring, or just want to talk about backend development, I'd be glad to connect.
MBA (Marketing) fresher
Students and freshers
I'm a marketer who likes to know what's working and why. During my summer internship with a D2C skincare brand, I planned an Instagram campaign that grew the brand's following by 35% in eight weeks, and spent most of my evenings in Meta Ads Manager and Google Analytics 4 figuring out which posts actually drove sales.
I've just completed my MBA in Marketing from [Institute]. Before that I studied commerce and ran a small Instagram page on budget travel, which taught me more about content than any textbook.
I'm looking for a Marketing Executive role with a consumer brand that cares about both creativity and data. Happy to connect with marketers, founders and anyone working in D2C.
Student looking for an internship
Students and freshers
Second-year Economics student at [College], and the person my friends ask when a spreadsheet stops making sense. I enjoy finding the story inside a messy dataset: my last coursework project looked at three years of regional retail sales and found that two product lines were quietly carrying the rest.
Tools I use: Excel, SQL, Power BI and a growing amount of Python.
I'm looking for a summer internship in business analytics or consulting. If your team takes interns, I'd love to hear from you.
Software Engineer
Professionals
I build backend systems that stay up when traffic doesn't behave. For the last five years I've worked on payments and order services in Java and Go, most recently at [Company], where I led our move from a monolith to microservices and cut deployment time from two hours to fifteen minutes.
What I care about: simple designs, good observability, and code reviews that make everyone better rather than just slower. I mentor two junior engineers and run our team's internal talks.
Tech I use most: Java, Go, PostgreSQL, Kafka, AWS, Kubernetes.
Always happy to talk about distributed systems, engineering culture or interesting problems in fintech.
Data Analyst
Professionals
I turn messy data into decisions people can act on. At [Company], I built the sales dashboard that 60 store managers now open every morning, which replaced a weekly spreadsheet that took the team 10 hours to prepare.
Most of my work sits between SQL, Python and Power BI, but the part I enjoy most is the conversation afterwards: working out what a manager actually needs to know and presenting it so it takes thirty seconds to understand.
I'm interested in retail and e-commerce analytics, experimentation and forecasting. Feel free to reach out if you're working on similar problems.
Start from your own resume instead
ResJo turns your resume into a LinkedIn About section and a list of key skills, ready to edit.
I help consumer brands grow without wasting their budget. Over seven years I've run SEO, paid search, paid social and lifecycle email for B2C companies, and scaled monthly paid spend from $20,000 to $150,000 while bringing cost per acquisition down by 28%.
I lead a team of five, and we work closely with product and sales, because the best campaigns start with a good product insight, not a clever ad.
Currently at [Company]. Open to conversations with brands that want to build a measurable, sustainable growth engine.
B2B Sales
Professionals
I sell software to people who are tired of being sold to. Six years in B2B SaaS sales have taught me that the best deals start with good questions and a genuine fit, not pressure.
I manage full-cycle deals with mid-market and enterprise buyers, and I've finished above 110% of quota four years running. Most of my clients are operations and finance leaders in manufacturing and logistics.
If you're evaluating tools to simplify your operations, or you're a sales professional who wants to compare notes, my inbox is open.
HR professional
Professionals
I believe most people problems are actually process problems. As an HR Generalist for a 600-person company, I've worked across recruitment, onboarding, employee relations and payroll, and my favourite project so far was rebuilding our onboarding programme, which lifted 90-day retention from 78% to 91%.
I'm the person managers call when they're not sure how to handle a difficult conversation, and I take that trust seriously.
Interested in people analytics, early-career hiring and building workplaces where good people want to stay.
Registered Nurse
Professionals
Emergency and critical care nurse with six years at the bedside. I've worked as charge nurse for a 20-bed unit, coordinating admissions, staffing and handovers on shifts where everything happens at once.
I'm BLS and ACLS certified and a trained preceptor for new graduate nurses, which is honestly one of the most rewarding parts of my job.
I'm interested in critical care education and quality improvement, and always glad to connect with other nurses and healthcare educators.
Teacher moving into instructional design
Career change and returning
For eight years I taught high school English, which means I've spent a lot of time figuring out how to make people care about something they didn't choose to learn. I'm now taking that into instructional design.
I've designed a blended-learning course that 300 students completed, and I've recently finished certification in e-learning design with Articulate Storyline. I understand how people learn, how attention drifts, and how to build materials that hold it.
I'm looking for an Instructional Designer or Learning Experience Designer role. If you build training or courses, I'd love to learn about what you're working on.
Returning after a career break
Career change and returning
I'm a brand manager returning to work after a two-year career break to care for my family. Before that, I spent six years building brands at FMCG companies, including launching a personal care range in three new markets.
During the break I completed a certification in digital marketing and analytics, because the industry didn't stand still while I was away and I didn't want to either.
I'm now looking for a Brand Manager role. If you value experience, judgement and fresh energy in equal measure, let's talk.
Freelance designer
Leaders and freelancers
I design brand identities for small businesses that want to look as good as they are. Since going freelance in 2024, I've worked with eight clients, from a specialty coffee roaster to a physiotherapy clinic, on logos, packaging and social campaigns.
My process is simple: understand the business, sketch a lot, and keep the client involved without overwhelming them. I work in Illustrator, Photoshop and Figma.
If you need a brand that feels like you, or you're an agency looking for an extra pair of hands, message me here or see my portfolio in the Featured section.
Engineering leader
Leaders and freelancers
I lead engineering teams that ship reliable products without burning out. Over fifteen years I've gone from writing payment code to running an organisation of 80 engineers across four product lines.
The work I'm proudest of is less about technology and more about people: building teams that hire well, give honest feedback and still enjoy coming to work. Along the way we scaled our payments platform to handle 10x transaction growth while improving uptime.
I write occasionally about engineering management and I'm always happy to talk with leaders working through similar growth.
Mistakes that make people scroll past
Writing in the third person is the most common one, and it creates distance immediately. "Rahul is a dynamic leader" sounds like someone else wrote it, which makes readers wonder why.
The second is pasting your resume. Bullet points of duties don't work here; nobody reading your LinkedIn is checking you against a job spec, so give them sentences and context instead.
Then there's the empty-adjective problem: passionate, driven, innovative, strategic, result-oriented. They all describe intentions rather than anything you've done. Swap each one for a fact.
And finally, leaving it blank. An empty About section means people form their impression from your job titles alone. Even a short, honest paragraph is better than nothing.
Drafting your About section from your resume
If you've already built your resume with ResJo, you don't have to start from a blank box. The LinkedIn About tool turns your resume into an About section and a list of key skills to add to your profile. Use it as a first draft, then read it out loud and change anything that doesn't sound like you. A LinkedIn summary works best when it sounds like the person people will meet.
From resume to LinkedIn in minutes
Get a ready-to-edit About section and key skills list based on your resume.
Your resume summary, LinkedIn About and cover letter should all tell the same story in different lengths. If the resume isn't there yet, start with our resume summary examples.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a LinkedIn summary be?
LinkedIn allows up to 2,600 characters in the About section. Most strong summaries use 150 to 300 words: enough to explain what you do and prove it, short enough that people read to the end.
Should my LinkedIn summary be in first or third person?
First person. LinkedIn is a conversation, and "I build backend systems..." reads as a person talking. Third person ("Priya is a results-driven professional...") tends to sound like a press release you wrote about yourself.
Can I copy my resume summary into LinkedIn?
Use it as raw material, not as the final text. A resume summary is two to four compressed lines; a LinkedIn About section has room for context, a bit of personality and what you're looking for next.
What should a fresher write in their LinkedIn About section?
What you studied, what you've built or done (projects, internships, activities), the tools you're good at, and the kind of role you're looking for. Freshers can be a little more personal about why they chose their field.
Does the About section affect LinkedIn search?
Yes, the words in your profile help determine which searches you appear in, so include the job titles, skills and tools people would search for. Your headline and job titles matter too.
Should I say I'm open to work in my summary?
If you're actively looking, yes: a clear final line such as "I'm looking for my next role as a Data Analyst in e-commerce" helps recruiters. If you're employed and searching quietly, describe the kind of work or conversations you're interested in instead.
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