personal statement in linkedin

Understand what has attracted you to your profession and what your mission is in your role. These will make your LinkedIn profile more emotionally resonant.

Mission Example

“I grew up on the Mississippi River and watched it get clearer over time as manufacturing standards improved. Since then, I knew I wanted to spread the word about sustainability in business environments.”

4. Speak to your industry expertise.

As valuable as a valid rationale behind why you do what you do, profile viewers won‘t put too much stock in it if you don’t seem like you know what you‘re talking about. That’s why I like to see a little flexing here — a reference to your expertise that gives you some instant but real clout. Describe your background and qualifications in two to three sentences.

For example, are you a salesperson using LinkedIn to connect with prospects? Your summary should speak to your expertise in your industry and your interest in helping people achieve results.

Or let‘s say you’re a customer success manager using LinkedIn to connect with customers — if that's the case, your summary should speak to your expertise in your industry and your availability for consulting.

Industry Expertise Example

“I have 7+ years of sales experience — with experience in both sales development and account management.”

5. Call out your specialties and skills.

Okay, so you‘ve hooked a profile viewer. They have a sense of why you’re passionate about what you do, and the reference to your experience you just made has them thinking, “Gee whiz! This person might just be the real deal!”

Now what? Well, it's probably time for you to actually get into the weeds of what you do — to a reasonable degree of “in-the-weeds-ness.” Give them 1-2 sentences about the specifics of your role.

For instance, if you’re a digital marketer who focuses primarily on social media management, go ahead and say that. Don't leave it ambiguous and leave them guessing what “digital marketing” means in the context of your role.

Or if you recently graduated from college, did you study something specifically within your field?

Calling out your specialties is especially critical in sales. “Working in sales” can mean a lot of things — the field encompasses a wide range of roles with a wider range of affiliated responsibilities and an even wider range of buyer personas and verticals.

Whether your goal is to appeal to employers or prospects, be sure to call out the things you do well to attract the opportunities best aligned with your goals.

Specialties and Skills Example

“I’m a mid-market sales executive with experience in direct sales and SAAS product demonstrations.”

6. Provide data to back up your results and prove your expertise.

Now, you're cooking — you have all kinds of valuable context about who you are and what you do, but why should this profile viewer believe a word you say? Give them an answer with some hard data.

Men lie. Women lie. Animals would probably lie if they could. Numbers don't.

Prove that you‘ve delivered with some real figures. You don’t need to give prospective employers a laundry list of your accomplishments — that's what resumes are for — but weaving in a few of your most impressive data points in your summary can go a long way.

Proof Example

“Over the past five years, I‘ve made it into the President’s Club three times and my closed-won business has seen less than 10% churn during the first 12 months.”

7. Mention if your team is currently hiring and invite people to apply.

This is optional, but it will serve you in several ways. First, it will show that you’re a team player, and second, it will show that you’re committed to both your professional growth and your current company’s growth.

It’s a must-have if you’re looking to recruit, as this can serve as an excellent recruiting tool. For example, are you a team manager using LinkedIn to recruit for job openings? Your summary should speak to the fact that you have openings, the type of work you do, and why a candidate would want to work at your company.

Team is Hiring Example

“We‘re currently hiring account managers for our Pacific Northwest territory. The ideal candidate has 5+ years of sales experience and a demonstrated familiarity with the region. We’re a fast-growing team with no cap on commission. Click here to learn more and apply.”

8. Highlight your professional interests.

Giving a little bit of a personal edge to your summary tends to be a good call — but the operative term in that sentence is “a little bit.” You can highlight some bits and pieces about what you help others do or what your goals are, but don't get too caught up here.

Your professional interests are slightly different from your skills — the former isn‘t necessarily as quantifiable or fact-driven as the latter. You don’t have to prove that you‘re interested in something the same way you’d have to prove that you‘re good at something. There’s no need for hard data on this front.

Still, you should show that you’re committed to pursuing your interests, and be sure to sound passionate about them.

Professional Interests Example

“I'm a sales coach that’s interested in assisting small teams (five-10 people) optimize their time and workflows so businesses can grow without adding more headcount and reps can advance their careers.”

9. Include a call-to-action with your contact information.

Last but certainly not least, include a call-to-action and potentially share your contact information. Are you a freelance or contract worker hoping to find more work on LinkedIn? Your summary should end with how to get in contact with you. If you want to seal the deal, include a list of your most impressive clients.

CTA Example

“Reach me at [email protected] or book time on my calendar here: [Calendar link]. Previous clients include [Your most impressive client], [Your second most impressive client], and [Your third most impressive client].”

If you’re not looking for more work, you can also simply end with, “Feel free to message me — I’d love to chat.”

10. Tip: Break up large blocks of text.

If you find your summary is on the longer side (which isn’t always a problem as long as it’s compelling), try breaking up large blocks of text to make it easier to read. When initially viewing a profile, many people are scanning for high-level context. If you are posting long paragraphs, some of your notable highlights can get lost.

Try keeping your text blocks to two or three sentences max, making your summary easier to read and digest.

11. Tip: Try to keep it concise.

I just mentioned that your summary can be on the longer side if it's compelling, but that can be a tall ask. Making a rundown of your professional life worthwhile

LinkedIn summary should be exactly that — a summary. It‘s an opportunity for you to provide valuable context about your professional life, but there’s such a thing as too much context in this … context (I swear I didn't do that on purpose).

Don‘t get carried away exploring every angle I referenced in the previous points — lock in on a theme for your summary and keep things concise and straightforward. You’re trying to hook your profile viewers. A long-winded, borderline novel under your profile picture is an easy way to make them lose interest.

12. Tip: Don't get too jargon-y.

Getting overly technical and too deep in your field‘s verbal weeds often turns profile viewers off. Your LinkedIn summary is a resource for generating immediate interest from the people on your page. Hook them with something engaging — they’ll see the extent of your technical knowledge when they dig deeper into your resume and qualifications,

13. Tip: Be conversational.

In a similar vein as the previous point, you want to keep your summary approachable — so write the way you talk. Don't get too caught up trying to pack your description with SAT words and rigid sentence structure. A LinkedIn summary is a conversation starter, so be conversational when putting yours together.

80+ Professional Bio Templates & Examples

Create a compelling professional narrative for a proper, attention-grabbing introduction.

• LinkedIn Summaries
• Speaker Intros
• Website Bios
• Professional Profile

A LinkedIn Summary That Incorporates All of the Elements

Now that you know all of the key elements to incorporate, let's look at a summary that covers all of them:

I‘m going to level with you — right now, I’m updating an article about LinkedIn summaries, and as a part of that, I‘m expected to provide a screenshot of the summary on my profile. The thing is, I’ve never actually had one up to this point, and I‘m bumping up on deadline for the post. I guess we’ll see how this goes.

Now that I‘ve hooked you with my zany, self-aware humor and disarming vulnerability, it’s time to lock in.

I've been a content writer and an editor, specializing in the sales space for about five years now — a career trajectory born out of two facts.

First, I'm kind of good at writing. Second, I have a real affinity for and an oddly solid “in-tuneness” with the sales community.

I love what I do — it's pretty neat to have the opportunity to pursue your passion (writing) for an audience you weirdly resonate with (sales professionals).

I‘ve been focused on content writing and sales since college and been the Editor of The HubSpot Sales Blog — an esteemed publication that takes a funky, badass, truth-to-power approach to educational content about sales-related and sales-adjacent topics — since 2021. I’m bylined on over 250 articles for the blog and have updated more pieces than I can count.

I‘m also going to throw in a quick flex and say that I’ve overseen most of the property‘s most productive months — with monthly traffic hitting over 4 million views at points. I’ve also done other stuff, but that's detailed below.

I'm interested primarily in piloting and up-leveling content strategies, hard writing, writing coaching, copy editing, and just being the best gosh darn colleague I can be.

If you‘ve I’ve kept you on-page long enough to get to this CTA part, here are a few things I want you to know: First, I appreciate you. Second, my team isn‘t hiring, but I will promptly update this summary when we are. Third, let’s connect! Yeah!

Here‘s a beat-by-beat breakdown of the summary’s elements:

LinkedIn Summary Templates

Below are several templates you can use to customize with your own details for a succinct and effective LinkedIn summary. Make sure to add personal details to make it memorable for readers.

Feel free to download the entire kit of LinkedIn bio templates first, then follow along as I review a selection of my favorites.

Free Download: LinkedIn Summary Sample Templates

1. friendly linkedin summary template.

“My path has not been linear. My passion has never cared about the odds. My perseverance said don‘t you ever give up. Don’t shrink. Don't settle. Just soar." Why we love it: We get to see her personal mission in a succinct and effective way, made all the more impactful by her opening line.

Ivey opens her summary speaking to the bigger picture and pares things down to speak to her specific experience. It simultaneously touches on her life story, her determination, and her professional qualifications.

Speak to a bigger mission but also touch on how you've contributed to it through your personal struggles and professional life.

7. Jonah Silberg , Senior Account Manager at Vimeo , keeps it short and engages prospects.

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Create a compelling professional narrative for your summary, bio, or introduction.

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