The LinkedIn About section is the most underused — and most important — part of your profile. It's the only place where you get to tell your story in your own words. Recruiters read it. Clients read it. Hiring managers read it before they decide whether to reach out.
And most people waste it.
They either leave it blank, paste in a version of their resume summary, or write something so generic it could belong to anyone. This guide will show you exactly what to write instead.
LinkedIn's algorithm uses your About section to understand who you are and what you're good at. The words you use here influence whether you show up in recruiter searches for your target role. Beyond the algorithm, it's also the section where you make an actual human impression — the headline gets them to click, the About section makes them stay.
A strong About section does three things: it shows your personality, demonstrates your value, and tells the reader what to do next.
You don't need to be a writer to nail this. The best LinkedIn About sections follow a simple three-part structure:
The first line is the most important. LinkedIn shows only the first two lines before cutting off with "see more" — so your opening has to pull people in. Don't start with "I am a..." or "Results-driven professional with X years of experience." Start with something that makes a recruiter want to keep reading.
"I am a results-driven marketing professional with 7 years of experience in digital strategy and brand management."
"Most marketing teams measure success in impressions. I measure it in revenue. Over the past 7 years, I've built campaigns that generated $4M+ in attributable pipeline — and I'm just getting started."
After the hook, give context. Where have you been, what have you built, what problems do you solve? Keep paragraphs short — two to four sentences each. Write in first person. Use plain language. Recruiters skim; white space is your friend.
The most important thing: be specific. Vague claims like "I drive results" mean nothing. Specific claims like "I cut our customer acquisition cost by 40% in 6 months" are memorable and credible.
Pro tip: If you're early in your career and don't have major achievements yet, focus on your trajectory — what you're learning, what problems you care about solving, and where you're headed. Honest and directional beats vague and polished every time.
The last line of your About section should tell people what to do. Are you open to new opportunities? Looking for consulting clients? Happy to connect with people in your industry? Say it directly. Recruiters appreciate candidates who make it easy.
"Currently open to senior product roles at Series A-C companies. Feel free to reach out — I respond to every message."
LinkedIn gives you 2,600 characters. You don't need to use all of them. The sweet spot is 250-400 words — enough to tell a real story, short enough to hold attention. If you're senior with a lot to say, you can push toward 500. If you're early career, 200 words of focused, specific writing will outperform 500 words of generic padding every time.
If you're staring at a blank cursor, start here and fill in the brackets:
[Hook — your biggest win or the problem you solve, in one sentence.]
[2-3 sentences on your background and what you've built or accomplished. Be specific — include numbers where you can.]
[What makes your approach different? What do you care about in your work?]
[Closing line: what you're open to and how to reach you.]
Writing about yourself is hard. Most people spend hours on their About section and still end up with something they're not happy with. The problem isn't writing ability — it's that it's genuinely difficult to be objective about your own career and figure out what to highlight.
That's exactly what ProfileDraft.net is built for. You answer 8 questions about your background, goals, and achievements — and we write your full LinkedIn profile, including a complete About section tailored to your voice, in under 5 minutes.
Answer 8 questions. Get a fully written, personalized LinkedIn profile — About section, headline options, experience bullets — delivered to your inbox in minutes.
Write My Profile — $49 →7-day money-back guarantee · Instant delivery · No subscription
Your About section is one of the first things a recruiter reads. Get it right and it does real work for you — showing up in searches, making a strong impression, and giving people a reason to reach out. It's worth the investment of time, or the $49 to have it done properly.
Once your About section is sorted, these are the next two most important things to fix: