Your about section is a short summary of who you are, what engages you and what you do.

You need to keep it concise, focused and to the point, but express what really makes you tick.

This article will show some examples of great about sections and some tips for writing yours.

RateMyPlacement's advice

The 'about' section is your chance to really sell yourself.

Here, you have 2000 free characters to use, in any way you'd like. (Bullet points and statistic-based evidence are a good shout here). We'd recommend including the following in some way...

• A concise story of your professional journey so far.
• What interests you about your industry.
• Your biggest achievements or learnings.
• What your career goals are.

We think this is great, but want to expand slightly upon it.

10 tips for the perfect LinkedIn profile summary

1. Describe what makes you tick

What excites you? What genuinely engages you? If it isn't linked to the roles that you applying for, you have bigger problems to fix.

Write it and write it how you would say it. No fluff. Straight to the point, what it is that makes you tick and why. What do you plan to do about that interest? What are you doing now?

2. Explain your present role

For the majority of us, this will be where you study and what you study there. However, if you have a side hustle or a part-time job, the recruiter is likely to be much more interested in this than your actual degree. Every placement student is at university...

3. Highlight your successes

Cite the biggest takeaway from your experience section. What have you learned and where have you succeeded? What are you genuinely really proud of, big or small, state it.

4. Reveal your character

Choose examples, stories and words that show the recruiter who you are as a person. Not just how you want to appear.

Speak how you would speak at the interview, and how you would speak of yourself when on the job. There is no point faking it and it will come across, we promise.

5. Show life outside of work and university

What hobbies do you have that you really find enjoyment in? How have they developed you as an individual and where do you plan to take them?

6. Add rich media

Sometimes, a picture can tell a thousand words. If you feel an image better describes you, what you do and what you're proud of, then fire away.

7. Make your first sentence count

Every word matters in your summary. Not only do you only have 2000 characters at your disposal, but you have a very limited reading time and attention span from the reader. They are likely to skim through and pick out what matters in as little time as possible.

Whatever you do, there should be no "Hi, I'm Jude Cornish and I'm glad to meet you.", no "Thanks for visiting!". That stuff just puts people off.

8. Cut the jargon

Avoid overused words that have lost meaning. These common filler words just distract from your message and make you seem less authentic.

Avoid:

• Strategic
• Motivated
• Creative

Either use alternatives or find examples that can get the point across without the meaningless words.

On this same point, avoid any technical terms. In your experience section, you can go into the ins and outs of what you have done and how you did it. Here, tailor the about section for the average reader. The average recruiter that may not specialise in what you have experience in.

9. Whitespace

We've covered this before in the formating your CV article. It is just as important here.

Recruiters and general visitors will be skimming through this section for key points. Keep each point to its own paragraph and avoid lengthy essays. You may even want to consider bullet pointing as RateMyPlacement recommends. If you do, simply space out each sentence, don't add actual bullet points.

10. Ask for what you want

As always, you need a CTA (Call to action). Without it, where does the visitor go next?

Do you want them to connect with you on LinkedIn, do you want to offer further information on your personal website? Make the reader aware that that is available!

Your about section is a short summary of who you are, what engages you and what you do.

You need to keep it concise, focused and to the point, but express what really makes you tick.

This article will show some examples of great about sections and some tips for writing yours.

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