Answer these questions with conviction and you’re well on the way to creating a compelling LinkedIn summary section.

Most of my clients don’t know where to start when it comes to writing a LinkedIn summary.

I don’t blame them.

It can feel like there are a million things that you could present to the world. So it becomes a struggle to know which is the best picture to present.

Although the summary section is only 2000 characters, it is the place (along with the headline) that you give meaning to your career or experience, you pull it all together – like your cover letter or introduction to the world.

The summary is important as it frames up the way people read your profile.

When I help clients construct a summary section, I focus on getting them to answer some questions. But not just to provide flip answers, but to actually deeply reflect on who they are and what these mean.

The answers to these questions actually form the basis of what you can put in the profile summary. The more genuine you are in answering them, the more your voice comes across in the profile – which is what LinkedIn is all about – people connecting with people.

In most cases your answers will help you draw the attention to your profile that you want to draw – without being all things to all people. It focuses your search around what matters to you, and what defines you.

The thing to remember is that if you are in a role that you enjoy or heading towards that kind of role, you already have the innate strengths you need to be successful in that role. So the reflection and answers to these questions will mainly hold true as you transition and progress through your career.

That’s why I like these questions.

Here goes.

You can send me flowers to thank me later!

Ask yourself…..

• What do you really enjoy doing?
• What motivates you to perform your role?
• What do you truly believe to be your strengths?
• What difference would you like to make to your future employer?

Here’s a quick example to show you what I mean.

Let’s say I am an Engineer.

• What do you really enjoy doing?

I have always enjoyed solving complex problems where there are many moving parts, so becoming an Engineer was an easy career choice to make. 15 years on that desire to solve problems means I still enjoy going to work every day.

• What motivates you to perform your role?

I have particularly enjoyed the planning and design stage of large $MM civil construction projects, where I can clearly see the impact of my work present in the end project. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to know I have delivered a lasting solution that ultimately helps our cities run smoother.

• What do you truly believe to be your strengths?

My strengths include being able to see both the big picture, and all the smaller associated risks – to incorporate these early on into project planning. That way I have been able to consistently deliver on time and within scope requirements.

• What difference would you like to make to your future employer?

In terms of making a difference with what I do – I always aim to develop teams to be as solution focused as I am, aiming for high standards of excellence in both design quality and client satisfaction.

Now putting this all together, it reads like this:

There are many different ways to construct a summary section, but I really like this approach.

For the last section in talking about the difference you would like to make, you could focus on listing out key areas you want to contribute to a future employer, with some nice neat bullet points so people can easily read them.

But this template gets you through the hardest part – the “who the heck am I” part.

When I read something like my Engineer’s profile this it makes me feel like I am talking to a human, not an HR job description.

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