Is your LinkedIn About section easy to skim and scan? Is it impactful and colorful with emojis or full of dense paragraphs of text very few people may read?
In today’s fast-paced digital world, people consume content quickly. When visitors land on your LinkedIn profile, they’ll likely scan for key takeaways rather than read every word. This is even more critical on mobile devices, where long paragraphs can take up the entire screen, making it harder to engage your audience.
How can you make your LinkedIn About section more readable and increase the chances of your story being read by others?
✅ Break it into smaller chunks for easier consumption
✅ Use bullet points for ease of skimming and scanning
✅ Add emojis strategically to create visual interest
✅ Leverage white space to enhance readability
✅ Tailor the language to highlight your strengths and achievements, using $, #, or %
✅ Incorporate industry-specific keywords for visibility
By structuring your About section for quick scanning, you’ll increase engagement and make a lasting impact on profile visitors.
As a Job Seeker, Optimize Your LinkedIn About Section with Strategic Formatting
If you’re a job seeker, your LinkedIn About section should be clear, concise, and visually appealing. Instead of a long text block, break it up with white space to enhance readability.
Consider including the following elements, each separated by white space:
📝 A Compelling Introduction
- A short, engaging summary of who you are and what you bring to the table, starting with the targeted job title, without starting with fluffy adjectives (results-oriented, passionate, experienced, and other buzzwords)
- Highlight your passion, industry experiences, or key expertise. My typical sentence starters following the introductory sentence would each be preceded by an emoji and white space between: Strengths include … Expertise in … Known for …
📌 CAREER HIGHLIGHTS (capitalize the section header)
- Copy and paste bullet points from a Word doc rather than a Google doc, as the bullets will be smaller.
- Each bullet can start with a “Keyword Bucket” (your sweet spots) followed by impactful achievements with metrics (e.g., “Increased efficiency by 30%“).
- Keep sentences concise and results-driven, and note there is no need to put a period at the end, as they are bullet points and not sentences, and it saves a character.
🧊 ICEBREAKERS – TALK TO ME ABOUT (these are your personal interests)
👩🏼🍳 Cooking
🦅 Eagles (Super Bowl Champs!)
🎭 Performing Arts
📚 Reading
🎿 Skiing
✈️ Traveling
🎯 CORE COMPETENCIES
- Use bullet points to showcase your top 12-15 skills in alphabetical order
- Align with industry keywords to optimize for searchability
💻 TECHNICAL SKILLS (listed alphabetically in categories, if applicable)
- Cloud Computing/ Architecture:
- Databases:
- Languages:
- Methodologies:
- Mobile App Technologies:
- Platforms:
- Project Management Tools:
- Quality Management:
- Software:
- Web Technologies:
👉 Seeking new opportunity. #ONO #opentowork
✅ CONTACT INFO
📱 123-456-7890
OTHER THINGS YOU CAN INCLUDE IN THE ABOUT SECTION:
🗺️ LANGUAGES
🇺🇸 English Native
🇪🇬 Arabic Basic
🇫🇷 French Intermediate
🇨🇳 Mandarin Basic
🇲🇽 Spanish Basic
🚀 What You’re Looking For
- The types of roles, industries, or challenges you’re excited about
- Show enthusiasm for your next opportunity, especially if you are keenly interested in pivoting to a new role or reinventing your career (e.g., military to corporate, nonprofit to for-profit, government to private sector, K-12 to nonprofit, business owner to W-2, W-2 to entrepreneur, etc.)
As a Client Seeker, Optimize Your LinkedIn About Section with Strategic Formatting
Your LinkedIn About section should reflect what problem(s) you solve as a client seeker and how to do business with you.
You can (and should!) customize the format and wording to align with your goals as an entrepreneur. Emojis make content much more visually engaging, especially on mobile screens, so feel confident in making your profile uniquely yours!
Below are some sample categories; you can include bullet-pointed lists underneath each one.
🚀 Opening sentence or question that hits a pain point of your ideal client
🎯 IDEAL CLIENT
🚩 CLIENTS’ BIGGEST PROBLEMS
👍 WHY COACHING SERVICES ARE ESSENTIAL
📈 IMPACT OF BUSINESS CHALLENGES
💭 WHY CHOOSE ME
👉 HOW IT WORKS
1️⃣
2️⃣
3️⃣
💯 TAKE THE ASSESSMENT
👥 HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
🧭 BEGIN COACHING
✅ CONTACT INFO
📱 123-456-7890
📧 your email
🔗 your website
📆 Calendly (or equivalent) link
▶️ YouTube Channel
⚙️ LinkedIn company page link
#️⃣ Follow #your personal branded hashtag
👉 #openforbusiness #opentobusiness
Using white space, bullet points, emojis, and strategic formatting, makes your profile easier to read, more engaging, and better optimized for skimming and scanning. 🚀
🚀 Final Tip: Have fun with it! Your LinkedIn profile is your personal brand—make it engaging, professional, and authentically YOU. 🔥
NEXT STEPS
- Subscribe to my newsletter on LinkedIn™ for bright ideas on how to manage your career.
- If you need a resume or LinkedIn™ profile to get you to your next step, book a call to chat! Can’t beat a free discovery call!
- Join as a member at https://greatcareers.org/membership of the #1 business networking association on the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Book of Lists five years in a row!
- To support our charity at KeepOnSharing.com and use the referral code Career
- Follow #GreatCareersPHL
BIO
Lynne M. Williams is the Executive Director of the Great Careers Network, a volunteer-run 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides career development and networking connections for 1) job seekers in career transition, including veterans, and 2) employed and self-employed for career management.
Aside from writing keyword-focused content for ATS resumes and LinkedIn profiles, Lynne is writing her doctoral dissertation on LinkedIn for Job Seekers. She is a contributing author on “Applying to Positions” in Find Your Fit: A Practical Guide to Landing the Job You Love, along with the late Dick Bolles, the author of What Color is Your Parachute?, and is also a speaker on career topics.
