Job search · 6 min read
LinkedIn About section examples, and how to write yours
LinkedIn About section examples for job seekers, career changers and graduates, a four-part structure, and how to write the lines people see first.
The short answer
A good LinkedIn About section is three to five short paragraphs written in the first person: what you do and for whom, two or three results that prove it, the kind of work you want next, and how to reach you. Only the first two or three lines show before "see more", so open with the clearest sentence about your work, not a quote or a life story. The section allows 2,600 characters, but most effective ones use 1,000 to 1,500. Include the skills and job titles people search for, written naturally, because the About section is indexed by LinkedIn search.
Key takeaways
- Write in the first person, in short paragraphs, like a confident introduction.
- Your first two lines are all most people see: lead with what you do and for whom.
- Back claims with two or three specific results or projects.
- End with what you're looking for and how to get in touch.
On this pageA four-part structure
A four-part structure
- Hook: one or two sentences on what you do, for whom, and what you're known for.
- Proof: two or three results, projects or moments that show it, with numbers or named contexts.
- Direction: the work you want next, and the problems you like solving.
- Contact: how to reach you, and what you're open to (roles, projects, conversations).
Example: experienced professional
I help B2B software companies turn trial users into paying customers. Over eight years in lifecycle marketing, I've built onboarding programmes that lifted trial-to-paid conversion from 9% to 14% at a 300-person SaaS company, and rebuilt email and in-app journeys for two product launches. I'm happiest where marketing, product and data meet. I'm now looking for a head of lifecycle role at a growing B2B company. Message me here or email me at the address in my contact details.
Example: career changer
After nine years teaching secondary science, I'm moving into instructional design. Teaching taught me how people actually learn: I designed more than 400 lessons, rebuilt my department's Year 9 curriculum, and trained new teachers on assessment. Over the past year I've completed an instructional design course and built three e-learning modules, linked in my Featured section. I'm looking for learning design roles in corporate training or edtech, and I'm always glad to talk with people already doing this work.
Example: recent graduate
I'm a maths graduate who likes finding the story in messy data. For my dissertation I analysed five years of NHS waiting-time data in Python and presented the findings to a local trust. I also ran the university investment society's research team. I'm looking for graduate analyst roles in healthcare, public policy or finance, starting in September.
What to leave out
- Opening quotes and generic mission statements.
- Lists of adjectives about your personality.
- Your full job history: that's what the experience section is for.
- Anything negative about a past employer or a layoff. Explain a break briefly, or use LinkedIn's career break feature.
Make it searchable without stuffing it
LinkedIn search reads your About section, so the job titles and skills you want to be found for should appear there in normal sentences. Look at three adverts for your target role and note the skills they repeat. Work the most important four or five into your proof paragraph, attached to real examples. "I built weekly forecasting models in Excel and Power BI" helps you in search and convinces a reader; a bare list of twenty keywords at the bottom does neither.
What happens to the gaps
Applying shows you what employers want that you can't show yet: a must-have your CV doesn't mention, or a question you couldn't answer well. Hand the job from OffLadder CV to Laddie, our AI coach, and it turns each one into three steps:
- Learn the skill: a short lesson on what the post asks for, starting from the basics.
- Try the work: a 15-minute task taken from the job itself, so you have a real example to talk about.
- Practise the interview: a five-question mock interview for that role, weighted to the parts you're least sure of.
The conversation stays in your OffLadder account. Once you've done the work, add it to your CV in your own words, and the next post you tailor for can point to it.
Questions people ask
- How long should a LinkedIn About section be?
- The limit is 2,600 characters, but around 1,000 to 1,500 characters, or 150 to 250 words, is enough for most people. Long enough to show results and direction, short enough to read in under a minute.
- Should I write my About section in first or third person?
- First person. Third person ("Sarah is a seasoned...") reads like a press release and puts distance between you and the reader. LinkedIn is a conversation, and "I" sounds like a person someone could hire or message.
- Should I copy my CV summary into my About section?
- Start from it, but loosen it up. A CV summary is compressed for a single job; your About section can be warmer, cover your direction more broadly, and include a line about how you like to work or what you're curious about.
- Can I use AI to write my LinkedIn About section?
- Yes, as a first draft, but rewrite it in your own voice. AI drafts tend to sound alike, with the same phrases about passion and driving impact. Feed it your real results, then cut anything you wouldn't say out loud in an interview.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- Future of Recruiting · LinkedIn Talent Solutions
- A new way to represent career breaks on LinkedIn · LinkedIn News
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.