Take action: Create a summary that introduces you - LinkedIn Tutorial

- Did you know that your profile summary is the number one thing recruiters look at when viewing a profile? That's why it's important to use your summary as an opportunity to introduce yourself, and highlight your unique skills, motivations, and experience. Before you begin to craft your summary, let me give you some quick tips. First, creating a summary of 40-plus words will help you be found more easily by your professional community on LinkedIn. When crafting your summary, showcase your unique skills, meaning things that you do really well and come naturally to you. This will help you stand out. Always speak in the first-person narrative. Remember, your story is more authentic when it's told by you. And finally, your summary is a great section to add in some rich media, such as photos, videos, website links, or presentations, that help to bring your story and your work to life. Let me help you begin crafting your summary by bringing an example to show you how a LinkedIn summary can come to life. Meet Sue, Sue is a small business owner who owns and operates a dry cleaning and tailoring shop in London. In your LinkedIn profile, the About section is where you'll add your summary. Currently, in her About section, Sue's summary is pretty short, and isn't a true introduction to her. I own and operate my own small business, Happy Dry Cleaning & Tailoring. Sue's case isn't uncommon. Many people either don't know about this section, or struggle with what to add and where to begin. Sue's anxious to add her brand new summary she just created to her LinkedIn profile. So how would she do this? First, she'll click the pencil. She'll delete this one-liner, and paste in the summary she created from her Word doc here. She'll make this box a little bit larger, so that we can see the full thing, and make sure the spacing is all on point with what she prefers. Let's save this and see how it shows up in her About section. Now, let's see how it reads. Amelia Earhart once said "a single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees." As the owner of a small dry cleaning and tailoring business, I live by this motto. I make it my mission to get to know my clients, their needs, and provide top notch service. Whether it's cleaning a favorite outfit, tailoring a wedding gown, or sewing a custom patch on to a backpack, I take pride in providing the best service in record time while always leading with kindness. When I'm not running my small business, you can find me out exploring the world with my husband and two amazing kids. Wow, quite the introduction, right? See how you get a feel for who Sue is by the way she started her summary, with her focus on kindness and her mission? You also get to know her through her ending statement where she gave you a sneak peek into her personal sides and also her passions. You definitely got a feel for what she does as the owner of a small dry cleaning and tailoring business, in addition to her unique approach to customer service. Did you see why what she does matters? She's leading with kindness, and creating a truly unique experience for her customer base, one that not all dry cleaning and tailoring businesses create. In addition, she's filling a gap by providing top quality service in record time, and finally, her contribution or impact. She highlighted her goal in the beginning with the Amelia Earhart quote, which shows how she wants to impact people through spreading kindness. See, you can do this too. Getting started is easier than you think. Try chatting with friends, colleagues, and mentors, to get some help creating your summary. Often, others who know you well, can help you identify key skills, experience, accomplishments, and impact. Remember, you're not alone in this, your community is always there to help.