Writing a Powerful LinkedIn Summary

A LinkedIn membership, free or premium, is a must have for today’s job seeker because head hunters are flocking to LinkedIn to recruit candidates for open positions. A significant part of the LinkedIn profile is the summary section. To get the most out of your summary don’t reiterate information that is on your resume, but look for a different angle to flesh out the same background in two paragraphs. This part will take time if you aren’t a wordsmith so don’t be surprised or get discouraged if it takes you a couple of days to come up with compelling verbiage.

Once you have written the introductory paragraphs, choose three successes from the last ten to fifteen years of your career to showcase. Finally to round out the summary, include a closing paragraph. Let’s take a look at a sample summary you can use as a model.

Sample LinkedIn Summaryrn- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Offer a valuable blend of new business development, negotiation, and client cultivation strategies to drive sales of complex IT solutions and shape the strategic direction of a global sales department. Leverage hands-on expertise in managing a long sales cycle to capture multi-year, lucrative accounts within various industries, including healthcare, education, retail, and hospitality.

Effectively position organizations against entrench competition, design competitive pricing policies, and nurture relationships with clients and business partners. Overview of achievements includes the following:

-- High-performance background in building teams to outperform performance goals 30% (on average) in flat markets.

-- Drive double-digit market growth through a multi-layered business development strategy focused on maximizing existing client accounts and expanding into untapped areas.

-- Close 85% of contract agreements by placing value on client relationships, holding productive conversations with C-level executives and senior management, and cultivating credibility and stakeholder confidence.

Balance growth-oriented and entrepreneurial mindset to present potential merger and acquisitions opportunities, recommend strategic alliances with industry players, and propose partnerships with joint ventures.

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As you can see, the purpose of the summary is to provide a snapshot of your career and allow readers to determine whether or not they want to download your full resume. For this reason, it is essential you include the best you have to offer. The more impressive your LinkedIn summary, the greater chance you will generate interest from recruiters and decision makers.