Making LinkedIn More Magnetic

FACT!  Most people have a BORING or even EMPTY "About" section on their LinkedIn profile.

The problem with this is your LinkedIn About section is almost at the top of your profile. So, you want to use this key real estate on your profile to be MEMORABLE. 

Stop them from scrolling!

This is my suggested “About” section format for your LinkedIn profile, the "3 S's of an About section".  This is a templated approach and you can creatively execute this in your own way.  If you want me to take a look and give you my opinion just send me the link to: [email protected] (I'm serious, I'd love to do it for you)

--- ABOUT Section Template/Format ---

STORY:  Start with a STORY at the top of your About section.

How to do this: Share a catchy/dramatic/interesting (short!) story about something you accomplished at work - use the S.T.A.R. method of organizing the story: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Describe the work problem clearly, the solution clearly, and then find a way to include some numbers or percentages about the transformation you worked on.  If you want, paste your short story into ChatGPT and ask for it to be improved and dramatized. 

Here is an example of a career story that is short but compelling:

When I worked for XYZ company, they were struggling with low profit margins on a popular new protein bar product due to the cost of one of our key ingredients. I was asked to increase the profit margin. I searched for alternative ingredients and found one that worked just as well for 1/5 of the cost. We switched that one ingredient and saved .24 cents/bar and at a million bars sold/week we increased profitability by $12.5mill/year on just that one product. I then looked at other products that used the former ingredient and recommended we made the same change we saved an additional $8mill/year as a company.

STRENGTHS:  In bullets list 5-7 of your strengths, best traits, etc (creativity required)

SEO:  Finish up with a keyword section – perhaps 15-20 keywords just listed and separated by commas or dashes.  This is an area that will catch the eye but also will be good for "SEO" - search engine optimization to help you get found by the LinkedIn Recruiter tools.  Think about keywords like: experience, industry acronyms, software or tools you used, or something very specific to your type of job/industry.

In summary - you want to stand out and the About section is ignored by almost everyone. Be creative!

All the best!

Brian