Your LinkedIn About section gives you 2,600 characters to explain who you are, what you do, and why someone should reach out. Most people write three sentences and call it done. This guide shows you a structure that fills the space and gives profile visitors a reason to connect.
What the About section actually does
It converts a profile visitor into a connection, message, or inquiry.
The About section is the only free-form space on your LinkedIn profile. It is where your voice comes through. A resume summary answers "what did you do." The About section answers "why does that matter to the person reading this."
Most visitors arrive at your profile with a specific question: can this person help me, or should I hire this person? Your About section is your answer. Write it to the reader, not about yourself.
The anatomy of a strong About section
Five components, in order. Each one earns the next.
Five-part About section structure
Hook
first 2 lines, visible before 'see more'
What you do
your role and who you serve
How you do it
your method or approach
Proof
results, numbers, context
Call to action
what you want them to do next
LinkedIn collapses the About section after roughly 300 characters. The hook must earn the "see more" click. Everything else builds from there. If your first two lines do not create curiosity or signal clear value, most visitors leave without reading further.
Writing each part, step by step
A description, a bad example, and a good example for each of the five parts.
Write the hook
Your first two lines must name what you do and create a reason to keep reading. Skip "Passionate professional" and start with a result or a tension.
Name what you do and for whom
One or two sentences. Be specific about your role and your audience. "I help B2B SaaS companies reduce churn through onboarding redesign" beats "I work in customer success."
Explain your approach
This is where you differentiate. Briefly describe how you work or what makes your method different from others in your field.
Add proof
Include one or two concrete results. Numbers work well here. If you cannot share numbers, describe the scale or context of your work.
End with a call to action
Tell the reader exactly what to do next. "Send me a message if you're working on X" is better than nothing.
Hook
Lead with a result or a tension. You have roughly 300 characters before LinkedIn truncates. Make them count.
What you do
Name your role and your audience in one or two sentences. The more specific, the better.
Approach
Describe how you work or what makes your method different. One or two sentences is enough.
Proof
One or two concrete results. A number, an outcome, or a project at scale.
Call to action
Tell the reader exactly what to do next. Be specific about who should reach out and why.
The first two lines are everything
LinkedIn truncates at roughly 300 characters. Most visitors never click 'see more.'
LinkedIn shows roughly 300 characters before truncating the About section. On mobile it is even less. If the first two lines do not create curiosity or signal clear value, most visitors leave. They do not click "see more." They move on.
The hook is the only part you can guarantee every visitor reads. Write it last, after you know what the rest of the section says. Then compress the best of it into two lines.
Your hook is a filter
It should attract the right reader and make them want the rest. A hook that appeals to everyone says nothing to anyone.
Result-led hook
Example
"I've helped 60+ HR teams cut time-to-hire by 30% without adding headcount."
Good for
Consultants, freelancers, service providers
Why it works
Leads with an outcome the reader wants. Specific number builds credibility immediately.
Problem-led hook
Example
"Most SaaS companies lose 40% of trial users in the first week. I fix the onboarding gap that causes it."
Good for
Product specialists, operators
Why it works
Names a pain the reader recognizes. Positions you as the person who solves it.
Audience-led hook
Example
"If you run a creative agency under 20 people, you've probably hit the same three growth ceilings. I help you move past them."
Good for
Niche specialists, coaches
Why it works
Speaks directly to a specific reader. Anyone outside that audience self-selects out.
Tone, voice, and common mistakes
Most About sections sound corporate. That makes them forgettable.
The About section is one of the few places on LinkedIn where your personality can come through. Writing in a stiff or jargon-heavy voice makes your profile blend in with every other profile in your field.
You do not need to be informal. You need to sound like a real person who knows their work. Read your draft aloud. If you would not say it in a meeting, cut it.
Avoid bullet points in your About section
LinkedIn's formatting strips bullets inconsistently across devices. A wall of dots reads as a resume, not a person. Write in paragraphs.
Use AI to draft it faster
The right prompt gets you a specific first draft in under two minutes.
AI tools write a solid first draft if you give them the right inputs. The problem is that most people ask "write my LinkedIn About section" and get a generic result. The prompt below gives the model enough context to produce something specific and editable.
Fill in every field before you run the prompt. Vague inputs produce vague outputs. The more specific your answers, the less editing you will need to do.
LinkedIn About section first draft
Claude / GPT-4Write a LinkedIn About section for me using the structure below. My role: [your job title or type of work] Who I help: [describe your typical client, employer, or audience] The main problem I solve: [one specific problem] My approach or method: [briefly, how you work] One concrete result I've achieved: [a number, outcome, or project] What I want readers to do: [your call to action, e.g. message me, visit my site] Tone: [e.g. direct and professional / warm and conversational / concise and technical] Structure the output as: - A 2-line hook (under 300 characters) that leads with the result or problem - A paragraph on what I do and who I serve (3-4 sentences) - A paragraph on my approach (2-3 sentences) - One sentence of proof - One call-to-action sentence Keep the total under 2,600 characters. Write in first person. No bullet points.
Treat the output as a rough draft
Read it aloud. Replace any phrase that sounds like it came from a brochure. The goal is to sound like you wrote it on a good day.
Examples by profile type
The same five-part structure, applied to three different goals.
The same five-part structure works across different goals. The examples below show how the tone and emphasis shift depending on what you want the About section to do.
Job seeker (mid-level marketing manager)
[Hook] After five years running paid acquisition for consumer brands, I know where most ad budgets actually go to waste.
[What I do] I'm a performance marketing manager with experience across Meta, Google, and TikTok, typically working with DTC brands in the $5M-$50M revenue range.
[Approach] My process starts with attribution before touching creative. Most brands I've worked with were making decisions on incomplete data.
[Proof] In my last role, I cut cost-per-acquisition by 34% in six months without increasing spend.
[CTA] I'm currently open to senior marketing roles at product-led brands. If you're hiring or know someone who is, I'd welcome a conversation.
Freelancer (B2B copywriter)
[Hook] Most B2B copy fails before anyone reads it. The problem is positioning, not prose.
[What I do] I write long-form content and sales copy for B2B SaaS companies, typically at the Series A to Series C stage. My clients are usually heads of marketing who need output their in-house team cannot keep up with.
[Approach] I spend the first week of every project on research: customer interviews, competitor messaging, and win-loss data. The writing comes after I understand why customers buy.
[Proof] One recent client saw a 22% increase in trial-to-paid conversion after we rewrote their onboarding email sequence.
[CTA] If you have a launch or campaign coming up in the next 60 days, send me a message and we can see if there's a fit.
Founder (early-stage SaaS)
[Hook] I built a hiring tool because I spent three years watching great candidates disappear into broken ATS workflows.
[What I do] I'm the founder of a recruiting software company that helps mid-size companies track and convert passive candidates. We work with HR teams of 5 to 50 people who are scaling without a dedicated sourcing function.
[Approach] We built the product around one insight: most companies lose candidates between first contact and first interview. Our tool closes that gap with automated follow-up that does not feel automated.
[Proof] Our customers reduce candidate drop-off by an average of 41% in the first 90 days.
[CTA] If you're in HR or recruiting and want to see how it works, I'm happy to walk you through a demo. Send me a message.
