Creating a LinkedIn Summary That Stands Out

Your LinkedIn profile is a 24/7 inbound job magnet if you set it up right! It's an opportunity to have the hottest companies and hiring managers chasing you rather than you running after them. Impossible? Hell no. It’s how I got my senior product position at Affirm and the same story for VP of product at Apollo. Here’s the complete guide to converting your LinkedIn profile into a job-attracting asset: — 𝟭. 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 Don't use generic headline templates mentioning your job title and company name. ↳ Highlight your expertise or niche. ↳ Mention companies for credibility. ↳ Add a secondary offer; are you a coach, speaker, or consultant? ↳ Example: "Senior Product Manager @ TechCo | Driving B2B SaaS Growth 🚀 | Ex-Google, Ex-Amazon | Product Leadership Coach" — 𝟮. 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗠𝗘 Think of your "About" section as your personal story. ↳ Experience summary showcasing your value. ↳ Use storytelling to highlight your key achievements (don’t forget to mention numbers/results) with a personal touch. ↳ Wrap up by stating what kind of roles or challenges you’re interested in next. — 𝟯. 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗘 How people perceive you depends a lot on how you visually present yourself. Here’s how to do it right: ↳ High-quality and professional headshot. Use AI if you don’t have a good photo. ↳ Don’t use cover photos for vague quotes; use it to highlight your achievements, awards, reviews, your products, etc. — 𝟰. 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 Your experience section is where the real depth comes in. ↳ Go beyond job duties and focus on the specific results and outcomes you achieved. ↳ Use the Situation, Action, Result (SAR) framework to highlight what you did and how it made an impact. (e.g., “Increased customer retention by 25% in 6 months”). ↳ Use industry-specific keywords so recruiters can easily find you in searches. — 𝟱. 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 ↳ Simplify your LinkedIn URL (e.g., linkedin.com/in/YourName) with a custom URL. ↳ Make sure to add a link to your portfolio, website, or a side project directly in your profile. ↳ Regularly review your contact info and make it easy for recruiters to reach out to you. — 𝟲. 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 Think of recommendations as built-in references that add credibility to your profile. ↳ Reach out to people who can specifically highlight your key skills and achievements. ↳ Aim for a variety of recommendations—managers, colleagues, and clients. ↳ Pin your top 2-3 recommendations. — 𝟳. 𝗦𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗦 The "Skills" section helps you appear in searches and validates your expertise: ↳ Choose skills that define your professional strengths, and pin your top 3. ↳ Take LinkedIn skill assessments to add credibility with “verified” badges. — If you want to dive deeper into how to do it all with real-time examples and breakdowns, check out the guide below in comments.

If your entire job search strategy is filling out applications, uploading your resume, and then waiting… you’re missing the bigger picture. I can only speak for the software job market, which is an absolute mess for job seekers. Qualified candidates are everywhere, and you must take extra steps to stand out. Marketing yourself to a hiring manager is not a sin. Yes, some companies should change their hiring practices. Yes, I've made a ton of mistakes when hiring people. Just this last week, I accidentally ghosted someone when I had a last-minute family event jump on the calendar. AND YES, this is off the back of my post last week, where I shared why I no longer read resumes and gave tips on how to stand out in the interview process. Most of you loved it (thank you!), but a few strongly disagreed... STRONGLY disagreed. Who knew people would be so passionate about resumes? I get it. People have different perspectives. However, a resume and job application alone aren’t enough to stand out from the crowd. I promised a few in the comments that I would follow up with tips on making your LinkedIn profile stand out. So let's do it. Start with the Headline: Avoid default titles like “Marketing Manager at XYZ.” Instead, showcase your value: “Driving Revenue Growth through Data-Driven Marketing” or “Empowering Teams to Create Scalable Strategies.” Spend Time on the About Section: This is your elevator pitch. Highlight your skills, achievements, and passions in 3-5 paragraphs. Make it you, not just a resume dump. Add Key Achievements to Your Experience Section: This is one of the most effective and least used. Use bullet points that emphasize results and impact. Quantify whenever possible (e.g., “Increased MQLs by 50% through revamped campaigns”). Keep it concise, but USE NUMBERS. Don't Ignore the Featured Section: Add links to your portfolio, blogs, presentations, or standout projects. This is the place to shine a spotlight if you’ve published articles or spoken at events. Keep Your Profile Active & Current: Update your profile with every new role, project, or milestone. Stale profiles give the impression of inattention. Set a calendar block or invite every other month to update your profile. Start there. Your LinkedIn profile is more than a digital resume because who wants to read a resume? It’s your chance to tell your story, highlight your skills, and make someone want to talk to you. Go forth and conquer.

Content tells your story, but so does your LinkedIn profile. And your LinkedIn profile sucks. You can use AI to fix it though (this is pretty cool). But Brad, "Content is king." Eh, yes. But hear me out: Your profile is NOT just your "résumé"—it's the story of your life. And it's where you convert (clear CTAs, creating excitement, setting expectations, qualifying your audience). I've been working on improving my LinkedIn profile, and one way I got a ton of great tips recently was this by working with ChatGPT to review my profile. Here's how you can do it: 1) Take screenshots of your profile. Make sure you get each section: • Top section of the profile • About section—full bio / top skills • Services section (if using) • Featured (go big and upload full screenshots of each featured post) • Experience (expanded view for each position) • Education / Projects / Skills / Recommendations / Honors & Awards / Any other section you have filled out 2) Upload each screenshot to ChatGPT with this prompt: "My career in summary has been [DESCRIPTION OF HISTORY]. However, I want to do more [DESCRIPTION OF GOALS]. Here are screenshots of my LinkedIn profile. I want you to review it like a storytelling and brand strategist who is working for me. Help me make my profile stronger by answering: • Does my profile tell a clear story about who I am and what I want to do? • Are there parts that sound too much like a résumé and not enough like a real human? • Is it obvious what kind of work I do and how someone could hire or collaborate with me? • Is it clear how I like to be communicated with? • Where am I missing opportunities to connect emotionally with my audience? • Suggest 4–5 specific edits across my headline, about section, or featured content that would make it stronger, clearer, or more personal." 3) Review suggestions, and if you're changing anything, repost it into ChatGPT and ask for feedback ("Here is my new bio, how is this?"). That's it. Your profile is absolutely one of the most important components of telling your story here because it's where the conversion happens. (If you're an AI hater, just follow Darren and do what he says. I've worked with both—recommend both.) LinkedIn is crushing leads for me, but I know I can do better. This process really worked for me last week. Give it a shot and let me know if you have more tips. Always looking. 👀