How to Write a LinkedIn About Section That Doesn't Read Like a CV

11 September 2026·6 min read

Quick answer: A LinkedIn About section that works reads like you talking to one specific person, not a resume summarised in paragraph form. Open with the problem you solve or the shift you've seen in your field, not your job title and years of experience. Write it in first person, keep it to 3–5 short paragraphs, and end with a genuine, specific invitation — not "feel free to connect." 🤍

The LinkedIn About section is one of the most-read pieces of copy most professionals never actually write — they either leave it blank, paste their resume summary in, or copy a template that's been used by half their industry already. It's prime real estate: it's right under the headline, above the fold, and it's the section people actually read before deciding to message you or scroll past. We've rewritten dozens of these for founders and business development leads, and the pattern that always works is the same — write like a person talking to one other person, not like an org chart entry. Getting this right takes maybe an hour, and it's genuinely one of the higher-💖 pieces of copy work we do, because it changes how strangers perceive someone before any conversation even starts.

What most businesses get wrong

The most common mistake is writing in third person or writing a chronological career summary — "Jane is a marketing professional with 10 years of experience across..." That's CV language, and LinkedIn already has a whole separate Experience section for chronology. The About section is the one place on the platform built for voice and perspective, and most people waste it repeating what's already two scrolls down.

The second mistake is leading with credentials instead of the problem you solve. Nobody scrolling LinkedIn is thinking "I wonder who has the most years of experience in this field" — they're thinking about their own problem, and they'll keep reading only if the first line signals you understand it. Leading with "15+ years in..." instead of the actual problem loses the reader in the first sentence.

The third mistake, especially for teams where multiple people manage LinkedIn presence or write on someone's behalf, is an inconsistent voice — one paragraph sounds like the founder, the next sounds like it was written by whoever drafted the company's brand guidelines. Readers pick up on that inconsistency even if they can't name what feels off about it.

The 5-paragraph About section structure (copy this, fill in your own detail):

The hook (1–2 sentences): The problem you see constantly, or the shift you've noticed in your field. Not your title.
How you got here (2–3 sentences): The short version of your path — one real turning point, not a full timeline.
What you actually do (2–3 sentences): Plain language, specific outcomes, no jargon stacking. What changes for someone who works with you.
Proof, briefly (1–2 sentences): A number, a result, a type of client — concrete, not "proven track record of success."
The invitation (1–2 sentences): Specific, not generic. "If you're weighing up [specific situation], I'm always happy to talk it through" beats "feel free to connect."

Length target: 150–250 words. Long enough to say something real, short enough that people actually finish it.

Founder who hadn't touched their About section in years: A founder's About section still described a role they'd left four years earlier at a company they'd since sold. We rewrote it starting with the specific problem their current business solves, one honest sentence about why they started it, and a plain description of who they work best with. The founder told us afterward that a prospective client mentioned the About section specifically in their first call — something that had literally never happened with the old version, because nobody had ever read far enough into it to remember it.

Business development lead trying to attract B2B leads: A BD lead's About section was a list of past employers and a generic "passionate about building relationships" line. We rewrote it to open with the actual buying frustration their prospects usually have when they first reach out, followed by a plain explanation of how conversations with this person tend to go. Connection requests from actual prospects (not recruiters or unrelated people) increased noticeably within the following month — not purely attributable to the About section alone, since they were also posting more, but the rewritten section was consistently the thing people referenced when they messaged.

Specialist trying to stand out in a crowded field: A specialist competing in a genuinely crowded niche had an About section nearly identical in structure to a dozen competitors' — because they'd all used the same LinkedIn "optimisation" template circulating that year. We rebuilt theirs around one specific, slightly contrarian opinion they held about how their field typically gets approached — a real point of view, stated plainly, rather than another "results-driven professional" opener. It made their profile the one people actually remembered out of a search results page full of near-identical summaries.

How to actually write yours

Start by talking it out loud, not typing — record yourself for two minutes explaining what you do to a friend who has no context, then transcribe the good bits. That first-person, unpolished version is almost always closer to a good About section than anything written top-down as "marketing copy." Cut anything that reads as generic enough to apply to ten other people in your field — if a sentence could sit unchanged on a competitor's profile, it's not earning its place on yours. Read it back out loud once more before publishing; anything that sounds stiff to say out loud will read stiff too.

💡 Update it when your business actually changes, not on a schedule. A stale About section is worse than an imperfect one — if your focus has shifted, your ideal client has changed, or you've moved companies, that's the trigger to rewrite, not a calendar reminder every six months regardless of whether anything's actually different.

Mistakes to avoid

Writing in third person, or pasting a resume summary straight in
Leading with job title and years of experience instead of the problem you solve
Ending with a generic "feel free to connect" instead of a specific invitation
Letting multiple people write different sections in noticeably different voices
Copying a widely-used template structure that half your industry is also using

Frequently asked questions

Should I write it myself or get help?

Writing the raw material yourself (even messily) usually beats outsourcing it entirely from scratch, because your actual voice is the point. Getting help to structure and tighten what you've drafted is genuinely useful — getting someone with zero context to invent your voice from nothing usually produces something generic.

How often should I update my About section?

When something real changes — your focus, your role, your ideal client — not on a fixed schedule. An About section that's technically current but was clearly last touched years ago (old job references, outdated results) is a bigger problem than one that's slightly informal.

Does the About section actually influence who reaches out to me?

It's genuinely hard to isolate as a single variable — posting frequency, your network, and mutual connections all play into who sees and messages you. What we can say honestly is that people repeatedly mention specific About sections in first conversations, which suggests it's doing real work even if it's not the only factor.

Is it okay to use humour or personality in a professional About section?

Yes, if it's genuinely how you'd talk — the goal is sounding like a real person, and for plenty of people that includes some personality or humour. It only backfires when it's forced or doesn't match how you actually come across in a real conversation.

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Written by

Kate, founder of Chronically Online

I help Gold Coast and Brisbane businesses grow with branding, websites and marketing that actually works.

Work with me ✦