I had the privilege of meeting Dawn Kristy at the SOBCon conference a few weeks back, and we had a long talk about her career (and life) path. Turns out that Dawn is quite a writer, and I love what she did recently with her LinkedIn summary:
Here’s what I like about Dawn’s approach:
- Excellent blend of humanity and professionalism. The first paragraph sets the stage by skillfully underscoring key strengths in a pleasant, narrative style.
- Each paragraph takes a new angle: Quick overview; 30,000 foot scan of experience; timeline progression; narrowed focus to core competency; achievements. Yet the summary does not feel choppy or disjointed.
- There is clearly a story thread here; potentially multiple story threads depending on which career direction Dawn may elect to pursue in the future. Bullet points and keywords may get you past the first resume screen; but stories stand out in the hiring process.
- After reading this summary (in fact, upon reading the first sentence), I feel like I’m getting to know a real person, not just a jargon-spewing corporate drone. That approach stands out.
If you’ve been reading my writings for any time, you know that I have a strong appreciation for presenting yourself (or your company) in a clear, human, and compelling package of words. It’s easy to find the negative examples – here’s a real positive one to emulate!
Additional reading:
Great advice! Just wanted to point out that the word “campaigning” is misspelled in the second paragraph of Kristy’s summary. Otherwise, it’s a great example that influenced my new summary on my profile!
Edgar’s absolutely right – you could almost use this as an example of how NOT to write a summary, because of the spelling error in it. I also think the first paragraph just needs to GO. I can see what she’s trying to do with it, but at first glance it barely comes across as English. A summary should be direct and to the point – if you can keep a potential recruiter interested long enough to read your opening paragraph (which should start “I am a…”) then you can get into the more creative stuff.
Too much waffle for my liking. A summary should be shorter than this. And as for that first paragraph, it made me cringe. NOT “A LinkedIn Summary to Love”.