2. Discuss your background.

At some point, you'll want to explain your professional journey. Whether you’ve followed one clear path or you’ve tried different things, this is a chance to contextualize your choices. Provide some light background about your career history in a simple story rather than a list summary. If you opened with an anecdote, segue to your professional history and explain how you ended up where you are now.

3. Open up about your current role.

Once you’ve explained some of what you’ve previously done, share details about your current role. If you’re comfortable doing so, provide information like your day-to-day tasks and what you’ve managed to accomplish since starting. This information shouldn’t read like a job description. Think of it more like a window into your daily life, focusing on what energizes you about the work you perform.

If you are not currently employed, this can be a great space to talk about your professional goals and what you’re hoping to find with your next role.

4. Detail your accomplishments.

Highlight your professional accomplishments by focusing on how you earned them. What have you done that made something better? Taking time to explain what led to your accomplishments will help readers get a sense of your impact beyond the end result.

Noting your accomplishments also gives you credibility and helps you build a reputation as a successful professional in your industry. Don’t discount the power of these details.

5. Highlight relevant skills and talents.

Discuss what’s made you successful by detailing your specific skills, talents, and areas of expertise. You can either reference these as you discuss your professional background and previous roles, or you can create a list at the very end detailing your technical skills and even your interests.

After all, companies want you for your expertise, but they also want to make sure you’ll be a good fit. Getting a sense of who you are outside of work can help them get a sense of what you’d add to their team, personality-wise.

6. Close with a call to action.

Many LinkedIn summaries end with a list of technical skills, but a call to action can be equally effective. While a call to action isn’t always necessary, it can be immensely helpful when you’re looking for a new job. Close with some details about your goals and how you hope to achieve them through your future career moves, then encourage readers to get in touch by connecting on LinkedIn.

7. Be open to new connections

If you’re not seeking a new role, you may still want to keep yourself open to new connections. If you choose not to end with a list of your technical skills, tell readers to connect with you on LinkedIn, especially if they work in your industry, are passionate about similar things, or want to know more.