The LinkedIn About section intimidates most people. It’s blank, it’s about you, and you have 2,600 characters to fill. The result is usually one of two extremes: either a vague paragraph about being “passionate about results”, or a dense block of text that nobody finishes reading.
There’s a middle path. Here’s a framework that works for almost any professional background, with fill-in-the-blank starting points you can adapt.
The structure
A good About section has four parts:
- The opener (2–3 lines): What you do and who you do it for
- The evidence (3–5 bullet points or a short paragraph): Specific things you’ve done or built
- The angle (1–2 lines): What your perspective or approach is — what makes you you
- The call to action (1 line): What someone should do next
Total: around 200–400 words, which is 900–1,800 characters — well within the 2,600 limit.
Part 1: The opener
The first 2–3 lines appear before the “see more” cutoff on profile pages too. This is your one chance to tell a visitor exactly who you are before they decide whether to keep reading.
Template:
I’m a [role] with [X years] in [sector/context]. I specialise in [specific thing you’re known for] and I’ve spent most of my career [doing what / achieving what].
Example (HR manager):
I’m an HR manager with 8+ years in hospitality — hotels, F&B, and pre-openings. I specialise in building onboarding programmes that actually stick and hiring teams that stay. Most of my career has been spent in environments where the turnover is high and the stakes of getting hiring wrong are immediate.
This opener is specific. It names a sector, a specialty, and a context. It’s also a bit different from every other HR manager’s opener — because it’s true to a particular experience.
Part 2: The evidence
This is where you put the things you’re proud of. Not vague accomplishments — specific things.
Prompt questions:
- What’s the largest team you’ve managed or project you’ve led?
- What numbers changed because you were there?
- What problem did you solve that hadn’t been solved before?
- What do people come to you for that they don’t go to others?
Format options:
- 3–5 bullet points with a simple symbol (• or →)
- A short paragraph with concrete details
- A mix of both
Example:
A few things I’m proud of: → Rebuilt a hotel onboarding programme that cut 90-day turnover by 40% → Managed recruitment across 3 pre-openings simultaneously (150+ hires in 6 months) → Created a performance framework that a small hotel group now uses across 7 properties
Notice: no “passionate about” or “results-driven”. Just things that happened.
Use the Text Formatter’s bullet and arrow tools to add clean symbols to your About section without extra punctuation.
Part 3: The angle
This is optional but useful. It’s one or two lines that say something slightly personal about how you approach your work. It differentiates you from someone with similar credentials.
Examples:
My background is in hospitality, which means I’ve never had the luxury of slow HR — everything moves fast, problems compound quickly, and people are the whole product.
I believe most retention problems are actually onboarding problems that went undetected for six months.
I approach hiring as a data problem that humans have to solve — which means I use every tool available and trust my instincts last.
These lines make the profile feel like it was written by a real person with a point of view, not a template.
Part 4: The call to action
End with a line about what someone should do if they want to work with you, talk to you, or follow your content.
Examples:
Open to HR consulting and interim work — feel free to connect or message.
I post weekly about hiring, retention, and building teams that work. Follow for more.
If you’re building a hospitality HR function from scratch, I’m happy to have a conversation.
Putting it together
Here’s the full framework as a fill-in template:
I’m a [role] with [experience] in [sector/context]. I specialise in [specific specialty] — [one more thing about what your work involves or what you’ve built].
[2–4 specific things you’ve done, in bullet form or short paragraph. Include numbers where you have them.]
[Optional: 1–2 lines about your approach, philosophy, or a belief about your field that’s specific to you.]
[One line about what someone should do next — connect, follow, reach out, etc.]
Keep the whole thing under 400 words. Check your character count with the Character Counter — you want to stay within the 2,600-character limit, but you also don’t need to fill it.
Related tools: Character Counter · Text Formatter