The About section gets read by exactly the people who matter most — recruiters who clicked into your profile after your headline caught their eye, and connections deciding whether to reach out. Unlike your work experience, which is scannable in bullet points, this is the one space built for narrative. A blank or generic About section wastes the single best opportunity on the entire profile to make someone want to actually talk to you.
Diagnosis: why most About sections fail before line four
The default failure mode is starting with a job title restated in sentence form — “I am a Marketing Manager with 8 years of experience in…” That’s the exact same information already visible in the experience section below, delivered in a less scannable format. By the time a reader hits “see more,” they’ve already decided whether to keep going, and a restated title gives them no reason to.
The direction: a structure that earns the click and the read
Lead with the hook, not the title
- Start with a specific outcome, belief, or problem you solve — something a title alone can’t convey
- This is the only part visible before “see more” — it has to earn the click
- Write it in first person; it’s a narrative section, not a resume bullet
Build the story with specific proof
- Cover two or three career highlights with real numbers, not vague claims
- Explain the throughline connecting your experience — what you’re actually known for
- Keep paragraphs short; this is read on mobile far more often than desktop
Tell people what to do next
- State clearly what kind of conversations, roles, or connections you’re open to
- Include a simple call to action — a way to reach out that isn’t just “feel free to connect”
- End with something memorable, not a trailing sentence that just stops
Delivery: writing it, then testing it cold
Write your first draft without worrying about length, then cut it down to the essentials — most first drafts run long and lose focus in the middle section. Once it’s tightened, read only the first three lines out loud to someone who doesn’t know your work well and ask if they’d click “see more.” If the answer is no, the opening still needs work regardless of how strong the rest of the section is.
Self-check for your current About section
Frequently Asked Questions
There’s no fixed ideal length, but most effective sections run between 150 and 300 words — long enough to build a real narrative, short enough to hold attention on mobile. What matters more than total length is whether the first three visible lines earn the click to read the rest.
First person almost always works better — it’s a narrative section, and third person tends to read as stiff or oddly formal for a space meant to sound like you. Save third person, if at all, for a professional bio used elsewhere, not this section.
Yes — a specific, simple call to action gives readers a clear next step instead of leaving them to guess whether reaching out is welcome. Something like “open to conversations about X” is more actionable than a generic sign-off.
Sparingly, if at all — the About section’s strength is narrative flow, which bullet points interrupt. If you want to highlight a few specific achievements, a short list near the end can work, but the opening should stay in prose to hook the reader.
Revisit it whenever your focus, specialty, or major achievements shift meaningfully — not on a fixed schedule. An About section describing a role or direction you’ve since moved past actively undersells your current positioning.
