Most LinkedIn profiles are a list of places someone has been. The ones that
generate conversations are a claim about what the person does and who they do it
for — repeated consistently from top to bottom.
Decide the target first
You cannot write a clear profile without deciding who should read it. Write one
sentence before you touch anything else: "I want a [role] at a [type of
company] doing [kind of work]." Every choice below follows from it.
If you are genuinely open to two directions, pick the one you would take today.
A profile that hedges reads as a profile with nothing to say.
The four places the story has to match
Headline. Not your job title — your value. "Operations lead — scaling
support teams from 5 to 50" beats "Operations Lead at Acme." You have about 200
characters; spend them on outcome and domain.
About. Three short paragraphs: what you do, proof you have done it, what you
are looking for now. Write it in first person. Put the ask at the end so it is
the last thing a recruiter reads.
Experience. For each role, one line of context ("40-person B2B SaaS") then
two or three bullets that lead with results. Numbers where you have them, scope
where you do not.
Skills and keywords. Recruiters filter on these. Use the vocabulary of the
job you want, not the internal terminology of the job you had.
Then make it findable
Set a custom URL. Turn on "open to work" if your situation allows it. Follow the
companies you are targeting so their recruiters see a warm profile.
The test is simple: a stranger should be able to read your top third and
correctly describe what you would be good at. If they cannot, the story is not
clear yet — and no amount of endorsements will fix that.
