305: Optimize Your LinkedIn About Section in 30 Minutes or Less

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If you're a mid-career professional wondering why your LinkedIn profile isn’t attracting recruiters, the issue might be hiding in plain sight—your About section. In this actionable episode of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast, John Neral shares a step-by-step guide to transforming your LinkedIn About section to boost visibility, stand out in search results, and attract career opportunities—even in a tough job market.

John walks you through how to write a compelling unique professional value statement, build your strategic career story using SEO keywords, and format your content for maximum readability on desktop and mobile. Plus, learn how to quantify your impact with clear metrics that grab attention from hiring managers and how to add just the right touch of personality to your profile.

You’ll also hear expert tips on how to responsibly use AI writing tools like ChatGPT without sounding robotic and why details like punctuation and tone matter more than ever.

Whether you’re actively job searching or simply want to get noticed more in your current role, this episode will help you turn your LinkedIn About section into a 24/7 career magnet.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ How to craft a strong "unique professional value statement" that sets you apart
✅ The biggest mistakes mid-career professionals make in their LinkedIn About section
✅ SEO tips to help you show up in recruiter searches
✅ Why formatting matters—and how to structure your About section for readability
✅ How to quantify your achievements to build credibility fast
✅ Smart ways to use AI tools like ChatGPT without sounding like a robot
✅ Why including a personal touch can be a game-changer in attracting attention

Links & Resources:
🔗 Get your LinkedIn Profile Audit for $50 at johnneral.com/resources
📩 Want more help with your job search or career clarity? Join John’s newsletter for exclusive tips by clicking here.
 🎧 Share this episode with a colleague who needs to revamp their LinkedIn profile

Keywords (for SEO):
LinkedIn About section tips, LinkedIn profile optimization, mid-career professionals job search, get noticed by recruiters, optimize LinkedIn for job search, LinkedIn career b

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Episode Transcript

John Neral (00:01):
Every week, I hear from mid-career professionals
asking about how they canincrease their visibility and
get noticed by more recruitersand people on LinkedIn.
Well, I've got one simple tipfor you today.
It's all about what you write,or don't write, in your LinkedIn
About section.
Join me for this episode whereI will share some quick,

(00:24):
actionable and easy tips tooptimize your LinkedIn About
section in less than 30 minutesof your time, so you can get
noticed and find that job orcareer you'll love.
Let's get started.
Hello, my friends, this is theMid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm

(00:54):
your host, John Neral.
I help mid-career professionalslike you find a career they
love, or love the one they have,using my proven four-step
formula.
This episode is all abouttaking one component of your
LinkedIn profile and maximizingand optimizing it so you can
attract more people to yourprofile.

(01:15):
So when you think about thatLinkedIn about section, what I
want you to remember is that youdo have to scroll down on the
profile to get to it.
So typically, what you'll seeis you'll see that banner, that
space behind your headshot, yourheadshot, your name, your title
or what we call your headline,and then you got to scroll down

(01:37):
a little bit to get to thatabout section.
Here's why this is important.
If someone is really and trulyinterested in learning more
about you, they have to get pastthe stuff at the top part of
your LinkedIn profile.
But a really good recruiter andhiring manager or professional
connection is going to want toscroll down and take a look at

(02:00):
your About section.
It immediately needs to grabtheir attention at your about
section.
It immediately needs to grabtheir attention.
So the way that you do that is,first and foremost, in your
about section.
I want you to start with what Icall your unique professional
value statement.
I've talked about this severaltimes on the episode before, but
just to remind you, andespecially if you're new here,

(02:23):
your unique professional valuestatement is one sentence that
clearly communicates who youhelp and what you help them do.
Specifically At the top ofevery episode, you hear me
deliver my unique professionalvalue statement statement.

(02:49):
I say I help mid-careerprofessionals.
I identify my target audience,find a career they love, or love
the one they have, using myproven four-step formula.
So it's very clear and cleanabout who I help.
The other thing that I did whendeveloping my unique
professional value statement isI got rid of all of the fluff or
the word salad that was in it.
In this day and age, andespecially in this job market,

(03:11):
people want you to get to thepoint, so use that unique
professional value statement tovery simply drive home what kind
of professional you are, whoyou help and what you help them
do.
The next thing I want you toremember here is to treat your
about section as if it is yourvirtual cover letter, if you

(03:35):
think of LinkedIn as yourvirtual business card, because
LinkedIn is open 24-7 and it'salways there working for you.
Your about section can tell somuch about your story.
You have 2,600 characters toutilize in this section.
Make it like you are telling astrategic cover story about you

(03:57):
and your career.
Here's where you can expand onclearly defining the problem you
solve for an organization, acompany, a business.
Incorporate keywords that areSEO, optimized search engine
optimization and make sure thatyou write about your results,

(04:18):
quantify your impact, that youwrite about your results,
quantify your impact.
Results matter.
And then, at the end, what Iwant to offer you to consider
here is to include somethingpersonal but professional.
This is one of the tips that Igive my private coaching clients
and, time and time again, whatthey come back and say is that

(04:38):
when they get to that interviewespecially further along in the
interview process it will bementioned.
They'll get a question aboutwhere they like to travel or
what their favorite recipe is.
Those things matter in thismarket.
They want to know who you areas a person.
They want to see how wellyou're going to fit and,

(05:03):
additionally, make sure that youutilize hard returns to make it
easy for people to read,whether they're reading it on
their desktop or theirsmartphone.
Don't think of writing yourabout section as if you were
writing a term paper or a formalpaper.
You need to make sure you writethis for the platform you're on

(05:23):
.
Hard returns are your friends.
Now I'm also asked should youuse AI or ChatGPT?

(05:44):
A lot of context about who youare in your career, so you can
give it something to react to.
What you want to make sure isthat whatever you put in your
about section sounds like you,that it's written in your voice,
your tone, and it doesn't feellike it's some mechanized

(06:04):
regurgitation that has been putinto some AI tool and now
they're reading something thatsounds like that and not like
you.
So what I want to offer you is,if you have a current version
of your about section.
If you have an updated or draftabout your about section, put

(06:28):
that in a chat GPT.
Ask them to optimize it, askthem to include SEO keywords
that are specific to yourindustry, your job type or your
role, but make it sound like you, and the way that you do that
is you have to take what the AIgives you and go back and edit

(06:49):
it.
If there is a word in there youtypically don't say, or if
there is some phrasing that youdon't believe is correct, it is
your responsibility to edit itand change it.
Recruiters and hiring managersare getting very savvy right now
to seeing and reading what chatGPT sounds like.

(07:10):
You don't want to lose theopportunity to interview for a
job because someone felt likeyou couldn't use the tool
effectively, or you just reliedon an AI tool to write something
about you and never bothered torevise it.
We know that AI is not goingaway, but you do have to be

(07:33):
strategic in using it.
Now.
The other thing I want to sharewith you, though and this is
something I've talked about witha couple of people in my
network who are in the editingand copywriting space and that
is to be careful of the em dash.
The em dash is that elongateddash that looks about double the

(07:54):
length of a regular dash, andChatGPT loves using it to create
a space or a change of thought.
Can you use an em dash?
Sure, but if you're using toomuch, what I am hearing from
people in my network is thatthat could be a red flag to a
recruiter or hiring manager thatyou didn't completely edit your

(08:17):
profile, or, specifically here,your About section, and merely
copied and pasted.
Copied and pasted.
So could that be a deterrent,depending on who you're
interviewing with, it could.
So let's minimize and get ridof the risk and let's focus
solely on being able to write anoptimized profile that truly

(08:39):
reflects who you are and whatyou do.
Now for what I shared has beenhelpful.
Here's the next thing.
So there's two options.
One is I would love for you totake the tips in this episode
and block 30 minutes off on yourcalendar and use that time to

(09:01):
focus solely on rewriting yourabout section.
Make sure, again, that youhighlight your results, your
accomplishments, what it is thatyou do, clearly defining the
problem you solve, and write itin a way that, when you look at
it, does it generate enoughinterest about the kind of
professional you are.
Now, if you want to take thatone step further, I offer a

(09:27):
LinkedIn profile audit Now.
In this audit you can find it onmy website at johnnarrellcom
forward slash resources and inthis audit, what I will do for
you after you complete a formthat I need to get some
information from, I'm going toturn on Zoom, and in real time.
I'm going to turn on Zoom andin real time.
I'm going to review yourLinkedIn profile from top to

(09:51):
bottom, from your banner all theway down to your interests.
I'm going to give you myfeedback on where I think your
profile is helping you in yourjob search or career development
and where it may be hurting you, and how to change that.
So, very simply, you get myfeedback.

(10:12):
The cost for this service is$50.
So if you want my feedback,this is one great way to get it
and then to get those actionabletips to help you transform your
LinkedIn profile that willincrease your visibility,
increase your awareness and howyou're telling your story on the

(10:33):
platform and then being able totake that and bring that into
any networking or interviewconversation you have.
So, to learn more about theLinkedIn profile audit.
You can visit my website,johnnerocom forward slash
resources.
But as we wrap up this episode,here were my three tips to help

(10:53):
you optimize your LinkedIn aboutsection.
Number one start with yourunique professional value
statement.
Describe who you help and whatyou help them do.
Number two, treat your aboutsection like your virtual cover
letter.
Use those 2,600 characters totell a strategic cover story
that clearly defines the problemyou solve.

(11:15):
And lastly, Consider if youwant to use AI or ChatGPT to
help you rewrite your aboutsection.
If you do, be careful, makesure that you are taking it,
revising it, editing it, and itsounds like it's your own voice.
All right, my friends, again,if I can help you out further,

(11:36):
make sure to check out myLinkedIn profile audit at
johnnarrellcom forward slashresources.
And if this episode was helpful,do me a favor please and text
it to a friend.
All right, until next time,remember this.
You will build your mid-careerGPS one mile or one step at a
time, and how you show upmatters.
Make it a great rest of yourday.

(11:58):
Thank you for listening to theMid-Career GPS podcast.
Make sure to follow on yourfavorite listening platform and,
if you have a moment, I'd loveto hear your comments on Apple
Podcasts.
Visit johnnerrellcom for moreinformation about how I can help
you build your mid-career GPSor how I can help you and your

(12:19):
organization with your nextworkshop or public speaking
event.
Don't forget to connect with meon LinkedIn and follow me on
social at John Darrell Coaching.
I look forward to being backwith you next week.
Until then, take care andremember how we show up matters.
Thank you.