LinkedIn for Lawyers: Tips for Writing a Great LinkedIn Summary.
You are a unique, talented professional, and your summary should capture the things that make you the greatest social media manager, writer, banker, underwater basket-weaver, etc. Before you start writing your LinkedIn summary, you should do two things.
LinkedIn for lawyers is one of the most powerful social networking tools available, thanks to its unique concentration of professionals prepared for networking. According to the American Bar Associationâs Legal Technology Survey, nearly 76% of law firms use LinkedIn.
We get it. Writing your LinkedIn Profile summary isnât at the top of your to-do list. Youâre not sure what to write. Your photo and headline make your Profile complete enough. Itâs not worth your time since your company already attracts so many great candidates. [Insert your own excuse here.]
Depending on the goal of your LinkedIn profile, your LinkedIn summary should include 3-5 sentences that describe: your years of experience in your industry, your area of expertise, the types of organizations you've worked with, your skills, and what you're most known for professionally.
In general, lawyers and law firms should be using LinkedIn to produce content that starts conversations by educating their target audience. This will boost engagement, establish the value of their law firm's brand, and attract new clients.
Here are the steps you need to take to write a killer LinkedIn summary:Succinctly describe who you are. ... Give a background of your experience. ... Highlight prominent successes or accomplishments. ... Explicitly state what you're looking for, if you're looking. ... Have your own style of writing. ... Make it keyword rich.More items...
Lawyers typically do the following: Advise and represent clients in courts, before government agencies, and in private legal matters. Communicate with their clients, colleagues, judges, and others involved in the case. Conduct research and analysis of legal problems.
Many law firms have a presence on LinkedIn, and might review the LinkedIn profiles of job candidates. Having a polished and professional profile will make you stand out when applying for a training contract.
What to Include on Your Attorney Profile PagePersonal information. The instant a prospective client clicks onto your profile, they should feel as if they know who you are, what you stand for, and what they can expect if they visit your law firm in person. ... Photo. ... Experience. ... Values. ... Reviews. ... Media.
Review: Top LinkedIn Summary TipsKnow your audience and identify what they are looking for.Start strong with a catchy opening statement.Use optimized search terms and keywords in your summary.Don't be afraid to inject some personality into your writing.Add context to the stages of your career story.More items...â˘
21+ Essential LinkedIn Profile Tips#1 Fill Out Your Profile Thoroughly. ... #2 Make a Custom Profile URL. ... #3 Pick the Right Profile Photo. ... #4 Get Your Headline Right. ... #5 Create a Summary That Stands Out. ... #6 Optimize Your Experience Section. ... #7 Keywords, Keywords, Keywords. ... #8 Show Off Your Work.More items...
How to Write a Summary For Your Resume With No Experience:Put academic accomplishments and leadership. What did you study? ... Put your interests and passions. ... Put âhardâ skills. ... Put âsoftâ skills. ... Put statements that will grab the employer's interest and make them want to ask you questions!
Lawyers are expected to display sound judgment and decision-making with outstanding problem-solving and communication skills. To ensure success, lawyers should be determined, professional and well informed with a keen interest in upholding the law while protecting a client's rights.
Duties of a lawyerProviding legal advice and guidance.Writing contracts.Meeting clients (individuals or businesses)Attending court hearings.Reading witness statements.Collating evidence and researching case studies.Keeping up to date with changes in the law.Representing clients in trials.
As you enter your career, there are several skills you'll want to develop as a lawyer, including:Analytical and research skills. ... Attention to detail. ... Organizational skills. ... Time management. ... Persuasive communication. ... Written communication skills. ... Interpersonal skills. ... Technical skills.More items...â˘
A great summary provides your professional, personal and unique essence to readers, and if it intrigues them, they will keep reading.
The summary should be a short version of why you do what you do, in your own words. Use the summary area of your profile to provide a snapshot of your professional journey and aspirations. Write it in first person, this connects you to the reader and just keeps it real. Aim for a tone that is somewhere between conversational and not too casual. The summary should not simply recap your experience and education sections; consider it a cover letter for the rest of the profile and make it interesting enough that the reader wants to continue scrolling down for the other sections that reflect your entire picture. Many conclude the summary with a âcall to actionâ â or at least what I prefer â an invitation to contact the user.
CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE In order to maximize a LinkedIn profileâs attractiveness, it is critical to understand the reader and his or her priorities. Readers who are looking for the type of services you offer, and the content should follow suit. Now, here is where you need to strike a fine balance between what you do, how you do it and what sets you apart in an interesting story format and SEO considerations. There is an entire science to this discipline: search engine optimization.Although the specifics of search engine optimization (SEO) are beyond the scope of this episode, the governing concept is a simple one: keywords and their variations. Anyone who has used a search engine understands how important the search terms can be. And for the same reason, these keywords are highly relevant when someone is looking for your professional services within LI and from Google. Remember keywords does not mean trade jargon, put yourself in the shoes of your prospective client and figure out what terms and language that person would use to find someone offering the type of services and expertise you offer.
OPTIMIZE THE SUMMARY APPEARANCE There are two major ways in which a LinkedIn summary will be viewed: desktop or mobile. Depending on which platform, only so many characters will appear of the profile summary: Desktop: the first 220 characters are immediately visible, with the rest requiring a user click on âView Moreâ Mobile: the first 92 characters are immediately visibleBecause viewers will need to take an extra step to see this other content, each of those first 220 and 92 characters must pull their weight: 68 percent of LinkedInâs users are viewing it via mobile ( LinkedIn 2016 Q1 quarterly results ), so maximizing the impact of those first 92 characters will be especially important.These two broad categories are technically further divisible by platform: on desktop, what web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge/IE, or Safari) is used; on mobile, which OS (Android, iOS or Windows) applies. Sometimes, website information is not displayed uniformly across each platform, OS, or screen size. However, differences are likely to be minor and, in the vast majority of cases, hard to notice.Without getting too technical here, just be mindful of the fact that when someone is searching from their cell phones, only approximately the first 92 characters are visible on most devices, so all the more important to make the most of that top most portion.
When someone is looking at LinkedIn for profiles, an off- target profile summary means your profile will not appear in a search result. The impact is clear: your audience will never contact you and an opportunity to connect and develop a relationships never materializes. So how can one write a good LinkedIn summary that strikes the right balance between being general enough to cover your bases and specific enough to show up on both LI internal and external search engines?
When you bypass the summary section on LinkedIn and, instead, launch right into your experience, you kill your opportunity to share your brand story to your professional audience. In other words, you leave it up to viewers to figure out who you are, what youâre great at, and why they should care about you.
Why is this important? Because itâs the ONLY part of your profile thatâs instantly visible in LI search results! It also follows you everywhere on LI, when people find you in searches, when you commentâŚTHIS is why you have to make the very best use of these 120 characters to catch attention and further entice someone to click on your profile.
Often a LinkedIn profile appears at the top of Google when someone searches for your name or a law-related skill. Executive search firms and job recruiters use LinkedIn to find legal professionals for roles including in-house general counsel, staff attorney, governance/compliance lawyer, business ethics, corporate secretary, risk management, ...
Surveys show that 90% of attorneys have a LinkedIn account, but few are leveraging its potential. Legal professionals use LinkedIn more than any other social media to read industry news, grow their expertise, and research opposing counsel.
LinkedIn for lawyers is one of the most powerful social networking tools available, thanks to its unique concentration of professionals prepared for networking. According to the American Bar Associationâs Legal Technology Survey, nearly 76% of law firms use LinkedIn. Colleagues and potential clients are turning to LinkedIn as a source ...
In general, lawyers and law firms should be using LinkedIn to produce content that starts conversations by educating their target audience. This will boost engagement, establish the value of their law firmâs brand, and attract new clients.
The tips below are all LinkedIn best practices and have been carefully selected with the purpose of growing law firms, increasing their visibility, and expanding their personal reach âor getting hired by a larger firm if thatâs your goal. Think of it this way: The more you network, the more likely you are to receive referrals. LinkedIn helps you create an environment of thriving professional legal connections , with minimal financial investment.
Use the career history section of your profile to reassure any potential new clients. As we mentioned earlier in the article, itâs important to keep your skill set focused, but whatâs also important is providing an easy-to-digest description of what you can do in general terms. Avoid confusing potential clients with densely written legal jargon, as this is likely to make them exit your profile and search for legal counsel they feel they can communicate with.
Ideally, your profile photo should show yourself in professional attire, with a simple background and a friendly look. Donât over-process your pictures with filters; simplicity is ideal. Your background photo can offer a bit more personality, but be mindful that the subject matter still fits with your professional persona, and doesnât just show off a hobby.
Keep your summary clear and concise; only the first 200 or so characters of your summary will appear to someone using a desktop or laptop computer to see your profile (to see the rest, they need to click âSee moreâ). Think of this as your elevator pitchâmake sure to include pertinent milestones, minimize buzzwords, and be sincere. If youâre not confident in writing your summary on your own, you can choose to pay a writer with biography experience to draft one for you.
After your photo, your profileâs headline is the second thing that people see when searching your name on LinkedIn. LinkedInâs default setting is to populate your tagline with your current employment details, normally in the format of job title at current company/law practice. However, you can do so much better than this!
Many LinkedIn gurus will suggest a âskillsâ or âstrategiesâ list in your summary, both to pack in keywords and to show your skills at the top of your profile. If you have lots of relevant skills, certifications, or knowledge, feel free to include a list of your abilities. If thatâs not your style, never fear! Attach samples of your work below your summary. Show off that video, slide deck, report, or publication that you finished recently. These embeds are very helpful in proving that you know what youâre talking about.
When someone goes to your profile, theyâll scan your title and location, see your photo, and notice if you have under 500 connections. After that, theyâll likely turn to your summary to get to know you.
Because itâs so visible (and often public), your summary is the best place to capture your potential new contactsâ attention and give them a glimpse of your personality . Therefore, the most important rule of writing a LinkedIn summary is to make it original.
Summaries donât need to be long, but you might want to take a moment to plan and write yours. Here are a few tips to make your summary shine: 1 Write your summary in the first person. Unless youâre a celebrity or public figure, we all know you wrote it yourself. 2 Keep it short.
Remember those keywords we collected above? Now is the time to use them. Tell your readers what youâre passionate about, what youâre good at, and why these things matter.
Writing an engaging opening line is key to drawing in potential employers, clients, partners, and contacts. To find your opener, just think: what is the first thing someone should know about me?
Whatever action you want people to take when reading your LinkedIn, list it at the end of your profile. In most cases, a simple âMessage me withâ or âEmail me ifâ will suffice.
A LinkedIn summary is an essential part of your LinkedIn profile. Itâs the first thing people see when they visit your profile. Thatâs why leaving it blank (or just using LinkedInâs standard suggestion) just wonât cut it.
In general, there are two types of recipients for your LinkedIn profile: the built-in search engine (the algorithm) and the real life human beings who visit your profile. In order to satisfy the search engine you need to feed it with the right keywords. That means keywords related to your industry and career. In order to satisfy the real life humans (a.k.a. recruiters and people who are interested in your professional life) you need to appeal to their heart and mind.
That means itâs important to focus on what your company can offer to potential customers and employers. This summary focuses on just that: What they offer, what makes them unique and who their solutions are ideal for. The call to action in the bottom is great for potential clients to get in touch.
In this summary example the lawyer shows her expertise by mentioning how many years of experience she has and which degrees she holds. This is essential information and is sure to stand out on a search. She also lists her core competencies so that sheâs sure to appear on the relevant searches.
However, as a job seeker, LinkedIn could be one of your strongest tools in your tool box, just like your resume. Itâs your digital business card and your summary is the equivalent to your elevator pitch.
Taxation laws are notoriously difficult to understand so a LinkedIn summary for a taxation specialist needs to be in a language that everyone is familiar with. In this example it is easy to understand what is being said and youâll quickly learn if you are in the right place to get help. Besides this, the keywords heâs implemented make sure he is among the relevant search results.
Your summary is the text box at the top of your LinkedIn profile, just below your photo. Itâs open-ended space (2,000 characters max) where you give an overview of your professional life.
Choose stories and words that show who you are as a person, not just a professional. Great summaries hint at traits such as gratitude, humility, and humor. Authenticity is key, so be honest with yourself. Think of the one trait youâre most known for, and weave it in.
To improve your search rank on LinkedIn and Google, include keywords that highlight your top skills. Listing âSpecialtiesâ at the end of your summary is one way to pack them in. Which words? Job descriptions and other relevant profiles are great keyword sources.
Avoid overused words that have lost meaning, like âstrategic,â âmotivated,â and âcreative.â Tap a thesaurus for alternatives, or better yet, show you have those traits with an example or quick story. At a minimum, cross-check your summary with the most overused buzzwords on LinkedIn profiles.
Great summaries hint at traits such as gratitude, humility, and humor. Authenticity is key, so be honest with yourself. Think of the one trait youâre most known for, and weave it in. 6. Show life outside of work. Round out your identity by sharing a hobby, interest, or volunteer role.
If youâre job searching for a new legal role, or looking to transition your legal career, updating your LinkedIn profile is a priority. After all, your LinkedIn profile is the gateway to getting seen and noticed by company CEOs, general counsels, legal recruiters, managing partners at law firms, and business contacts.
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