Did you know LinkedIn got more lenient with the number of characters (including spaces) allowed in the About section on your personal profile? No announcement, they just slipped this in recently.
Let’s take a few steps back….You recall they changed the name of the Intro section to the About section, right? They did that quietly too.
All along, the cap was 2000 characters for that section. For me that was constraining. I have 2 main business interests and it’s hard to convey in cogent “elevator pitches” how each business works and then it’s especially challenging to demonstrate how they intertwine. I know other multipreneurs feel this way too.
So with my new-found freedom, I wanted to make some changes, of course. This tells my “why” better, more clearly, using that extra space allotted to me.
And then another development almost simultaneously: you may recall I recently posted here about a colleague who showed me how to add bold and italic fonts, in this case to my About section, which consumed additional character space due to the “programming behind the scenes,” so I was newly able to accomodate this without getting even more hemmed in.
But now, with 600 additional characters, I can “fontasize” and use the extra space! Within reason of course, not too distracting with overuse of fancy fonts, really clarifying how the parts of my About work together.
Be aware, fonts use up precious character spacing. But with more room and smart use of the fonts, I feel better able to separate out and better explain
- why I do what I do,
- my ikigai,
- my raison d’etre,
- my elevator pitches, winding up with how I keep understandable,
to make someone want to read further into my current and past Experience section. More character spaces and using fonts allow me to separate my About section and make it easier to digest. Have a look at my profile.
If this is something that will liberate you, go for it.
If this is not interesting, at least take an objective look at your About section and honestly admit to yourself whether it adequately explains why you. Be realistic, see it from the lens of the casual, attention-deficit reader. Yes, 2600 character of stimulating narrative using the pronoun “I” and power verbs will rivet the reader to read about you, in your own words, in a way that will make them want to contact you.
But you have to take the initiative, the first step, embrace the angst of editing, trashing, and rewriting the About.
Then why not do the same for the rest of your LinkedIn profile sections, so you present a complete and amazing-er (as I call it) image of yourself? You owe it to yourself, as an investment in your future.
In this case, it’s all about you, so bust out and use every character!
