I read a good 5 minute guide on how to write your LinkedIn summary by a tech marketing exec who used to work at LinkedIn. Here’s my 5 second summary aimed at in-house counsel: Start your About section with one sentence explaining what you do that a company would need. Use bullets/examples with concrete accomplishments. Choose keywords that line up to target jobs by looking at job descriptions.

A sample for lawyers: Senior Counsel at ABC Company in Practice Area, trained at XYZ top firm, who helps companies scale, advises executives/cross-functional teams, and has [launched # $ products in Y countries] [designed and implemented DEF programs] [led # $ acquisition]. (Add a few bullets and more detail under this if you’d like.)

This template is designed so that recruiters and the LinkedIn algorithm can find you. Recruiters input keywords, which the LinkedIn algorithm looks for in profiles and then feeds up a list. Spending 6 seconds or less, recruiters skim profiles by starting from the top, made up of the photo, title, and About section (so make sure the top includes key accomplishments!).

Other suggestions for the About section from the guide I don’t find essential. You do not need to list your skills. If you are using the standard terms to describe your practice (corporate, M&A, product, privacy, commercial, etc.) then listing the same words is unnecessary. Also, you do not need to post your email. I rarely see lawyers putting their emails right on their profile. What’s standard (and sufficient) is to make your email available to first connections, the default setting.

The take-away: writing a LinkedIn summary is not crucial but is worth the effort because it optimizes your LinkedIn profile and can be reused for the executive summary at the top of your resume if you have eye-popping statistics.