The anatomy of a LinkedIn Profile that refuses to fit in.

Our brains are hardwired to value conformity. In the caveman days, our survival depended on it. Even today, we are socialised into averageness, pushed into sameness by peer pressure. Is there anything worse than not fitting into a friendship group at school? No kid wants to be labelled ‘different.’

But things change when we leave the school grounds and find our feet in the office. Suddenly, we are competing – for clients, for roles, for attention. Our instinct is to conform, but our professional success relies on our ability to stand out. Of course, those who stand out and achieve success become victims of Tall Poppy Syndrome (which interestingly is not a uniquely Australian phenomenon – ‘deru kugi wa utareru’ is a Japanese proverb that translates to, ‘the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.’)

Defying the status quo is not comfortable. It’s not easy. I know, because after years of striving for averageness, I decided to stand out. My story is something I discussed with Sonal Bahl on her stirring podcast How I Got Hired.

Now, I often find myself reassuring my clients that different is good. The LinkedIn profiles I write don’t look like most profiles, which are frequently short, dull, and exceptionally unremarkable. But that’s a positive thing because conformity kills success.

How to write a LinkedIn profile that stands out

Yes, I am aware of the irony. Here I am, advocating for uniqueness before diving into a set of rules I want you to follow. But hear me out. Writing about yourself is awful. Writing about yourself in a way that demands attention is abhorrent. That’s why most of us don’t do it (and why I have a job).

Use this formula to push your About section in the right direction – even if you implement one or two of the following features, you soar skyscrapers above users with those mind-numbing auto-generated Abouts. You know the ones ??:

Open with a hook

It’s marketing 101. Capture your readers’ interest with a short, strong sentence that intrigues, divides (don’t be all things to all people – position yourself in a way that only appeals to your target audience), or collects a ‘yes’ (it’s a psychological trick that secures buy-in from your reader early on).

I love the hook in the opening link of award-winning mortgage broker Parth Shah’s profile.

Property buyers agent Kirsty Klein-Hunter’s hook is simple and clear. Her profile instantly secured PR – within two weeks of publishing the profile I wrote, she was picked up by a journalist. Within three weeks, she was on TV. We know she was found on LinkedIn because PR (and client) inquiries typically includes info that is only in her LinkedIn profile.

Show your skills, but make your client the hero

People care more about their pain and what you can do for them than whether they like you. So, write to win clients, not to make yourself feel good. After your intriguing hook, lay out your skills. Use keywords to ensure you show up in relevant searches (think SEO for Google).

Avoid the drab, ‘Strong experience in financial services with a background in…’ Instead, frame your talents in a way that demonstrates your unique value. How does your strong experience in financial services (or whatever industry) actually benefit your clients? Explain the journey you take them on. Show how your skills = their problems solved.

In Chantelle Hodgson’s profile, the client is the hero. Below are the opening lines of her Experience section - a part that is too often underutilised and for which I have tips for here.

And in Justin Engelbrecht’s, I’ve positioned him as the trusted guide.

Business coach Rachel McMahon’s profile starts with a whole lot of ‘you’s – all balanced by her story of overcoming imposter syndrome.

Humanise yourself

Next come your values and something that humanises you. Your reader knows you can solve their problems. Now, they want to know why they should pick you over someone equally (or more) talented. This is a golden opportunity to highlight what makes you different.

When you inject your personality, use your sense of humour, or share a snippet of your personal life, you stand out in a sea of sameness. Better yet, you become memorable.

In Ricardo Colosimo’s profile, which I wrote as part of a body of work highlighting directors at Momento Hospitality (check out their Company Page to see how mission and vision could look from a corporate perspective), we highlighted his dedication to boxing.

Vera Ignjatovic is an Olympian – that is certainly memorable.

Use emojis (don’t hate me)

I advocate for emojis because they break up big sections of text. Let’s be honest. Most people don’t read LinkedIn profiles end-to-end. They scan. They use your Experience to judge your level of expertise. They skim your About. Emojis are visual cues that recapture your reader’s attention. (While you can use emojipedia or keyboard shortcuts for emoji's I have an article here that is helpful in finding symbols that you can insert at various places in your profile - they look especially effective in your Headline section.)

Why not just make your About section shorter? You really do need almost all of the 2,600 characters to show who you are. PLUS, you want to trigger the ‘See more’ link. This is a hard click that LinkedIn’s algorithm uses to decide whether your profile is interesting and relevant. The auto-generated About isn’t long enough for the ‘See more’ link – yet another reason why you shouldn’t use it.

A quick aside: I am wary of using Yaytext.com to bold and italicise keywords to add visual interest to a profile. Visually impaired people use screen readers, which can’t pick up fancy fonts from Yaytext.com. Neither can LinkedIn or Google, so while it's eye-catching, avoid bolding or italicising keywords.

Call your reader to action

Don’t give your reader all the ingredients but no recipe. Tell them exactly what to do and how by including your phone number and email address (bonus points for using an emoji to draw attention to your contact details).

Yes, you might get some spam. But a little annoyance for a deluge of work opportunities is a fair trade for most of us. And yes, it feels a little personal to publish your phone number on the internet, but most people don’t call these days (except my 74-year-old mum ??), at least not without texting first. It’s about appearing accessible, giving your reader what feels like direct access. That’s why writing about yourself in third person (he, she, they) is a huge no.

Gorana Saula’s profile features a fantastic CTA that asks for more board roles (and I love the James Bond reference that she permitted me to leave in – it really captures her personality and interesting background).

Another quick aside: Links in your About section are now clickable on mobile only. This doesn’t mean your CTA should include only a link to your website. You want to flatten the path to resistance, and by driving viewers only to your website you will lose your audience’s interest.

Not like the other LinkedIn profiles

Think about a person you admire. Their differences are what makes them special to you. Standing out can be your superpower, too, and unlike in caveman times, you won’t risk ostracisation and almost certain death.

So, let’s not bland in. Please.