Yesterday as I was doing my customary mobile check-in to my LinkedIn, I realized that my

profile’s rating is still in the Intermediate category. As usual, as I was about to brush it aside and start my
procrastination routine, promising myself to take it to All-Star rating tomorrow, I realized that I had
nothing better to do at that moment, as I was at home for my Diwali holidays.
The first thing that LinkedIn showed me towards an All-Star rating is to complete a concise
Executive Summary. I have written similar things in longer formats, but a concise one was a challenge.
Immediately, I opened Google and started the search with the key words “How to write Executive
Summary for LinkedIn” and guess what, all, I found were lots and lots of incomplete templates without
any holistic framework. For eg., An article explained what to write in an Executive Summary, paragraph-
wise without logically proving why it would work.
I immediately closed my browser windows and started to contemplate the main purpose of an Executive
Summary. After an hour of thought, a Framework crossed my mind that is not only straight forward, but
also has logical validity as to why it should work.

Why it should work?

You as a person are a Brand whether you treat yourself as such or not. You have a unique educational
background, skill-sets, Interests, Goals/Passions in your career. And your executive summary is one of
the key part of your CV, which also means that is your best shot to create a good first impression. Good
impressions are created when you stand for something or in other words, Positioned in your recruiter’s
mind, in alignment with the job requirements.
This is quite similar to what we do to a Brand in Branding exercises. We make an attempt to
differentially position the brand, according to the target segment’s needs in the corresponding
customer’s minds.

The Brand Positioning Statement Way:

Basic Format: To  [1.Insert Target Segment], [Brand] provides [2. Insert Value proposition/Unique value]
through [3. Believable reasons eg. technology, certifications, etc]
Now, back to your Executive Summary.
Step 1: Target Segment’s Needs
The first thing you need to think about, is your Target Segment (Boss’s needs). But, where do I get it you
ask? Simply Google the Job Description of the position you want to ideally pursue/ Look up your dream
company’s website in their Careers section and list them in the order of priority, highest to lowest.
For eg. My passion is to be a Marketing professional. So, looking up at the JD of an Assistant Brand
Manager, I listed the Top four of my Target Segment (Recruiter’s) needs.
1. Creative thinking ability
2. Interpersonal communication
3. Target oriented
 4. Ability to take initiative

Step 2: Value(USP)
List out as many of your skills as you can, that are broadly relevant to this job. You can write for Eg.
1. Consistently meet targets
2. Organized
3. Good team player
4. Lead by example
5. Analytical thinking
6. Public Speaking
7. Aware of the Sales Marketing Gap
8. Excellent Workforce Trainer

Now, make a table with the information in steps 1 and 2 and match your skills which are in alignment
with the recruiter’s needs.

Recruiter's needs Your skills

1. Creative thinking ability 1. Consistently meet targets
2. Organized
2. Target Oriented 3. Good team player

4. Lead by example

3. Ability to take initiative 5. Analytical thinking

6. Public Speaking
4. Interpersonal communication 7. Aware of the Sales
Marketing Gap
8. Excellent Workforce Trainer

Step 3: Reasons to Believe

As a final step, you need to pick Reasons to Believe (Certifications, Achievements, Awards/ Simply some
good work) for the skills which met the Recruiter’s needs in the table above.

An example would be Under Target Oriented: Consistently meet Targets

So, you can write the increase in Sales/M.S/Referrals Year on Year (YOY)/ related Awards that you might
have received. Eg., Increased MS of x area from 10% to 15%
Step 4: Mix and Match

The sentence format for the final product will be

[Reasons to Believe for your skill] with a hint of words that suggest it is in alignment with the recruiter’s
needs

For Eg. Highlighting Communication Skills

Awarded A grade for excellence in Toast-Master’s Mumbai Chapter in 2016.

If you want to see the finished product that combines these three steps, as an example, you can have a
look at my Executive Summary. If you are still finding any challenges in using this approach, feel free to
contact me at venkatdeepakvb@gmail.com