Chapter 2 · Practice 1 of 4
Write a one-line statement of what you do and for whom
From Choose a focus
Why it matters
A positioning line is the sentence you want people to repeat about you. It should name a role, an area and, ideally, the kind of problems or people you help. Examples:
- "Backend developer who builds reliable payment and billing APIs."
- "Flutter developer focused on fast, accessible apps for low-end Android phones."
- "Data engineer who turns messy operational data into dashboards teams actually use."
Compare those with "Passionate full stack developer and lifelong learner". It could describe anyone, so nobody remembers it.
Use your line as the source for your LinkedIn headline, your GitHub bio, your site's opening sentence and how you introduce yourself at meetups. One sentence, used everywhere, does more than a different clever tagline on each platform.
Do
- Name a role, an area and the kind of problems you solve
- Reuse the same line across profiles
Avoid
- Generic adjectives such as passionate, hardworking or ninja