Crafting a well-crafted professional resume summary can be the key to unlocking new career opportunities. It is a medium that stands between your dream job and job selection.
Your resume summary is the first thing recruiters and employers see, and it sets the tone for the rest of your application. This is why a professional resume summary becomes essential.
If your resume is not up to the mark and lacks substance, you may have to wait around for a more extended period — for weeks or maybe for months — than those who could strike the right balance in their CV.
In this article, we are going to cover:
- What is a resume summary?
- How to write a professional resume summary
- Examples of resume summary
Before we begin, let’s find out what a resume summary is.
1. What is a Resume Summary?
So, what do we mean when we say resume summary?
A resume summary is like a teaser of your qualifications. It has to be structured so that it grabs the recruiter’s attention within seconds. The hirers will check the first section of your resume, and you need to take it as an introduction to your resume.
A part of the resume that summarises the entirety of the resume must be your answer. An effective resume summary features your most significant achievements and academic highlights to date, and your profession and also includes a handful of your best skills.
As an example, let’s assume this is the job you are going to apply for.
A resume modified for the Company’s needs would look like this:
Professional Marketing Manager with 5+ years of experience in digital marketing. Also includes Social media marketing experience in the companies such as Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn advertising. Experience in managing an account with a monthly budget of $40,000. B.A. in Business Administration.
This is an excellent example of how a resume must be tailored to cater to the needs of a company. This text here significantly flaunts the candidate’s eligibility for the job he is applying for. You can put together all the essential information concisely and precisely, which pretty much explains why you are the right person for the job.
A bad example of a similar pattern would be:
As an experienced professional looking for an opportunity to use my background in data analysis and market trend research, I am applying for the job. I am an extremely dedicated worker and a detail-oriented marketing specialist looking for an opportunity to expand my professional skillset and help the Company grow.
What is wrong with the above example?
- The above mentioned example does not summarise the career background of the candidate.
- It is not concise and precise.
- The content in the example is generic and does not include particular details mentioned in the advert.
1.1 When do you Use a Resume Summary?
While working on the resume, one can either include the objective or a resume summary. They are both optional sections. The object of these sections is to explain how you can be a potential candidate for the job but in a unique way. Resume Objective gives a description of the professional goals of the candidates for the job they have applied for. Contrary to the resume summary, work experience is not included here. On the other hand, a resume summary consists of the experience you have attained working previously. How it can be beneficial for the Company, you have ventured to work with.
1.2 Why is the professional summary required in the first place?
A professional summary fast tracks your chances of getting noticed by your employer. Hirers usually scan large numbers of resumes. They only give resumes five seconds to decide whether to call you for the interview or not. An excellent professional summary helps them instantly decide if the candidate is worth their time or not. If well written, the hirers will surely spare some time to go through your resume entirely. Resume summaries are primarily for the candidates with years of work experience who need to specify their past achievements acquired over time.
How do you deal with the requirement of a professional summary if you are new in the field or have just graduated? In the early phase of your career, when you are yet to acquire job experience or possibly, you have been planning to change your line of the profession but have no experience in it, how do you manage it?
If that is the case, it is wise to opt with a resume objective.
1.3 Resume Summary or Objective?
The idea of the impact of the first impression is not new, whether it is in your personal life or academic career.
If somehow one leaves a wrong first impression, it is possible it’s there to stay. Eventually, it is one of the rare things to change someone’s opinion of you.
Similar logic applies to your job hunt – the HR manager spends about5 seconds scouring each resume. Yes, your neatly worded, carefully –crafted resume only gets 5 seconds of attention. Unless, of course, you manage to leave a positive first impression.
The best way to accomplish this is either through a good resume summary or an objective. Both are set at the top of your resume, right around the contact information section:
2. How to Write a Professional Resume Summary?
So, how do you write a convincing resume summary that immediately grabs your employer’s attention?
Writing a resume summary is not rocket science, but how do you write it without appearing you are not showing off? It is a preview of all your previous achievements and accolades. However, the work is quite simple.
Follow the following steps:
- Jot down your experience (Experience in Digital Marketing for 3+ years).
- Your experience and the time span (Experienced in Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit accounts Management)
- Your topmost achievements (Managed Rs. 10,0000 in the marketing budget over multiple accounts).
It is important to note that the information you point in your resume summary should be very specific to what will work for the Company.
Other than this, many other things to keep in mind while writing a resume summary are:
- Take care to make a concise and crisp resume summary. Try to rewrite it with slight alterations for each job advertisement to be modified to achieve what a company is looking for.
- Keep your summary for the last. If you are unsure how to summarize your career right now, you need to wait. First, point out your work experience, and then you can frame the rest of the resume summary.
- Focus on the inclusion of achievements instead of emphasizing responsibilities.
- Also, the key point is to quantify your achievements, if possible. Include more facts.
- Add specific skills only if they are incredibly relevant to the job you have applied for. As a rule, your job description will mention that. So, you can pick up something like “Organizational Skills” or “Critical Thinking Skills”. But, you need to elaborate on these skills to cater to the job you are applying for.
Example: Customer Service Representative
Customer Service Representative with 3+ years of experience in telephone customer service and customer care. Well acquainted with Intercom, Drift, and various other customer service software solutions. Well-managed and excellent with organizing customer interaction logs. Managed up to 80 calls every day, with duties that include helping customers sign up and retrieving customer data.
What is Right About this Example?
- The job title in this example is relevant to the position the candidate is about to apply for.
- The achievements mentioned here are specific.
- It is concise and short — at most, it should be 2-4 sentences.
Example: Project Manager
Passionate, hard-working and highly skilled project manager with over five years of work experience with a decent knowledge of the industry. Expecting to take on new challenges and learn more on the job.
What is wrong with the example?
- It is too vague. There is no information about the industry or the Company.
- The example lacks measurement of the work experience. Mention of the more specific information regarding your achievements in the particular field always adds value to the resume summary.
2.1 What to Write in Your Profile Summary for Resume?
The question arises — what exactly do you write in your profile summary for your resume?
A profile resume summary describes the candidate’s skills, academic qualifications, achievements, and work experience. Its purpose is to give a sound idea of your qualifications in 3-4 sentences. Now, you must be wondering what to write in your profile summary for the resume?
General Guidelines to follow while building a resume summary are:
- Keep your profile short and precise. Two to five sentences in bullet form or a short paragraph would suffice. Think of the profile as an introduction to your career accomplishments and qualifications.
- Keep the professional tone of the summary in mind. Your career highlights, education, qualifications, accomplishments, and professional summary should be adequately summarised.
- Keep the profile section at the top of your resume page, above the work history, so that recruiters can view it while they are reviewing your application.
2.2 How to Write a Resume Summary as a Fresh Graduate from College?
If you are a student or a graduate just out of your college searching for a job, you most likely do not have enough to include in your resume so far. However, that’s not entirely true. Even as a fresh trainee, you must have some form of experience and skills in the field you have spent years learning. Your job is to learn how to convey that to your employer and make them understand how it is relevant for the job.
Additionally, every candidate applying for the job must be equally inexperienced. After all, experienced individuals don’t ever apply for entry-level jobs. Thus, your main task is to stand out from the rest of the crowd and convince your employer why you are a good choice for this particular job.
You need to understand how to implement your knowledge and skills in the profession you have chosen to apply for. Before doing that, begin your summary section by mentioning your field of education, degrees, and GPA.
Once you have done it, refer to your internships programs, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, volunteer work, and even ventures related to your hobby. Point out all that relates to the job.
Also, try to write your most remarkable achievements in the form of numbers. It is possible that you were on the student council. You can also mention how you helped to organize the school events attended by at least 4 thousand people.
Your profile summary for your CV should adequately express how reliable you are when the need occurs and how adaptable and responsible you can be in need of the hour.
2.3 How to Create Your Profile Summary for Job
To decide what you want to highlight in your summary, research points of interest and make a list of the mutual requirements and qualifications from the Company. Analyze your skills and credentials. How do your educational background and working experience align with the qualifications mentioned in the job description? You can list special skills, experiences, knowledge, and accomplishments that you want to mention in your profile selection.
To explain it in more detail, the following are the points to keep in mind:
Keep it Precise
Your profile summary should be on point. It would only take a glance for the hirer to scan your resume before he decides. Avoid writing unnecessarily long content that distracts the reader. It might kill your opportunity for your dream job right away. Quite the contrary, go with a catchy and crisp profile summary. Bullet points can be used to highlight critical parts, and details and keep them short and simple.
If you have extensive experience in your field and want to highlight it, use the most important and recent ones in your document.
Use Keywords
To show the authenticity and sincerity of your document, proper usage of the keywords while writing the profile summary is possibly the most important part. Ensure you are using the correct and relevant keywords which are in the context of your profession.
Incorrect
‘Hard-working, committed, and diligent individual…’
Correct
‘Hard-working, enthusiastic, dedicated to on-time delivery and a team player…’
Keep it Relevant
Be mindful of the post you want to get into in the particular Company, and frame your profile summary accordingly. For example, if the job demands that you have to have a five-year experience in digital marketing, start your summary with—
Incorrect
‘I am an intelligent individual with good experience in this field.’
Instead, say that:
Correct
‘Experience of more than five years as a marketing executive…’
Focus on Useful Phrases
One can write a profile summary for a CV by integrating phrases such as ‘experienced in’, or ‘proven track record’, or ‘skilled in, ‘adept at, or ‘key skills are’, or ‘result-focused, or ‘goal driven’, or ‘highly professional’, ‘committed individual’, etc., to make it more appealing to the reader.
Give Exclusively Personal Touch
It is wise to keep your resume summary precise and straightforward without the excessive usage of flowery language. Try to mention what is unique to you in terms of your achievements, goals, and experience so that the reader can affiliate with what you have provided. Mention your achievements, what your ambitions are, and how you expect to learn from the job you are applying for. Keep your approach while writing a profile summary positive.
Placement of the Summary
Ensure your profile summary is prioritized over the other details in your resume and should be included on the top part of the document. To give the hiring manager a quick idea about your career and goals, you must keep it above work experience and education segment.
Mention your accomplishments
Always prioritize your accomplishments in your summary. To make your profile summary more impressive and stand out, it is best to mention your most imperative achievements because eventually, that is what sells your resume to the hirers. However, make sure not to be boasting of your achievements. It would be a turn off for your potential employer.
So, alternate the phrase.
“Proficient in achieving company sales targets without aid.”
Into this
“Capable of achieving sale’s targets with full dedication and inspiring and motivating other team members to do the same.”
2.4 When do you use a resume summary section?
Resume summaries are for people with years of work experience in a field and are planning to prolong their work in it while changing the companies. If you have spent years working in a particular field for a long time, summary statements can be excluded from your resume. Summary statements are not usually recommended to people with little experience or those who have taken long gaps in their profession.
2.5 How to Write a Summary Statement for a Resume
A summary statement can be a powerful branding way that helps you send the message that you are the right person for the profession. The most important thing about taking the time to put a summary statement together – whether you actually decide to use it or not – is that not only it helps recruiters get a clear idea of what you can bring to the table, but it also helps you better understand what you can offer in the job. So, you get the extra profit of knowing exactly how to utilize your skills the next time you’re working, interviewing, even or presenting yourself online.
Figure out Where You’re Going
Since you need to be precise, it is essential to figure out what you want in your next job to precisely what skills and experiences to propose. If you are not completely clear about what you want, envisage an ideal position that will benefit you for the main characteristics and experiences you want to be hired for.
Ask Yourself
- What are the skills you most enjoy while working?
- What achievements make you feel most proud of yourself and can best illustrate your abilities?
- What issues, topics, or areas interest you the most?
Analyze Your Target Industry
Once you know what you want to do, your next step is to pinpoint where you want to be—think of the industry, city, companies, etc. Then, research your industry and trends impacting it now. Read important industry news articles, research papers, and analyze all the job descriptions you are interested in.
Ask Yourself
- In your target industry, what is the most valued?
- What experiences, work history, skills, and characteristics affect your desired profession?
- What would you be looking for if you were the hiring manager?
Find Your Fit
With the knowledge and information of your target industry, it’s time to find out how you fit in for the job or how you want to. Identify, catalogue, and refine your vital selling points with your ambition in mind. Then, write them down into 4-6 bullets, providing information for statements that are vivid and easily illustrate what you can bring to the table over any other candidate.
Ask Yourself
- What are your most impactful selling points?
- What decisive problems are you well prepared to solve?
- What is the connection between what you want and what your target industry requires?
3. Sample Profile Summary for Resume
Following are the Profile Summary Samples for various professions.
Doctor
A deserving student with a high CGPA. Follow standard protocols and be adept at working under pressure. Surgeon. Properly Strategize care plan. Dedicated to delivering excellent health care.
Lawyer
A highly respectable law student with good scores. Graduate with first-class distinction. Enthusiastic, hard-working, honest, and dedicated to the cause of ethics and morals.Looking for a position of legal advisor.
Insurance advisor
Dedicated to helping clients find the ideal insurance coverage pertinent to their requirements. Takes extra interest in encouraging comprehensive coverage. Hoping for a challenging and thrilling opportunity.
Accountant
Committed to the work. Motivated to do better. Goal-driven. An accountant with more than five years of experience. Proven track record of excellent work. My primary skills are taxation, regulatory compliance, budgeting, and forecasting. I have managed internal and external audits. Learned analytics and comprehensive reporting services. An engaging team worker.
Content Developer
Highly qualified content developer. Diligent and dedicated. Experienced in creating quality content. Carry out thorough research and fine at compiling information. Skilled in writing SEO-friendly content. I can manage numerous projects simultaneously. Understanding a wide variety of online communities. Can work independently as well as in a team.
IT
Looking for a trainee’s role to explore and amplify my technical information gained at the university in the last four years. I hold a B. Tech from ABC college and have won the start-up challenges at the campus.
HR Manager
Experienced in talent accession. Possesses special skills to negotiate terms and conditions. Proven professional with substantial interests and experience of2 years.
Digital Marketer
Committed and impeccable digital marketer with 4+ years of experience in XYZ Company. I have a proven track record of driving 60% of web traffic via digital marketing campaigns. Detailed digital industry knowledge leveraged to run SEO and content campaigns smoothly. Contributed to customer profits and gave the employer a tremendous competitive advantage.
Machine learning engineer
Dedicated machine learning engineer with over six years of experience in fields such as data management.Proficient at data mining and data analytics.Enthusiastic in heading the product development teams.
Customer relationship manager
3+ years of work experience in customer relationships and account handling. Trained in marketing automation and Salesforce automation. Proven track record of backpedalling customer issues and problems, particularly during checkouts. A group worker and an enthusiastic learner.
Software Developer
An award-winning web developer with five years of experience in HTML, CSS, LAMP. Main interests lie in the object-oriented and user-centred prototype. Highly skilled in operating visual hierarchy.An efficient contributor to system enhancement. An educator who successfully motivated a group of young developers into accomplishing accolades for their recent projects.
Product Manager
A product manager with experience of over a decade in civilizing UX measures from end-to-end inscribing customer queries. Supervised brand launch with a 50% revenue surplus.
Data Analyst
Feature oriented data analyst. Interested in encouraging business growth. Past small business holder, where I conducted research using a range of focus groups and escalated sales by 15% over four months.
Business Analyst
A passionate business analyst with more than five years of work experience in consulting business and studying operations. Previous work experience includes working with company X and company Y.
Data security analyst
An extremely skilful data security analyst with 15 years of experience in examining data network incidents. Familiar with all types of protocols, policies, regulations and safety rules.
Business intelligence analyst
I am an ambitious business intelligence analyst with three years of experience as an assistant. I am an enthusiastic functional team player with decent marketing exposure.
FAQs
Q1. What is the need for a resume?
The motive of building a resume is to invoke enough interest of the candidate in the recruiter’s mind enough to want to interview him. Resumes give an insight into the candidate’s skills and experience and demonstrate their competence for the job, one is applying for.
Q2. Should I include an objective on my resume?
It is obviously a good idea to include an objective on your resume if you want to tell your potential employers that the content in your resume hasn’t already been described. The information can mention the details of what you are expecting from your post that differs from your previous occupation.
Q3. What is the difference between a resume and curriculum vitae?
A curriculum vitae (CV) is an academic document used for research and university teaching jobs. The latter document is often short – usually one page – and focuses on the candidates’’ overall work experience they have acquired over the years. A resume requires you to be specific about your experiences, profession, whereas a CV, at its liberty, is as long as it takes to describe an individual’s qualifications, papers etc.
Q4. Is it possible to build a more than one-page resume?
Yes, you can build a more than one-page resume, but it’s not necessary if you can convey your message in short and precise words.
Q5. What is an ATS, and how do you make an ATS-friendly resume?
An applicant tracking system (or ATS) is a software portal where the candidates have to upload their resumes when applying for a job online. Companies and business firms use separate tracking systems with varying capabilities.
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