A Good Resume Summary Statement

Mechanical Engineer Resume Summary :

The first summary example is too vague and doesnt quite paint a clear picture. Its not as specific when you compare it to the one below. We can see that theres more detail in the second mechanical engineer applicants summary and that theyre more skilled at what they do as they outline their skills and experience clearly.

See below for another mechanical engineer resume objective example:

Writing Resume Summary Statements For The Reader

The best writing is that which speaks to its audience in understandable terms that they can immediately identify with. When it comes to your summary statement, that means including the job postingâs requirements in your finished product.

While you certainly donât want to simply regurgitate the job postingâs requirements in your summary, you should try to incorporate the terms used in that posting as you describe your own qualifications.

If the company is looking for a Director of Marketing and your former title at a different firm was Head of Marketing, use the âDirector of Marketingâ title when youâre describing your former position. That helps to ensure that your prospective employer recognizes that youâve done the same job in the past. Do this for specific skills and experience as well. Simply identify terms used in the job posting and use those terms when describing your own skills, attributes, and experience.

Writing A Resume Summary When You Have No Relevant Experience

Now, the above examples are obviously of the more common variety when it comes to how people pursue careers in their chosen fields.

Most people will at least try to have some relevant skills and experience in the job field theyâre trying to enter. But what happens when youâre trying to break into an industry for the first time, or want to switch career paths and have no actual experience with the position youâre trying to secure?

That happens more than most people realize. If youâre trying to write a summary and have no direct experience to list as a job qualification, just know that youâre not alone. The bad news is that your inability to list any relevant experience deprives you of one key resume summary feature that might have enhanced your âhookâ and helped to get the recruiter to give your resume a deeper inspection.

The good news is that this doesnât have to be a fatal weakness. There are ways to work around a lack of experience, just as there are ways to work around a lack of relevant education. As fate would have it, this scenario is one of many reasons why your summary is so critical!

Read Also: How To Write Relevant Coursework On Resume

Foodservice Resume Summary Examples

• Customer-oriented, friendly Barista with 3+ years of experience serving high-quality espresso and brewed coffee in a fast-paced coffee shop environment. Passionate about providing customers with the perfect café experience.

• Motivated and inspired Cook with 15+ years of experience in high volume casual and fine-dining restaurants. Dedicated to increasing kitchen efficiencies and delighting customers while continually striving to improve culinary expertise.

• Punctual Delivery Driver with 3+ years of experience meeting strict deadlines in fast-paced environments while focusing on increasing productivity to drive brand loyalty.

• Prep Cook with fifteen years of experience in food handling. Expert at slicing, keeping inventory stocked and ensuring the cleanliness of kitchen counters and utensils.

• Adaptable Hostess with 3+ years of experience upholding excellent customer service standards across lunch and dinner service. Organizes seating and reservations with care to improve workflow.

• Organized and friendly Restaurant Team Member with excellent organizational skills and three years of experience in customer service, sales, inventory, stocking, cleaning and maintaining store compliance.

How To Write A Summary Statement

Lets say you had 30 seconds alone with a hiring manager at your dream company. What would you say to him or her? In a way, summary statements are a lot like elevator pitches. You want to sell your skills in a manner that will garner an interview.

Summary statements go by a few different names. Feel free to label this section Summary Statement, but know you can also use any of these other terms too:

• Career Summary
• Summary of Qualifications

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Best Resume Summary Examples You Can Apply

Should You Include A Resume Objective

You do not need to include an objective on your resume, and doing so can make your resume appear outdated. Use a resume summary instead of an objective. Follow the resume summary examples above and focus on discussing your skills, qualifications, and achievements, rather than stating your objective.

Employers know that your objective is to obtain the position youve applied for, and the resume objective has no place on a modern resume/CV in todays job market.

Read Also: Resume With No High School Education

Professional Summary Example For Project Manager

Logistics & Planning PMO for Anheuser-Busch InBev with +7 years of experience in Supply Chain Operations & Project Management. Lived and worked for ABI in 6 cities in past years, managed +300 direct & indirect employees and +0.5 billion BRL over the years. At ABI experienced the routines in breweries operations & urban distribution. As Project Manager build the Zone Logistics Project area for ABI LAN, being responsible for 4.0 Supply Chain, integrating the technologies WMS, YMS, TMS and Tracking.

Should You Skip The Summary Section

As weâve seen so far, a summary section, or a professional summary for resumes, consists of a few pithy and strong statements and is present at the beginning of your resume. To get a better idea, hereâs a sample summary:

• Expert communicator with 10+ years of experience dedicated to community development and advocacy within the field of education
• Extensive involvement in all levels of relationship building, marketing, and program development
• Strong public speaking, teaching, and facilitating skills for a diverse student, professional, and general audiences
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects while meeting challenging deadlines

Sounds great! But youâre essentially giving up valuable space on your resume for information thatâs anyway present in the later parts of your resume. Makes you wonder – do you news a resume summary section?

The short answer is – yes. You definitely need a summary section in your resume, and you should not skip it. What goes in that section, however, will depend on your situation.

If youâre an experienced professional, a good resume summary statement highlighting your skills and achievements is a must. If youâre a fresher, just beginning with job hunting , you can use that section to highlight your academic achievements and your future aspirations. Itâs a meta-resume for experienced professionals as well as freshers.

So nope, donât skip this section. Make good use of it!

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Technical Resume Summary Examples

Computer Science Resume Summary

Creative and people-oriented computer scientist with up to 2 years of working with tech startups. Advanced knowledge of software design principles and agile development principles. Led and managed a team of five in developing new software from concept to delivery.

Click here for the full computer science resume example.

IT Specialist Resume Summary

Competent IT specialist with 5+ years of experience working with Windows Server 2016. Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert. Advanced knowledge in SQL, C++, Bash, and Linux.

Click here for the full IT resume example.

Software Engineer Resume Summary

Results-oriented software engineer with a focus on the design and implementation of relational database systems. 8+ years of experience in developing cutting-edge engineering solutions with a wide range of eCommerce and technology features. Skilled in agile processes, backend and frontend development, and creating eCommerce websites that integrate with Paypal, Stripe and other payment APIs.

Click here for the full software engineer resume example.

Data Analyst Resume Summary

Detail-oriented data analyst passionate about helping businesses grow. Former small business owner where I conducted research using three different focus groups and increased sales by 10% over 4 months. MBA recipient with strong technical skills of data mining and data, survey creation, and quantitative methods.

Click here for the full data analyst resume example.

Content Marketing Resume Summary:

Read through both.

You can clearly see that the first summary is pretty dull, boring, and it doesnt have anything that makes a recruiter want to invite them to an interview, unlike the second example, where the hiring managers have social proof that makes it memorable

In the case of a content marketing resume, you want to showcase industry authority by having your name out there and flaunting it to your hiring managers.

Also Check: How To Include A Promotion On A Resume

What Is A Profile On A Resume

A profile on a resume is a written statement located at the top of your resume that briefly highlights the experience and skills you bring to the position. It also lists achievements or accomplishments made at your current or previous role. A resume profile is similar to an objective or summary statement, but contains a slightly longer and more detailed combination of your career goals and achievements.

When writing a resume profile, your goal is to sum up your experience and goals in approximately less than 500 characters listed as a paragraph or bullet points. Use this section to explain your skills and qualifications to the hiring manager to give them a better idea of how this experience can benefit their company.

Profiles often include details about accomplishments and achievements using percentages or other statistical data to accurately explain the results brought in to the company.

To upload the template into Google Docs, go to File > Open > and select the correct downloaded file.

Why Use A Resume Summary Section

You should use a resume summary section when you want to highlight your skills, experience, and overall showcase your professional background to recruiters.

Use this opportunity to intrigue and draw them further into your resume by helping them get a quick overview of your know-how and how you can be a valuable asset.

Youre giving the job recruiter a glimpse into what you can potentially do for their business. And, depending on how good of a job youve done writing your summary, recruiters will either give you their full attention or click the x on their screen and go to the next applicant.

But I dont have much of an experience to write about. Yeah, well, rest assured, you arent alone. If youre just fresh out of school or youre doing a major career switch, you can always include your goals and objectives.

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How To Make Your Summary Statement Stand Out

SHOWCASE YOUR STRENGTHS: Use your resume summary statement to highlight the strengths that set you apart from your competition, demonstrating how you would bring value to an employers organization by listing specific contributions.

PROVIDE QUANTIFIABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: Increase the persuasive force of your resume summary statement by using percentages, impressive sales figures, or numbers to quantify specific professional achievements.

USE A RESUME SUMMARY STATEMENT INSTEAD OF AN OBJECTIVE STATEMENT: Resume summary statements are more effective than objective statements because they focus on an employers needs rather than upon what you, as a job candidate, want for yourself.

Writing A Summary When You Have Experience

If you already have experience in your field, you probably have the skills the company is looking for. Your only difficulty will be identifying which skills to pick for this application. To figure out what skills to showcase:

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How To Write A Resume Summary For Students/fresh Graduates Quick Recap

If you follow the tips above, youll have a great entry-level resume summary that will stand out and catch a recruiters or hiring managers attention so you can get more interviews.

After you write your entry level resume summary, here are two more articles that may be helpful when job searching with no experience:

Resume Summary Vs Objective Statement

The resume objective statement is likely the introductory statement you remember using in decades past. It focuses on the job seekers needs and future goals, with no mention of the those of the company. Heres an example of a traditional objective statement:

Resume Objective: To obtain a job as a Search Engine Optimization Manager at a reputable tech company.

The traditional objective statement has become obsolete because it takes up space without offering anything truly valuable to the resume.

Alternatively, a resume summary is geared toward the employers needs and highlights accomplishments and notable skills of the applicant that are specifically related to the job. When possible, it uses quantifiable metrics to add supporting facts. For example:

Accomplished search engine optimization specialist with over 12 years of experience in digital marketing. Have increased organic search traffic by an average of 26% over the past 5 years.

After reading the resume summary above, the hiring manager has a better understanding of the job seekers impressive abilities. The resume objective statement, on the other hand, left the hiring manager with more questions than answers.

Read more: Resume Objective vs Summary

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+ Year Business Owner Resume Summary Statement:

Dynamic and motivated marketing professional with a proven record of generating and building relationships, managing projects from concept to completion, designing educational strategies, and coaching individuals to success. Skilled in building cross-functional teams, demonstrating exceptional communication skills, and making critical decisions during challenges. Adaptable and transformational leader with an ability to work independently, creating effective presentations, and developing opportunities that further establish organizational goals.

Why this is a good summary section:

This is a resume summary statement that was for a candidate returning to work after having her own business for 15+ years. Because of this, we needed to emphasize her soft skills and what she can bring to this potential position. In addition, we highlighted the skills she has honed as a business owner so that she can utilize these qualifications as a sales professional, account manager, and someone knowledgeable about nutrition, medicine, and the overall sales process.

By: Dr. Heather Rothbauer-Wanish. MBA, Ph.D., CPRW, and Founder of Feather Communications