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How To Start A Resume Summary

Write An Amazing Resume Summary Statement

Creating Your Resume Summary Statement

What is the best way to start my resume?

How do I get the attention of the hiring manager?

These are questions we have all asked ourselves at one point or another. And to muddy the waters a little bit, we have the ongoing battle between Team Resume Objective and Team Resume Summary Statement. What, youve never heard of this age-old war over the real estate at the very beginning of your resume?

Dont worry, its a relatively new struggle brought about by our constant desire for finding an advantage over the other candidates vying for the same jobs we are. And weve made all of this much easier by giving you our free Resume Summary Cheat Sheet.

FREE BONUS PDF CHEAT SHEET:Get our resume summary PDF Cheat Sheet that hands you word-for-word resume summary samplesyou can use today.

But whats the difference, and which one is right for me?

In a previous article we tackled Resume Objectives and what they are and who should use them .

Generally speaking, people who were just entering the work force, perhaps lacked experience in their fields, or were in the middle of a massive career change benefited most by using an objective statement.

But what about someone with experience or someone who isnt changing their field?

Well, thats where the summary statement comes into play!

Quick Tips For Writing Your Resume Summary

Writing a great resume summary may seem complicated, but with the right strategy it can be simple. To make sure you didnt miss anything, use this list of all the facets of a great summary as a checklist to make sure you havent missed anything:

  • Position your summary at the top of your resume.
  • Keep short and succinct use around 4-6 sentences at most.
  • Title your summary with a simple “Summary” or something similarly simple.
  • Use the first sentence to introduce yourself, including your current job and your years of experience.
  • Showcase some impressive skills, experience, and achievements.
  • Use keywords from the job posting.
  • Tailor your resume summary for every new application.

For Food Service Professionals

  • Friendly and polite waitress with four years of experience providing excellent customer service during lunch and dinner services. Capable of organising seating and reservations to enhance the workflow.

  • Skilled and creative cook with two years of experience cooking Spanish and Italian dishes. Increased restaurant rating from 4.2 to 4.9 on a scale of five by introducing new dishes.

  • Result-oriented restaurant general manager with four years of experience in restaurant and bar supervision. H**elped the restaurant achieve the Best Restaurant Award for Families.

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What To Include In The Summary Statement

Every truly powerful and professional resume summary contains some very vital elements. If yours doesnât manage to relay the following critical information, chances are that the person reading it will be less than impressed.

  • Personal traits. Again, no one wants to read your entire psych-profile in your summary. However, you should be able to take a handful of personal and professional attributes that you possess and summarize them in a way that shows the recruiter why you are the right person for that job and the firm.

  • Notable achievements. Can you think of a few truly notable achievements that you managed to accomplish in your past employment? These can be new projects that you helped to launch, new departments that you brought to life, or similar things that had a dramatic impact on your previous employersâ businesses.

  • Your expertise. Include some information about your educational qualifications and any experience that you might have that separates you from other candidates for the job.

  • Your skill set. You also need to include some highlights detailing your strongest and most relevant skills–with an emphasis on those that are most relevant to the job youâre seeking. Many of these will double as keywords, which we talk about in the next section.

How To Write A Qualifications Summary

Download 12 13 How to Start A Resume Summary Free Download ...

Each bullet point of a qualifications summary should showcase your most impressive work-related accomplishments, certifications, and skills.

Not being repetitive is key to writing a successful summary of qualifications. For example, if youre a nurse practitioner, dont repeat information about how many patients youve treated:

Repetitive Summary of Qualifications

  • Provided critical care for an average of 74 patients post surgery per year
  • Treated an average of 24 outpatients per day

Instead, try to make your bullet points focus on different parts of your career:

Good Summary of Qualifications

  • Developed and maintained new EMR system, which increased efficiency by 17%
  • Provided critical care for an average of 74 patients per year post surgery
  • Mentored 11 new registered nurses to deliver exceptional standards of clinical care
  • Recognized as Floridas Nurse Practitioner of the Year 2021 due to COVID-19 response

From top to bottom, these bullets focus on:

  • Any awards youve won or recognition gained
  • Whether youve held positions of leadership

After youve narrowed down your list of qualifications, put the most impressive four to six at the top of your resume, just after your resume header.

Your bullet points should be relevant to the job youre applying for, so carefully read the job description to see what the hiring manager expects from candidates.

Happy job hunting!

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Professional Summary Example For Receptionist

Customer-oriented and performance-driven Front Desk Assistant skilled at performing various administrative tasks, improving all office processes and procedures, and providing support to Office Managers. Great communicator with a Business Administration degree from a well-known university and an exceptional ability to remain calm in stressful situations. Possess well-developed communication skills and excellent time management abilities.

Resume Summary Examples For Career Changers

A resume summary is particularly important if youre changing careers. You dont need to go into detail about why youre changing careers, but briefly mentioning any relevant training or certifications is a good idea, alongside the transferrable skills youll bring to the role. If you’re changing careers, make sure to see more summary examples for career changers.

Example

If youre ready to begin, why not use our Resume Summary Generator to help you write the perfect summary?

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Professional Summary Example For Student

Self-driven and knowledgeable computer science student with demonstrated experience in developing user-friendly software applications, coding and testing features, and providing engineering support. Oracle Certified Professional with extensive knowledge of multiple programming languages and software development tools, excellent problem-solving skills, and ability to perform well in a team.

Should You Include A Resume Objective

How to Write a Resume Summary – Plus 5 Strong Examples | Indeed Career Tips

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.

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Tip : Remember Role Relevancy

As I mentioned earlier, your resume summary should tell a story about who you are as a professional and why you’re a qualified candidate. But emphasizing skills that you don’t need for the role, might indicate that you aren’t the right fit for the job. To avoid this, only include your total years of experience and key skills and proficiencies that are relevant to the position.

This is especially important to remember if you’re switching careers. For example, if you were a restaurant manager for five years before becoming a software developer, you would only highlight your coding experience in your resume summary.

In addition to relevant experience, you may also want to draw immediate attention to a specific degree or certification you hold that’s required or preferred for the role.

For example, a software engineer might have a resume summary that looks like this: Microsoft Certified Professional with eight years experience in software engineering. Extensive background in full software development lifecycle including design, coding, testing, debugging and maintenance of web applications using .NET technologies. In-depth knowledge of web architecture, development techniques, object-oriented design, design patterns and agile methodologies.

Highlight Your Relevant Job Skills

Hiring managers are on the lookout for candidates who have relevant, job-specific skills. While listing a heap of skills on your resume doesnt actually prove youre skilled, incorporating your various skills into different sections will catch the eye of whoever is vetting your application.

For instance, you can showcase your hard and soft skills in your introduction and work experience section. And of course, you should also list your most valuable abilities in your resumes skills section.

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Second Describe Your Desired Role And Qualifications

Use strong words to describe yourself, including your most relevant qualities. State the position you are applying for and give details of your most recent qualification or achievement. You want to make the best impression possible, so focus on the key points. You can include more details about your skills elsewhere on your resume.

What Is A Resume Objective

How To Start A Resume Summary

First of all, it’s not the same thing as a resume summary. They share several common features but each serves a different purpose.

Like a resume summary, a resume objective also sits at the top of your resume. Though, its a bit shorter usually about one to two sentences long. The biggest difference is that instead of your past accomplishments, it details your future goals.

Although a resume objective might not help hiring managers decide whether youre qualified enough to solve their companys problems, it may help you shift their attention away from your lack of experience.

With that said, resume objectives are a bit antiquated and should only be written as a last resort if at all.

Read Also: How To Express Promotion On Resume

Use Active Language And Concrete Examples

Use active language and quantifiable examples of your achievements to stand out from other applicants. Strong writing is an important part of showcasing your qualifications.

Try to identify your key strengths, relevant achievements, and any important projects that you have led. These can be used to demonstrate your skills and abilities using active language. Describe your most impressive accomplishments and highlight your competence.

Quantifiable achievements like sales, revenue, and user acquisition are all impressive examples of your abilities that look great in a summary statement. Any skills that you can back up with numbers will impress employers.

Accounting And Finance Resume Summary Example

If you are writing an accounting or finance resume summary, showcase your past experiences in the field, in-demand financial and accounting skills, and how profitable you were for the organizations you worked for.

You will need something like this:

Stringent CPA with over 7 years of professional experience in financial planning, auditing, budget analysis, forensic accounting, and cloud and software integration. Saved hundreds of working hours by implementing cloud accounting at ABC Company. Successfully managed the annual budgeting of 1M+ for XYZ.

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An Example Of How To Write Your Resume Summary With No Experience

Engineering graduate of the prestigious College of Engineering at Iowa State University with leadership training from Rotes Leadership Academy in Rochester, MN. Skilled in research, project management, and organizational efficiency. Have previously managed budgets of more than $1 million, and teams of as many as 20 people. My focus on team-oriented cross-platform solutions for project needs has reduced company research and development costs by 20%.

In this resume summary statement example, our engineering grad–who was a student and finished school while working in an entirely different industry–can highlight not only his educational achievements, but specific accomplishments that he achieved in his previous employment. All the while, he presents himself as someone with the proven commitment to bring that same level of value to his new employer.

Top 5 Tips When Writing A Resume Summary

How To Write A Resume Summary – Sample Resume Template
  • Start with your qualifications. Stress the most relevant qualifications to the job youâre targeting. Look at the job description and edit your existing summary to each position so you can appear as qualified as possible.

  • Focus on your benefit. Remember that your summary should show the employer what you can bring to the table. Word your summary in a way that says this is who I am and this is what I can do for your company. Donât tell the employer what your resume objective is, tell them how you benefit them and their objective.

  • Keep length in mind. Keep your resume summary at four to six sentences. Many job seekers write only a sentence or two or go on for too long. Find a good balance and stress the important points–no fluff!

  • Always quantify when you can. You should include quantifiable results and achievements in the summary. Numbers have been proven to psychologically capture attention over plain words. It also allows you to portray yourself as an âachieverâ rather than just a âdoer.â For example: âDecreased overhead expenses by 40%â sounds a lot better than just âdecreased expensesâ.

  • Use the active voice. Many job seekers resort to overused language like âresponsible forâ or âin charge of.â These are weak terms. Instead, your summary should read in an active voice where possible. This conveys that you are a self-starter and that you can connect the âwhyâ with the âwhatâ in your previous positions

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    How To Write A Great Resume Summary Statement

    First off you need to do you research. Just like everything else youve done up to this point in your job search quest, you need to make sure that youre maximizing your potential.

    You have a very limited space to use on your resume and the last thing you want to do is waste any of it.

    The goal is to get your statement down to four to six bullets distilled down into two or three laser focused sentences.

    The first thing you want to do is go back and look at the job youre applying for and determine your target audience. Re-read the job description, keeping your eyes open for key phrases and words.

    • Who are they looking for?
    • What do they want that person to bring to the table? What value can they provide?
    • What would l look for in a hire if I were the one posting this job?

    Once you identify those things, its time to figure out how you fit into them.

    Now, keep in mind that the above things are things you WANT to put in your statementand also remember there are things NOT to put in your statement. Things like:

    Use Action Verbs In Your Resume Summary

    Another impactful tactic for a resume summary is to describe your statements as actions.

    Employers want to know about what you actually did in your career. Not necessarily what your current company did. Save those points for your work experience section or for the actual interview.

    Use strong action verbs to help emphasize your points. Especially verbs mentioned in the job description! Take a look at our list of 350+ action verbs to get a head start.

    Tip: Use action verbs on your resume. Try to stay away from phrases like “Responsible for” and “Worked on”

    Let’s apply our learnings. A bad example of a resume summary might look like this:

    Bad example of a Healthcare Sales Resume Summary

    I am an experienced Healthcare Sales Rep responsible for selling software to large hospitals. I closed many deals and generated a lot of revenue for the hospital. I want to continue selling healthcare software but to larger hospital chains.

    This candidate is definitely not going to pass the 6-second glance. Let’s turn that into a better resume resume based on our guidelines:

    Good example of a Healthcare Sales Resume Summary

    Healthcare sales executive with 5+ years of experience generating over $2M in revenue selling to large hospitals. Skilled in winning deals in a competitive space with slow adoption. Hired and currently manage a team of 15 sales professionals who have collectively sold $5M of software. Looking to apply skills and experience in selling EMR systems to large hospital chains.

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    Sales Resume Summary Examples

    Sales Associate:

    “Driven and target-focused sales associate specializing in SaaS payroll software subscriptions. Strong knowledge of the accounting industry and expert in upselling and dealing with customer onboarding. Exceed sales KPIs by at least 30% over the last 18 months.”

    Cashier:

    “Sunny, meticulous cashier with 4+ years of experience in clothing retail. Skilled at operating a variety of cashier systems and dealing with problems and returns. Attention-to-detail and excellent communication skills, alongside a perfect attendance record.”

    How To Write A Summary In 5 Steps

    Flow Chart: How To Start A Resume

    Having strong writing skills is an important part of many professions. You need to be able to convey information in a clear, understandable way to whoever is reading it. One type of text that you may need to write during your career is a summary. In this article, we explain what is summary is and how to effectively write one.

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    Sales Executive Resume Summary Example

    As a sales executive, give utmost prominence to the numbers in terms of sales you have made and the revenue you have increased for your companies.

    Also, give a bit of focus on strategy development and customer service experiences.

    Energetic and customer-focused sales executive with 6 years of experience in the field. Increased the monthly sales at the XYZ Outlet by 5% with an innovative approach to customer handling and cross-selling. Proficient in digital sales funnel management and online customer query handling.

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