How to write a resume summary

The term resume summary should be understood as the first paragraph that appears at the beginning of the resume. In other words, we are talking about a fragment in which a job seeker tries to emphasize the professional skills and previous work experience in short. Thus, the personnel manager will be able to very quickly analyze the primary information and decide whether to read the credentials further.

The main goal of such information is to demonstrate the individual value of each candidate as well as skills and achievements. Most often, the resume summary is located immediately after the contact information of the candidate. Sometimes, one may also come across another name of application summary, which may sound like:

• Career summary;
• Personal statement;
• Professional summary;
• Summary of experience;
• Summary of qualifications;
• Qualifications summary;
• Competencies;
• Executive resume summary

Because HR managers have to read hundreds of resumes per week, a well-written application document can help a candidate and increase the chances.

Long summary vs. short summary

This resume item looks excellent for those candidates who already have quite a lot of experience in previous jobs. Besides, with the help of this tool, applicants can also focus on the fact that they are ready to continue to work in a specific area. Thus, everyone can show that many years of career path and unique experience, become their strong suit.

On the other hand, if a candidate is a novice specialist and he/she doesn’t have any experience at all, then this issue will probably cause outrage. You will only demonstrate gaps in practical knowledge and understanding of the business specifics. If you have not accumulated substantial experience, then perhaps a short version of a resume seems the best option for you.

How to write an application document most effectively?

When an applicant starts writing a resume summary, he/she needs to think about how one can impress the HR manager as efficiently as possible. For example, imagine a situation when a job seeker enters an elevator, and a personnel manager comes with her/him. And here she/he has only 30 seconds to sell her/his candidacy as profitably as possible.

A candidate must specify:

1. Main strengths;
2. All the unique experience;
3. Concrete achievements at previous jobs;
4. Possible rewards for results.

In order to recall all these important points, have a brief brainstorming session. Besides, you can use different ads for your specialty and understand what value you could represent for the company. If someone focuses on studying templates of online resumes, one can also gain unique knowledge:

• Focus on work history in more detail;
• Understand the place in the future of the company;
• Learn more about the corporate environment;
• Learn about the skills required for a particular position;
• Recall personal achievements and express them in quantitative terms (year, the amount in dollars, growth indicators in% and so on).

After you complete the collection of information on vacancies, you can begin to design your own CV. Do not forget that you should use active phrases and strong verbs.

Mandatory usage of keywords

To make the credentials even more useful, use the keywords found in the similar vacancies. Thus, applicants can come close to the requirements that the employer makes when searching for candidates. What are the keywords in a CV? Often keywords are:

1. Job title;
2. Special Skills List;
3. Specific responsibilities in the workplace and so on.

In order to better understand what we are talking about here’s an example of the keywords used in the credentials:

• Management skills;
• Budgeting;
• Analytics;
• Analysis of external factors and business environment;
• PR strategy of the company;
• Tax filing;
• Supply Chain Administration;
• Monitoring the implementation of annual indicators and so on.

Remember that a well-written CV summary remains the first step towards getting the dream job.

Think how to sell the credentials

The resume should make a recruiter want to ‘buy’ it. Why a recruiter? Because in 90% of cases, the recruiter will receive it first. For a recruiter, a resume is one of the main tools of his work.

Customize the application for the profession

There are no universal resumes for all occupations. For each job, different types of resumes are essential. The task of each CV is to show what’s most important for the profession.