Resume Summary: What You Need To Know

Your resume summary statement (sometimes referred to as a job summary, qualifications summary, or career summary) is where you summarize your entire professional history in a few succinct, impactful sentences. It’s your chance to touch on everything that makes you a qualified candidate, such as your past experiences, skills, education, and other skills that are attractive to an employer.

It is also the section of the resume that almost every job seeker travels to. But we’ve got some great tips and examples on how to write a summary statement that will earn you a spot at the top of the resume pile.

What is a summary statement?

Your summary statement is the piece of text that appears at the top of your resume document – just below your header and that includes your name and contact information.

In this paragraph, I’ve summarized those highlights about your qualifications that will inspire the hiring manager to move your resume to the “to-interview” pile (or at the very least, keep you out of the recycling bin).

You may be wondering how this differs from an objective statement that shares your goals for a new position.

In today’s job-hunting landscape, a formal objective statement is an outdated tradition. In most cases, hiring managers and employers would prefer to see a more detailed and informative summary section instead.

Why? Almost every job seeker has the same goal – to get a job. So, by replacing this outdated standard with a summary section, hiring managers get more knowledge about who you are and what you bring to their company.

How to write a summary statement

Although this statement is important, it is not always easy to write it down. Having to state in just a few sentences what makes you a qualified candidate can actually be one of the most difficult parts of crafting your resume.

Here are some tips to help take some of the pain out of the process of writing your summary statement.

Job description analysis: Your goal is to present yourself as a no-brainer for this specific job, which means your summary statement should be tailored to each role you’re applying for. Your first step should be to research this job description to extract the key skills and competencies the position is looking for, so you can include them in your own summary (as long as you’re honest, of course!).

cut short: You know you’re the perfect fit for this open role, and you have a lot to say about why. But, no hiring manager will spend the time reading multiple paragraphs about why you’re a perfect fit. For this reason, try to keep your summary statement short – less than four sentences to be exact.

Skip the buzzwords: You may be tempted to add a bunch of buzzwords to your summary statement. But, you can bet that every job seeker on the planet claims to be a good communicator, an expert problem-solver, or a great Microsoft Office user. Skip those general adjectives and instead emphasize your results, highlight your accomplishments, and draw attention to the things that make you unique.

Write it last: A brief statement is usually enough to stop most job seekers in their tracks. So, you might find it helpful to write it down last. When you have already completely modified your resume to match the specific job posting and are fully aware of what the employer is looking for, it will be much easier to compose a few relevant sentences that correctly introduce you as a suitable candidate.

Summary statement examples

Nothing adds clarity like an example or two. If you’re still stumped, take a look at the sample data feeds below to get your creative ideas flowing. You will be ready to treat yourself in no time!

Self-motivated sales professional with three years of experience closing sales in a B2B software environment. A skilled relationship builder with the ability to enhance and maintain existing relationships with clients while forming new ones. The best salesperson is consistently ranked within the department by exceeding sales quotas each quarter.

A customer service representative with strengths in phone and chat support, as well as dispute resolution. More than 10 years of experience in direct communication with customers to answer questions, address problems and raise the company’s reputation. Received the Blue Ribbon Award for Customer Service Excellence three times.

An experienced content manager with skills in planning editorial calendars, editing content submissions, and using data trends to make intelligent content decisions. Proven experience managing a team of freelance writers and journalists producing high quality content on a consistent schedule. Leveraging content to increase website traffic by 34% in the previous role.

Write a summary statement with little or no experience

Composing your own summary statement is always challenging, but this is especially true when you have little or no experience to present it. Whether you’re new to the world of work or changing careers, it’s hard to know what to highlight when you feel like you’re lacking in qualifications.

Don’t be discouraged. Even though you feel a bit inadequate, you still have a lot to offer a potential employer. So, focus on who you are Do Bring it to the table – even if it’s a little less traditional.

For example, your experience coordinating and hosting various events on your campus lays a great foundation for this event marketing role. Or that your previous roles in medical transcription provided you with plenty of skills – from fast typing to attention to detail – that would make you a qualified paralegal.

Get those negative thoughts out of your head and focus on what makes you a qualified candidate, whether that includes unique skills, internships, or even volunteer work.

more for you

Writing a resume summary statement can be intimidating. But rest assured, it is doable. Put these tips into practice and use these examples as your inspiration, and you are sure to craft your statement that grabs attention.