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Articles
What is a resume and why
is it so important
Including references on
your resume
Prioritizing job
descriptions in your resume
Including Hobbies and
interests in your resume
Reviewing your final resume
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How
to write a professional summary for your resume
In today’s competitive job market, employers relay on well-written resumes
to screen potential candidates. In many instances, employers look through
job search web sites, to find
professionals with skills, education and experience that fit their needs. These
employment search web sites, along with many companies’ own online
applications, require candidates to upload their resume in order to express
interest in a specific opportunity.
Without an opportunity to send a personal email, or a cover letter,
you have to make sure that your resume expresses your personality in
addition to listing your professional and educational experiences and
achievements.
To do so, you can include a
professional profile or summary at the beginning of your resume that allows
you to market yourself through a narrative. This section allows your
potential employers to learn something unique about you and your career, as
well as get a good feel of your communication skills.
To write an effective summary, you should first understand what information
should not be communicated in your resume. While a summary provides an
insight into what is unique and competitive about you, it is not a place for
you to indicate any personal information that does not relate to your
career. Information such as ethnicity, marital status, sexual orientation,
religious beliefs and affiliations, etc. should be left out of your resume.
While descriptive of who you are, this information is not relevant to your
potential employer in order to pre-screen your qualifications for their
opportunity. Additionally, the summary should not contain your previous
professional experience, unless you can clearly demonstrate how such
background can be of value in your future career development. Beware of
generic statements, such as “I am well organized and detail oriented.”
Employers want to hear your unique voice and get a sense of your
communication skills while reading the summary portion of your resume. Using
generalizations about your abilities will make the employers believe that
you are either a poor communicator or are using such statements to fill up
space on your resume.
Your summary should be in form of a short paragraph or bulleted statements,
containing only several sentences. There isn’t a sentence limit, but as a
rule do not take up more than one quarter of the page. Your summary should
begin by a headline that summarizes your professional title and/or your
professional statement. Emphasize your title by featuring the headline in
bold and larger font, as it allows your potential employer to grasp who you
are quickly. For example:
Financial Planning Professional
Achieved Double-Digit Return for All Clients through Well-Balanced Financial
Portfolios
It is important that this title is well crafted, as it is the first
impression your potential employer will have of you.
There are three things a well-written summary should address:
- Your experiences and skills as they relate to your idea job
- What you can bring to the organization and the open position that no other
candidate can
- Your professional goals.
Even though your resume summary is written by you, it should be composed in
third person, in present tense. Think of it as a summary of what one of your
best colleagues would say about your professional achievements. Reinforce
your title, and sell only the experiences and skills that meet your career
objective. If you have multiple career objectives, such as you wish to get a
position in either marketing or public relations, develop separate resume
summaries for each of the objectives. A summary can also contain a brief
bulleted section highlighting only a few vital competitive skills that you
bring to the table. An example of an effective summary would be as follows:
Successful financial planning professional with over 15 years of personal
and retirement planning experience. Managed a small financial planning firm,
achieving double-digit financial returns for all clients by developing
personalized investment portfolios. Leader in development and professional
growth of four other financial planners in the firm through effective and
motivating mentoring strategies.
Key competencies include:
o Personalized portfolio development
o Financial forecasting
o Retirement portfolio management
o Development on-going professional growth strategies
Much like your overall resume, your summary should be well-written and
error-free. Make sure to review your summary, and customize as necessary for
the various opportunities of interest. An effective summary will help you
“hook” your employer; it should sell you as a primary candidate for the job,
leaving your employer with a great first impression of you.
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