Resume Summary Writing Guide to Elevate Your Professional Profile [20+ Examples]

In today’s competitive job market, you as a candidate have to make sure that the resume you draft stands out in more ways than one. An easy yet incredibly effective way to do this is to use a professional profile summary at the beginning of your resume.

In this article, you will get to know how to write a professional summary for a resume, no matter you are a fresher with no work experience or an experienced job seeker for career change. In the end, we provide an extensive amount of resume summary examples & templates for 20+ different jobs and professions to help you create the best career summary statement for resume.

Like the name suggests, a summary for resume is a one or two sentence outline that describes you, your experience and your most valuable skills. This profile summary should be carefully crafted to highlight your best features as a potential candidate. It is usually going to be located at the very beginning of your document right after your name and your contact information. This ensures that your resume summary is one of the first things the recruiter reads.

Now let’s take a look at why it’s important and the benefits it provides for your job prospects.

The biggest and most obvious benefit of a resume summary is the fact that it helps you get noticed quicker. Employers have to go through hundreds of applications a day and you only have 7 seconds to catch their attention. If you make your relevant skills and experiences easy for them to locate, it will greatly increase the likelihood of them reading your entire application and seeing what you have to offer. This increased attention will get you bumped up to the top of the pile and differentiate you from the rest.

Moreover, when applying for a job, if you carefully scan their requirements and understand exactly what they’re looking for in a perfect candidate, you can include the important things they’ve mentioned in your resume summary. This shows the recruiter that you paid close attention to what they asked for and more importantly that you have the potential of being the right person for the job. 

A common point of confusion for job seekers working on crafting the perfect resume, is the difference between a resume summary and a resume objective.

For the vast majority of cases though, a professional resume summary will be the best option because it highlights the candidates' unique skills and shows their competence upfront.

Now that you understand the importance of a resume summary statement, let’s take a look at a very popular question we've got asked all the time: “What to put for a summary on a resume?”

We’ll take you through the process step by step and tips on how to make the most out of your profile summary.

Step 1 : Read the job description

Read the job description of the position you’re applying for. Take note of the specifics they mention in their requirements or what type of experience they’re looking for. For instance, if you’re applying for a software engineering job, look very closely at the coding languages they require candidates to be proficient in.

Step 2 : Pick out relevant experiences & skills

You should already have your resume formatted and written. Go over the most important experiences and skills that are relevant to the job posting and the specifics they require. Make note of them and ensure you don’t miss out on anything important.

Step 3 : Put together your qualifications

Armed with information from the previous two steps, start drafting a profile summary. This should be no more than a couple of sentences so it’s important for you to use only the most relevant and impressive items from your research into the company and your skills. We’ll talk more about some specifics in terms of language in the next section.

5 things to put on a summary for a resume:

1. Awards

If you’ve received any awards from your previous employer or some other awards, include it in your CV summary. Only do this if the award is prestigious and hard to get, otherwise it won’t have a positive impact.

2. Soft skills

You can include soft skills if you're particularly good at speaking or dealing with people. Make sure you have proof in your resume to back this up.

3. Technical skills

If you’re proficient in a software language or have experience with IT, be sure to include the technical skills. This applies for all jobs, not just software engineering positions.

4. External achievements

If you had a special position somewhere or did something unique, it might be a good idea to include it in your resume overview. This should not be irrelevant to the job, and you have to be careful on what you include, as you still want to come across as professional.

5. Educational background

If you’re a fresh graduate or a student, make sure to include any relevant degrees or courses you’ve completed. However, if you’ve left school for a while and have more relevant experience to include, it is suggested to leave your educational history behind, unless it can somehow prove your qualification, such as certifications of vocational training institutions or online learning programs.

5 things to avoid to write a good summary for a resume:

1. Cliche openings and summaries

This applies to resume objectives as well. Don’t include vague statements like “Driven professional seeking career growth.” This is very ambiguous and is used by every other applicant. Make your resume summary sound unique and personal.

2. Generic resume summaries

Attempting to create the same summary for every job is a very common mistake, and will seriously hinder your chances of getting the job. Cookie cutter resumes and profile summaries are not hard to spot, and they show the hiring manager that you didn’t bother reading the job description and don’t actually care.

3. Not being specific

Like we’ve mentioned earlier, your resume summary should be tailored for that specific job and should have their requirements front and center.

4. Being too lengthy

We’ve already touched on the importance of being concise and not including everything irrelevant in your resume summary.

5. Being too short

Don’t be too concise either. Be sure to include all the important things and don’t leave anything crucial out.

It’s time to discuss specifics. Now that you understand what goes into a resume summary and things to avoid. Next, we’ll talk about how you should craft your resume summary for specific scenarios and your level of experience.

Resume summary for Freshers

When you’re trying to write a summary for resume as a fresh graduate, there are some things you should keep in mind to ensure you make a great first impression. You will likely be looking to write an entry-level resume summary and for that purpose, you need to leverage your education strategically. If you’re applying for a job and know that your education would be a plus for it, make sure it’s the first thing you mention. Also, include the fact that you just graduated and make sure to highlight if you were at the top of your class or any other special academic achievements.

Here are some examples on how you should start your resume summary. Keeping in mind the principles we’ve highlighted in the previous section as well.

Resume summary for high school & college students

If you’re looking to write a resume profile summary as a high school or college student, you should follow the resume objective approach. Try to focus on your goals and what you wish to achieve working with this company. You should make it interesting and unique while still being professional. Again, you need to make sure your resume summary makes the hiring manager want to read further and call you in for an interview.

One important thing to understand here is that you should try to emphasize what your employer will gain by hiring you and not the other way around. Start with your strongest trait, then go on to mention how your education or experience will help you perform on the job. Mention the company’s name and the position, and give reasons for how you can add value to their operation.

Profile summary in resume for experienced job seekers

Resume summary for experienced job seekers follow the same principles we’ve discussed previously, but focus on one key attribute that should make you stand out: your professional experience!

If you’re writing a resume summary for a career change or to break into a new industry, having previous experience is a great plus. Include any relevant experience you have at the beginning of your resume summary, and if the company or organization you worked for is a respected institution, mention their name as well.

After this, simply follow the previous advice on including your relevant skills and expertise to seal the deal.

Let’s put together everything we’ve learned so far with some examples for various job positions.

--- Originally written by Aitazaz ---