Get Hired by Using a Summary Statement!

Employers go through many resumes to narrow down the field of candidates to a few. Even though you may have an outstanding record of professional experience and skills listed in the body of your resume, not all employers will have the time to read through your resume. What’s an effective way to get your skills and experience noticed? Add a concise summary statement of yourself near the top of your resume.

Why have a Summary?
1. It provides an overview of your experience, skills, and accomplishments, and is effective in getting the employer’s interest.
2. It provides an opportunity to include keywords early on in your resume. Having keywords directly related to the target job in your resume can make a difference in the number of times your resume is searched and retrieved by employers and recruiters.
3. Writing your summary statement will mentally prepare you for interviews when you summarize your qualifications for the target job.
Sample Summary Statements:
Based on your background and the target job, determine what should be emphasized in your Summary. List the things that are relevant to the job you are looking for, and to the prospective employer.

Examples:
1. If you have many years of experience (e.g., engineer with 12 years experience):
“Electrical Engineer with 12 years experience, in designing for industrial process and public sector core businesses. Skilled in writing system specifications, addressing RFIs, directing and mentoring junior engineers.”

2. To show areas of expertise (e.g., marketing, delivering business presentations, developing business cases, etc.):
“Marketing Specialist with extensive experience in writing and delivering presentations on strategies to a wide range of audiences. Background includes developing and articulating business cases, and evaluating 3rd party solutions to play roles in these strategies.”

3. If you worked in different corporate environments and industries, show how you can use your skills in different environments (e.g., project manager in banking and IT):
“Project Manager with strong process oversight and reporting experience complemented by background in product management and financial analysis in banking and information technology businesses. Strong skills in Rational Unified Process…”

Kelly Garrett has built a successful career both online and offline, and has savvy tips on the best online jobsites, career resources, working with recruiters, and more. Go to (http://www.jobmedley.com) to find great jobs, resumes, career tools, and resources, and more.