Resumes 101: Career Summary

Have you ever heard of an elevator speech? Like a brief ride up the elevator, it's a seconds long introduction to who you are, your goals, key strengths, and how those things will add the value to the recipient of that speech.

The career summary (a.k.a Qualifications Summary/Professional Profile etc.) is a similar introduction found towards the top of your resume. There are many different ways in which you can approach writing one, but here are my suggested elements that make an effective career summary:

Summarize your "who"

Tell employers who you are within the scope of their professional field. You have education and/or practical experience where you played a role. Even if you are unemployed, your experiences don't just go away- former roles are still a part of what I like to call your "professional identity." If you are applying for instance for an Administrative Assistant position and you've got 5 years already under your belt doing this type of work, say who you are in about 1 sentence, including your industry. For a candidate might write:

"Prolific Assistant with five years experience providing clerical support to corporate teams in a fast-paced staffing industry."

What if you are transitioning to a new career field or you are embarking on your first career ever? You can still summarize former role(s) as an intern/volunteer/student/ other professional- and mention that your goal is to transition. For instance, a candidate might write:

Intern: "Licensed Practical Nurse trained in neonatal care seeking to transition from current intern to part time LPN."

Recruiter to Career Coach: " Results-oriented professional with over 10 years experience in corporate recruitment is looking to drive graduate career placement by leveraging such expertise in a coaching role."

Summarize your strengths

Summarize your strengths by briefly referencing your experience solving the same or similar problems mentioned in the JD. Now is the time to look at the problems involving People/Data/Things (PDT) and your own personal experiences I suggested you write about. For more details check out my my decoding JD post.

Don't get overwhelmed by all the notes you would have made on the list I suggested! Remember this is a mere introduction, no more than 3 sentences long. There will be a chance to elaborate a little bit later down in your resume, and of course in your interview.

So what's the best way to concisely summarize experience? Think about it like this:

I've done X with these types of people

I've done Y with these types of data

I've done Z with these types of things

X,Y and Z refer to an umbrella description/ phrase that encapsulates all the work that is involved in to solving a problem involving P,D or T. So a bunch of work involving people can simply be categorized as "Customer Service." "Data Management" if work involves working with certain information and computer systems. Mention the types of PDT linked to that experience. You can also without getting too detailed, mention a few examples of that work within your sentences. Just don't create too many sentences (or super long sentences).

A candidate is applying for an Administrative Assistant role. Let's say problems to be solved in the JD included booking appointments, answering questions, using a multi line phone, explaining billing information,compiling business letters etc for medical staff and hospital patients. Part of your summary may therefore look like this:

"Experienced at providing customer service in all aspects of patient care including patient admissions, discharge and billing. Streamlined business communications with vendors and insurance companies by writing and proof reading business letters and emails on behalf of Administration."

Underlined phrases are examples of "I've done X/Y/Z with P/D/T" and a few examples effectively provide some context. These few sentences in addition to your "who" communicates the degree of value you bring to their company, in an attempt to solve their most pressing problems within that role. You are essentially saying "These strengths make me the best problem solver for your company."

List key skills

Look at the JD and my suggested list exercise to help you identify the hard and soft skills that are important. This is another way to highlight your strengths as well. See a skill is mentioned more than once in the JD? It's likely that it's not a typo, but a clue that it's definitely important and should be mentioned in your resume.

Be sure however that you are only listing the skills that you also are proficient in. claiming a skills that you have little to no experience in just because they were in the JD will come back to haunt you!

My personal listing recommendation is to present these as bullet points. Recruiters and Hiring Managers will spend mere seconds looking over your entire resume, and a bullet point list will be an easier read.

What If you have are skills or competencies that were not mentioned in the JD, but are still essential to your profession? By all means you can mention those as well to demonstrate your range of expertise, and impress the reader of your resume. Just make sure to still prioritize what was requested in the JD, by listing those first and foremost.

Use confident language

This important rule applies to your ENTIRE resume, and interview. I know that it's hard to brag on yourself without feeling like a jerk, but your resume is not the place to shy away from adjectives and verbs that depict a candidate who is a boss at what he or she does. Think of it this way: If you don't feel confident in your skills, why should employers give you a chance?

Adjectives: Your writing can be more confident if phrases and sentences include adjectives that accurately portray the significance of tasks and your problem solving abilities. Instead of just writing "meeting deadlines", you can describe those deadlines as "rigid" or "multiple". Get online or pull out a thesaurus to also find synonyms to adjectives commonly used by candidates to describe themselves as "experienced" or "motivated".

Too much repetition of the same adjectives makes for a less easy read (or quick skim), but there are many ways to positively describe you as a problem solver! For ideas on adjectives can make for powerful phrases, check this listing from Indiana university.

Action Verbs: These verbs are the to-the-point way of describing what you've done. I recommend starting your sentences with action verbs, throughout your entire resume whenever possible. The impact of that sentence will evoke the confidence needed from employers, resulting in a more likely to invitation to an interview. Check out this article from indeed.com for great examples of action verbs for your resume.

Here are 2 sentences trying to say the same thing.

-"Was responsible for posting social media campaigns in order to increase baked goods sales for small business bakers."

-"Increased online sales significantly for small business bakers by creating attractive and strategic social media campaigns."

Pretend you were the Recruiter for a moment. Which statement had more impact, and made you feel like this was coming from a candidate who really knew what they were doing? I am certain you picked the second one :) The use of adjectives and action verbs made this statement so much more confident! Avoid starting any description of your experience with "was responsible."

In conclusion, the Career Summary is a brief introduction to who you are and the value you bring. It's an average of 4 sentences that uses confident language effectively, with a concise list highlighting key skills. While it is part of your sales pitch, avoid saying that your goal is to find "a job" where "I can grow". While there is noting wrong with wanting personal growth on a personal level, the employer's main concern is to hire a problem solver and they are the customer in this sales deal.

My final tip for writing a great career summary if you are struggling? Leave the rough draft alone and come back to it after you've completed your "Work Experience" section which I am excited to break down in my next post. Sometimes when I have written resumes for others and they come from fields I am less familiar with, this tip, along with reading over that JD and a thesaurus helps me to crank one out.

I am looking forward to comments and questions? Did this post help? Or was it confusing? Make it a great day!