The first section of your resume should be your professional summary, a short and engaging pitch about yourself!
The professional summary is also often referred to as a:
- Professional Summary Statement
- Summary of Qualifications
- Professional Statement
- Professional Profile
- Executive Summary
- Personal Summary
- Career Summary
- Skills Summary
- About Me
- Profile
Note that while the names given to these sections may differ, the purpose of the section remains the same: to provide a brief overview of your skills, experience, and qualifications that make you the best fit for the job you are applying for.
A professional summary is not an objective statement, career outlook, career objective or goal statement. In fact, objective statements and its various variations offer very little value and are best left off your resume.
Related: Why You Shouldn’t Use an Objective Statement
Contents
What makes an effective Professional Summary?
An effective professional summary is one that gets the rest of your resume read! Ultimately, this is your goal.
The role of the professional summary is not to land you an interview. That is the job of your resume and application as a whole.
Simply, you want to provide enough information to convince the potential employer that your resume should be read. It should be short and engaging.
Immediately engaging; the reality is that many recruiters will not prioritise professional summaries; instead, they will go directly to your career history and qualifications section.
If it is too long, this will increase the likelihood that it won’t be read. So, short and engaging.
Also, don’t forget the fundamentals of a powerful resume; it should be persuasive, targeted, and authentic.
Related: How to Write an Authentic Resume
Related: Targeting & Keyword Optimisation
What to Include in Your Short and Engaging Pitch About Yourself for Your Resume
Your professional summary should cover these four points:
- POSITION TITLE: Include your position or function tile. If you can use the title of the role you are applying for, this will be stronger (This will increase your chances of being identified as a suitable candidate by the Applicant Tracking System)
- EXPERIENCE: Set out your years and breadth of experience relevant to the role.
- ACHIEVEMENTS: Highlight any relevant awards or achievements
- STRENGTHS: Provide insight into your key strengths. An effective professional profile will use specific examples or evidence to support these claims.
You can set this out in any order within your professional profile, but these key points should be covered.
Most importantly, the content should be aligned with the position you are applying for. A generic pitch is going to be ineffective.
The best and easiest way to write a professional summary is to pitch it directly to the role you are applying for.
Indeed, each professional summary you write will have some common elements. Still, no summary will be more effective than the one you write specifically for the role you are applying for.
Questions To Help Determine Your Strengths
Here is a brainstorming activity to help you define your strengths.
With the requirements of the role in mind, consider these questions:
- What tasks or activities come naturally to you and leave you energised and engaged? How can you translate these skills into valuable contributions in a work setting?
- What challenges or obstacles have you faced in previous roles or projects? How have you overcome them, and what have you learned about yourself through those experiences?
- What feedback have you received from previous managers, colleagues, or clients about your strengths and areas for improvement? How can you leverage this feedback to enhance your performance and add value to a new employer?
- What unique experiences, knowledge, or perspectives do you bring to the table that could differentiate you from other candidates? How can you use these qualities to contribute to the company’s goals and culture?
- In what situations do you feel most confident and capable? What specific skills or qualities do you draw on in those moments?
- What are some examples of projects or tasks you’ve accomplished that you’re particularly proud of? How did you approach those challenges, and what did you learn from them?
- What are some of the key values or traits that are important to you in a workplace or professional setting? How do these values align with the culture and goals of the companies or industries you’re interested in?
Need more help? Try: Personal SWOT Analysis at Mind Tools
How To Write a Short and Engaging Professional Summary
Now that you have defined your strengths, you must communicate this within your professional profile.
You can present your professional summary in a multitude of different ways. The key is to make sure it is concise and engaging.
To achieve this, you should concentrate on the following:
- Clear and concise language: Writing that is easy to understand and succinct will make it more engaging for the reader.
- A strong opening: A compelling opening sentence will immediately grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to keep reading.
- Storytelling: Telling a story or using anecdotes can be a powerful way to engage the reader and keep them interested.
- Relevant and interesting content: Content that is relevant to the role and interesting to the reader will them engaged.
- Personalisation: Writing that speaks directly to a potential employer or addresses their specific needs will be more engaging than generic writing.
You can structure your summary as a bullet list, a paragraph, or a combination.
Avoid using big or too many paragraphs, remembering that the goal is to keep it concise.
Professional Summary Examples
A Note on Resume Writing Conventions: The examples provided show different approaches to writing your resume. That is, varying degrees of ‘resume writing speak’ (or resume writing conventions). For example, writing in first-person implied (leaving out pronouns), eliminating articles (a, an, the), or using short sentences. Your resume should have an authentic voice. Therefore, the best approach is the one that feels genuine for you. For more information, see Resume Writing Conventions.
Business Development Executive
For more than five years, I have driven business and brand growth as Business Development Executive for XYZ Company. Starting in sales eight years ago, I quickly established my strength in identifying and capitalising on opportunities and advanced rapidly through multiple levels of the organisation. As a Business Development Executive, I have achieved results via my ability to bring together high-performance teams and create a culture of performance, accountability and commitment. My highlights include the following:
➼ Achieving 38% sales growth in 2022 by driving a critical strategic change to the business
➼ Driving internal restructuring, replacing the customer team with an inbound sale team
➼ Exceeding $1 million in sales for a single month; the first sales lead to achieve
IT Project Manager
A collaborative and can-do IT Project Manager, I have over ten years of end-to-end project lifecycle experience, including setting up project management frameworks. As a leader, I create a compelling project vision, clearly define expectations and set controls and risk mitigation to support quality results. My career highlights included heading large-scale digital transformation for ABC Company and spearheading the introduction of an enterprise management system at XYZ Big Business. By taking an outcome-focused approach to delivering end-to-end business transformation projects, I have established a reputation for achieving successful outcomes.
Accountant
Innovative CPA-qualified Accountant with over ten years of financial accounting experience across the not-for-profit, multi-national and public sectors. Key areas of expertise include month-end processes, general ledger reconciliation, BAS lodgement, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, budgeting and business analysis, regulatory compliance, and financial and management reporting. Demonstrates strong professional drive and financial acumen that generates innovative, commercially focused insights, analysis and recommendations for business problems.
For more examples: Example Personal Summary
