Ok, so we all know objectives are out and career summaries are in but let’s go into a little more depth about what constitutes a good career summary. A career summary should do three things:
- It should tell the employer exactly what you are qualified to do.
- It should tell the employer exactly what you want to do.
- It should be captivating, powerful, and concise.
I could probably add a fourth one in there about keywords but that is a whole other blog post. For now let’s focus on these three things.
Number 1. Without coming out and saying I’m a qualified Project Manager, your career summary should tell the employer what you are qualified to do. For example, take the following statement “Award-winning sales strategist with 10 plus years expertise in Contract Negotiation, New Product Launch, and Sales Lifecycle Management.”
See how I dropped in three industry specific keywords, while also telling the employer that my client was so great at their job they had won awards without having to spend two sentences telling them what awards? It is important to hone in on keywords that are relevant to the position you’re trying to get, make sure to put those in your career summary. And just think you still have 3-5 more sentences to wow them!
Number 2. They should be able to tell what you want to do. Don’t come out and say I want a job as a Customer Service Rep with ABC Inc. Instead, focus the entire career summary on what you are qualified to do, but related to that position. If in your career you’ve been in IT, Sales, and Healthcare, don’t relate all that info in the career summary unless all three apply to the particular position (i.e. You’re applying for a job with a Healthcare Sales company as their network analyst). Instead, pick a course and follow it. Ok, so now you don’t want to do IT or Healthcare, now you only want to work in Sales. Make your entire career summary about your Sales Experience and expertise. Don’t delve into all the dirty details about every single job you have ever had if it doesn’t apply to the position you want now.
Number 3. Captivate your audience, use powerful statements, but don’t be too wordy, be concise. The career summary should be 3-5 sentences long, no more, no less. Tell the audience about yourself, use unique descriptors, strong action verbs, and industry specific keywords. Do not use “I” statements, don’t give them your life story, and do not provide information that is not related to the position you are applying to.
Here’s a tip: Have three different career summaries geared towards three different positions. Then you can cut and paste and use them as you need to without having to recreate the wheel every time you want to apply to a different position.
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About Jessica: Jessica Holbrook is a former Executive Hiring Manager for Fortune 500 companies and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates powerful, customized, and targeted resumes that are guaranteed to get her clients interviews. For a free resume analysis visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com or for a free phone consultation call 1.877.875.7706. |
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
This was pretty helpful, thanks- just curious- if your career spans 30 years, and you have, in fact covered many positions in a particular field (mine is apparel) do you still keep your career summary to 3-5 sentences? I understand having different versions to use for different jobs- as I already have different resumes for that purpose.
Bonnie if you’re apply for managerial position you can stretch your resume to 2 pages but your summary should still be at 3-5 sentences, just keep up with relevant qualifications. Too long and missed some keywords then the hiring managers would trash your application, remember that they only have 15-30 seconds to skim through your application. Now how to write a resume after summary? Just keep it clean and professional. No grammar errors, no I and me statement too, and use specific figures when you can.
That was great Jessica. Can you review my resume? I am a resume writer too but would like your opinion.
You’ve done a good job of describing what should be in it, but I’m still interested in the answer to the title of the article: “Why?” thx