How to write a Resume Summary (Sample included)?

A resume summary statement outlines who you are professionally and gives a hiring manager a brief overview of what you can offer to their company. If you get this part of your resume right, it will encourage the recruiter to read the rest of your resume. In this section, you need to focus on what relevant experience and skills you can bring to the hiring company.

Hiring managers do not spend more than 5-6 seconds to scan a resume because they have to go through hundreds of job applications everyday. If your resume, especially the summary statement, is not short and crisp, it can easily get ignored. Therefore, it is important to customize the resume summary in 2-4 lines, summarizing your skills, experience and achievements to align them with the job requirements.  

A tailored summary that fits the job description works as a teaser for the rest of your resume because it captures the most relevant and elated details of your career.

Essential Tips To Write Resume Summary

• Mention your professional title, key certification (if applicable), and years of experience at the beginning of the summary. Highlight 2-3 most relevant achievements and skills.

• While writing your resume, take time to reflect upon your career and think about what you love most about your job, the brightest moments of your career, and achievements that you are proud of. Write your answers in bullet points on your resume. In the end, summarize the best few points in 2-3 lines to add to your resume summary.

• Include some keywords from the job description and match your achievements with the requirements of the role you are applying for. It is of no use to add those great skills and achievements which do not match the job description.

• It is always helpful to quantify your achievements in a resume. Give numbers, if possible, in your summary to support your statements. So, instead of writing “managed a big project”, you may say “managed a big project with a budget of HKD 5million”. Also, it will be more impactful to write “efficiently managed and trained a large team of over 20 members”, instead of writing “efficiently managed and trained a large team”,

• It is recommended and easier to write your resume summary after you have finished writing the rest of your resume so that you have all the key ingredients ready. Now, you will just need to pick up a few most relevant and impressive achievements, preferably quantified achievements, to sum up what you can offer to the hiring organization.

Sample Summary Statements with Customizable and Essential Tips

1. Business Development Manager

Tips:

• Professional Title: Business Development Manager
• Experience: 12 Years
• Key Skills: Result oriented, Business Acumen, Strategic Thinking, Communication, analytical, and negotiation skills.
• Quantified Achievements: Successfully added 350 revenue generating outlets in last four years and exceeded business Revenue Plans by 2% year on year.

2. HR Manager

Tips:

• Professional Title: HR Manager
• Experience: 7 years
• Key Skills: strong communication, leadership and team management skills
• Quantified Achievements: Built, trained and motivated a team of over 150 technical associates. Enhanced employee retention by 20% in two years.

3. Senior Marketing Manager

Tips:

• Professional Title: Senior Marketing Manager
• Experience: 10 years
• Key Skills: Strong communication and networking skills in addition to attention to detail.
• Quantified Achievements: Efficiently managed HKD 3 million annual budget with full accountability

4. Office Manager

Tips:

• Professional Title: Office Manager
• Experience: 10 Years
• Key Skills: excellent time management skills, ability to multi-task and prioritise work
• Quantified Achievements: Reduced expenditure by 30% through inventory control and negotiating supply contracts in addition to developing paperless environment.

5. Senior Software Engineer

Tips:

• Professional Title: Senior Software Engineer
• Experience: 9 Years
• Key Skills: innovative and results-oriented
• Quantified Achievements: Assisted sales team in translating user needs into easy to understand software solutions resulting in closing 5 major deals generating over HKD 3 million in revenue.

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