How To Create an Effective Resume Summary

A resume summary and a cover letter are two very different things. Cover letters provide a much more expansive understanding of who you are and how you can benefit a company, and they’re part of what you’ll provide during a job search. They typically take up an entire page, and offer more information on a variety of your professional achievements, including a number of different competencies and metrics.

However, a resume summary is different. A resume summary is like a mini-cover letter that only goes on your resume. Here, you’re only going to highlight your most impressive professional experiences and skills. More details of your track record can go into your cover letter.

While you can use a resume summary for an entry-level job, some jobs emphasize more experience than higher-level jobs. Here’s how a good resume summary may look for a high-level marketing manager:

• Self-motivated, natural leader with over 10 years’ experience managing marketing concerns for Fortune 500 companies. Worked with American Express on a $10 million award-winning omnichannel marketing campaign that improved sales by 24% over a year. Excited to move forward with ResumeHelp as the lead point on digital marketing and advertising.

Contrast that example, which prioritizes specific skills and experience, with a summary you might submit for a marketing internship right out of college:

• Self-motivated, adept learner with a desire to learn and grow as part of ResumeHelp’s marketing and advertising team. Graduated Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Marketing in the top 10% of the class. Extensive experience with marketing projects, winning two scholarships centered around customer satisfaction and e-commerce initiatives.

Note how your major achievements are still the focus, but these achievements are slightly different. Sure, graduating in the top 10% of the class might not look as exciting as managing a $10 million marketing campaign, but an intern’s experiences won’t be as robust as high-level marketing manager’s. A manager resume will look different from an internship resume, but both can be effective. It’s all about making sure you interest the hiring manager enough to look at the rest of your resume.

ATS, which stands for Applicant Tracking Systems, is a type of software that employers use to screen resumes before they even make it to a hiring manager’s desk. This type of software is looking for specific keywords in your resume; if it doesn’t find them, you’re less likely to get a job interview offer, or your resume might get discarded right there.

How do you avoid this? The simple answer: look at the job listing and do whatever you can to utilize many of the same keywords in your resume summary as you see in the job listing. If the job listing notes that it’s looking for a “problem-solving innovator with a skill set based around patient care,” you want to utilize the keywords “problem-solving,” “innovative,” and “patient care” in your resume summary. Look at the job listing, try to identify keywords in it, and then use those keywords in your resume summary, while matching them to your own skills and experience.

A resume objective will describe your professional goals as well as your qualifications for the job you’re applying for. The main difference is that in a summary, the emphasis will be on work experience rather than your goals.

Generally, you’ll want to use a resume objective statement if you’re looking to make a career change or are a first-time job seeker. If you have the skill set necessary for a new job, but you don’t have much experience, a resume objective may be best, as it places your skills front and center, and explains how you plan to use them.

On the other hand, if you can stand out from other job seekers in your arena because of your experience, it’s best to go for a resume summary.

While it may seem daunting, it’s a good idea to write a new resume summary for every job you apply to. No two jobs are exactly alike, and you’ll want to update your summary to meet the requirements of each job. Plus, the keywords each company uses for its ATS scanning will be different depending on their job listings, which means you need to update your keywords for every summary.

Lastly, hiring managers and recruiters are going to notice if you have a resume summary that’s cookie-cutter and doesn’t directly address their needs. The more you personalize your resume summary to specific job listings, the more likely recruiters are going to want to call you back, because you’re demonstrating you’ve done your research on that job.

If you want to make sure your resume provides everything you need to get hired, make sure you use ResumeHelp’s resume builder. Combined with the professional resume summary examples you’ll find here, these resume templates will help you create a resume summary, and resume, that really shines.