What to Think About When Summarizing Your Career

Recruiters and human resources managers often have to look over dozens of resumes and job applications in one sitting, so they have become accustomed to skimming information rather than reading each word. If you want your resume to stand out, create a career summary that includes all of your major qualifications and achievements in succinct, readable snippets. Keep the following things in mind when writing a career summary to grab and maintain your reader's attention.

Your qualifications overview, also known as a summary of qualifications, is the first career summary section of your resume. It includes three to five sentences that detail your most relevant work experience, achievements and qualifications. One important thing to keep in mind about this section is that you want to use the terms "me," "I" and "myself" as little as possible.

Your career summary is not something that you want to copy and paste for each job application you submit. Instead, tailor the description to include the most relevant skills and experience for each job. Not only does this capture the attention of the reader, but it also shows that you care about the position for which you are applying.

When creating your career summary, remember that bullet points are much more visually appealing than paragraphs. After brainstorming a list of pertinent abilities and experience, choose those that are most important. If possible, combine two or more into one bullet point. Be sure to vary your wording, and opt for strong words like "create" over dull words like "make." Also keep in mind that concise sentences are not necessarily short, so do not cut out important information for the sake of a shorter career summary.

Although these tips are especially important for your career summary, you may apply them to the rest of your resume as well. Make sure that each section is both succinct and readable, and pay close attention to your wording. Keep in mind that your resume should be error-free. Carefully proofread your summary and the rest of your resume several times, and have someone else proofread it to catch any errors you missed or to identify potentially unclear statements.

In the age of technology, it is also important for your online presence to correspond with what you present in your resume. Copy your career summary onto your LinkedIn profile and other professional platforms to show recruiters that you keep up-to-date with your social media.

If you are having trouble coming up with items for your summary of qualifications, remember that you can include broad terms detailing positive attributes like honesty, creativity and a good work ethic. Keep your career summary succinct and interesting to help it stand out and communicate to the reader who you are as a person and a professional.

(Photo: "Pile of Papers" by Jen Gallardo on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)