Get The Job You Want: Writing A Professional Summary

In today’s job market, employers rely on well-written resumes as primary screening for potential candidates. In many instances, employers use job-search web sites to find candidates with the skills, education and experience that fit their needs. These employment-search web sites generally require candidates to upload their resume in order to express interest in a specific opportunity.As well, many companies now have online application forms that job-seekers are asked to fill out if they wish to be considered.

Without an opportunity to send a personal email, or a cover letter, you have to ensure that your resume directly and clearly expresses how you can be of benefit to the company, as well as listing your education, work history, and professional achievements.

To make up for the lack of that introductory cover letter, you might want to include a professional profile, or personal summary, at the beginning of your resume, right after your statement of objective . This allows you to market yourself to your potential employer - to sell them on your particular abilities, as well as letting them get a good feel for your communication skills.

A professional summary should provide your potential employer with some an insight into what is unique about you, and what fits with their company.

Personal information that includes racial or marital status, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and religious or political affiliations, should not appear in your resume. Though it may say a lot about who you are, it is not relevant to in terms of employment.

Many countries have enacted privacy policies that prohibit the collection of this or similar information that could be used to pre-screen a job candidate on an unfair basis.

Additionally, the summary should clearly demonstrate how your previous professional experience can be of value to their company. Avoid generic statements, such as “I am well organized and detail oriented.”

Such statements do not demonstrate either of these things to your potential employer. Using such general comments about your abilities sends the message that you are either a poor communicator or are using such statements to pad your resume. It is much better to state achievements from previous jobs that clearly show these things.

Your summary should be in form of a short paragraph, or bulleted statements, and contain only a few key sentences. As a rule it should occupy about one quarter of your first page.Anything more than that is too long, and should be condensed.

Your summary could contain a bulleted list highlighting a few choice skills that you bring to the table - skills that directly fit what the potential employer is seeking.

There are three things a well-written summary should address:

• The job experience that relates directly to the job you are seeking, or to your ideal job
  
• Special and specific skills you can bring to the organization and the position for which you are applying
• Your professional goals - what you want to achieve in this organization
  

Your summary should be written in third person, referring to you as "he" or "she". If you have trouble writing about yourself in this way, think about your summary as if it were being written about you by a colleague - preferably someone who likes your work. Remember to highlight the specific experiences and skills that meet your career objective with the company to which you are applying .

One way to begin is with a headline that sums up your summary - your professional statement. It is important that this title be well crafted and straight-forward, as it is the first impression your potential employer will have of you. Here is one place you can add emphasis by featuring the headline in bold and slightly larger font.

Here's an example of an effective summary:

Management Professional achieves top sales by maximizing employee retention

Successful management professional with over 10 years of experience as manager of flagship, A-level outlet in national Arts and Crafts chain. Instituted training and incentive programs for permanent and part-time employees which increased employee retention over 45% following holiday period. Led chain in first quarter sales and overall percentage increase four years running. Leader in development and professional growth of junior management staff through effective mentoring strategies.

Key competencies include:

• Proven effective motivational skills
• Market forecasting
• Sales campaign initiative co-ordination
• Developed and implemented on-going professional growth strategies

As with your resume, your summary should be well-written and free from errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Review your summary each time you apply for a position, and make sure it fits as closely as possible with the company to which you are applying.

An effective summary will grab the interest of your potential employer, making them sure that by giving you the interview, they have their strongest chance to land the very best candidate for their job opening.

© 2010, Text by Imelleda, All rights reserved