Key Components Of A Resume,
Part 13
(What To Include And
What Not To Include In Your Resume)
7 Resume
Writing Companies Wrote Resumes For ONE Client - See Who Did
The Best Job!
Importance of Career Summary
In addition to providing depth to the resume, a career
summary provides a one great opportunity of including extra
resume keywords. Most employers are now using ATS (applicant
tracking systems) and these systems rank candidates by the
keywords used in the resumes. For instance, if one is to
search “strategic planning”, the applicant with the resume
containing the most number of that keyword will be the one
ranked highest. Following that line of thought, it would
mean that the career summary part is also the ideal place to
write the job title as listed on the company’s job
description. This is a good way of making sure that the
resume is going to show up in case the potential employer or
hiring manager search for the position they are filling up.
Adding the Career Summary to the Resume
As mentioned above, the career summary should follow the
Personal Information part. It should be short and concise,
with three to six sentences or bullet points. It should
specify your accomplishments and experience without going
into too much details. When writing a resume, make sure that
every item included is relevant to the position you are
targeting. You want the summary to catch attention and not
bore the reader, so do not make it too long. There are other
parts of your resume that would be more ideal for other
things that you have to say.
What to Include in your Career Summary
There are some words (and phrases) that should be included
in your career summary. There are, of course, some words to
be avoided including too in resume writing. Adjectives like
motivated, reliable and hard-working work well in general;
you can stick to them or you can be a little more creative.
When writing a resume, do not forget to include the number
of years you have been working as what your title says. For
example: Reliable, motivated and hard-working IT Support
Specialist with five years of experience (then insert
specific duties – like in providing skilful, thorough and
quality supports to clients). In that sentence, you are able
to convey that you have valuable qualities that are backed
up by sufficient number of years of experience in a
particular field that is relevant to the job you are
applying for, and that you have done duties that are
specific to your job description. Basically, that short
summary conveys, positive qualities, years of work and scope
of experience. Try to avoid being too much descriptive of
what you know in regards with skills and knowledge on things
that are irrelevant to what the company is looking for. For
instance, your expertise in public speaking is not something
that would impress a hiring manager of a company that is
looking for technology experts. Despite the fact that such
skill is applaudable (since not many people have the
confidence to speak in front of big audiences) if it is not
relevant, skip it. Tailoring the career summary to the job
position is important. Before you start writing a resume it
is best to do a little research on the company. This is
important especially if you are not sure about the relevance
of your skills, knowledge and accomplishment. Focus on the
job posting and check the description and qualifications for
the specific job position. Look into the organization’s
mission statement too, as that will provide you with an
opportunity to align yourself with their values and goals.
Writing a resume should also focus on highlighting all of
the information that are relevant to the position that you
would like. If you are applying for more than one position
or career field, use a separate summary for each position to
ensure that you stay on topic.
Following Through
Lastly, you have to make sure that you can support all the
things you’ve laid out in the career summary, throughout the
resume and in the interviews. Do not just talk the talk; be
sure that you can also walk the walk. If you are going to
write about learned and certified skills, you’d better have
the certifications ready for that. Sharing the most
impressive qualification you have is the main objective of
writing a career summary. You should be able to advertise
who and what you are – what you know and what you are
capable of. Making yourself look valuable is vital. It is
not just you who are applying for the position; there are
probably hundreds of other hopefuls. Do your best to stand
out, start with an effective, impressive and well-crafted
career summary.
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