Summary Statement

Your Summary Statement is an element of your written resume.  It is a synopsis of your work experience, particularly accomplishments related to both general and specific areas of your professional expertise.

Here’s a summary of the skills you will develop in creating your Summary Statement:

• A concise, high-level view of your individual and team accomplishments and your progression
• Examples of your character in the form of your three key strengths
• Avoiding the use of Objective Statements in your resume since they are generally ignored by a hiring manager

The Summary Statement features accomplishments wherever possible, even when you may not recognize or see obvious examples in the work you have done.  Think about written or unwritten performance expectations or organizational objectives you have achieved individually or collectively as a team member and use these as a guide to express your accomplishments.

This is your opportunity to express your three key strengths, as described in Skillset: Rules of the Road: Your understanding of the big picture, your ability to create effective working relationships, and your applicable work ethics.

Applying examples of these in your Summary Statement adds a strong degree of character that goes beyond your skillset and experience.  It represents the qualities and character a hiring manager is looking for, which do not appear in the list of competencies and skillsets.

Objective Statements

I do not recommend the use of an Objective Statement, which you may have seen in sample resumes or have used in a previous version of your own resume.  An Objective Statement usually reads something like this: “I’m looking for a challenging opportunity in a dynamic company that will allow me to further develop my skills and knowledge…”

This is simply jargon and says nothing about you as a job candidate. Most recruiters and hiring managers recognize it is formulaic, filler, and ignore it, unless your objective is very specific. Connect your experience and expertise to the potential job under discussion and demonstrate you are qualified to meet the requirements.

In my experience, conducting surveys and dealing directly with hiring managers at all levels, the final decision is most often made based on the character of the candidate, rather than on the weight of their skillset and experience.

The mechanics of what makes a good candidate is very closely related to the Three Key Strengths.  Once the candidates have been vetted for basic qualifications, what matters to the hiring manager is the character of the individual; the ability to navigate the environment, collaborate, understand the big picture, negotiate, and finish tenaciously.

See updates and tips for the Summary Statement in my Source Blog segment, and details in my upcoming book: Job Hunting – Launching to Landing.