A good resume summary section makes two things clear:
- Your unique value
- Why you’re an ideal candidate
Writing a compelling resume summary is about emphasizing your top skills and the impact that you could have on the company in a few sentences. It entices the reader from the jump into wanting to read through the rest of your application.
In this guide, we’ll share how to write a resume summary as well as proven resume summary examples for different experience levels and industries.
What Is a Resume Summary?
A resume summary statement describes how you’re a good fit for the role in 3-4 sentences. It gives the reader an overview of your professional background and showcases your career highlights such as professional achievements, formal qualifications, and skills.
The purpose of your summary is to grab the reader’s attention by immediately showcasing how the company would benefit from your experience.
When to Include a Resume Summary Section
For the most part, everyone could include a summary section on their resume. However, there are 4 instances when it’s especially worth including.
You Have a Varied Work History
A varied work history means having multiple different job positions or industries in the work experience section. In this case, a summary section helps you tie everything together and state the exact value you have to offer.
You’re a Career Changer
In other words, you’re transitioning into an entirely different career or industry. Writing a resume summary about how your previous work experience is relevant allows you to directly showcase transferable skills.
You Have 5+ Years of Experience
Summarizing your years of experience into a concise paragraph can be beneficial to the recruiter. Give them an overview of your work history and highlight your top achievements so that the employer immediately sees what you’re capable of.
You Want to Highlight Your Expertise
When writing a resume, you may want to highlight specific details about your professional background such as technical skills or achievements. This makes a resume summary section ideal.
When to Not Include a Resume Summary
The resume summary should mostly be reconsidered when writing a resume with no work experience because there may not be enough to summarize. Aside from that, you may not have any new information to add since the details have already been implied through the contents of your resume or it could simply be a matter of personal preference.
Here are 3 times to reconsider including a resume summary.
Your Work History Says It All
A summary section isn’t always necessary when you have a consistent work history with no career gaps. Whether you want to highlight key skills or a particular accomplishment, it’s likely that you can include them in the work experience section instead.
Limited Space on Your Resume
Use the space on your resume to describe relevant skills and experience. For example, if you have a previous role to talk about that directly relates to the job position, it’s worth prioritizing this over the summary section to maintain a one-page resume.
No Relevant Work Experience
Swap out the resume summary section for the resume objectives section when you have no relevant work experience. Since there’s not much to summarize about your professional background, focus on showcasing career goals and how you align with the company culture.
How to Write a Resume Summary
The summary section goes at the top of your resume after the header section where you’ve listed your contact details. Write in third person and then apply the following steps to write an effective resume summary:
- State your professional job title
- Mention relevant experience or areas of expertise
- Include your biggest career accomplishments using data
- Make a direct value proposition
Mix and match bullet points 2-4 based on what you want to highlight the most to hiring managers. We’ll go through each step in more detail below.
Or Generate a Resume Summary in a Few Seconds
Another way to create a well-written resume summary is to try our resume summary generator. It’s one of our most loved features by job seekers that want to entice potential employers to continue reading their resumes.
Here’s how it works:
- Enter a job position you want to highlight
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You can sign up here to try our AI resume summary generator for free. Or, you could watch the short clip below to see how it works.
Anyway, let’s back to the step-by-step guide to writing a resume summary.
1. State Your Job Position
The first few words of the resume summary typically start with the job position you’re applying for. This is ideally the job position that represents most of your work history and is usually the same job title as the role you’re applying for.
It can be as simple as the following:
- Data scientist with…
- Marketing manager with…
- Software engineer with…
You could also add a few words to describe yourself as you mention your job position. However, don’t go overboard with your description (unless you have quantified achievements to back it up) because it may come across as arrogant.
Here’s a few examples:
- Advanced quality engineer with…
- Digital marketing and technical storyteller…
- Marketing leader obsessed with…
Or Start By Stating What You Specialize In
Another way to start your resume is to make a power statement on where you specialize or a particular outcome you’re focused on.
Here’s a few examples below:
- Retention expert focused on maximizing profits.
- Fearless problem solver with a specialization in high scale analytic workloads running on Microsoft SQL Server.
- Creative thinker who crushes problems using design. Experienced in UX and loves tackling design challenges from concept to product.
2. Prove Your Credibility
There’s a few ways to prove your credibility:
- State your years of experience
- Mention a career achievement using numbers
- Write about a significant job responsibility or task you carried out
Whenever you’re writing about professional accomplishments, make it tangible. Use data to make your points concrete and more convincing at first glance.
See the examples below:
- Product Manager with 4 years of extensive experience in SQL, Figma, and UI/UX.
- Full-stack developer with proven technical, organizational, and communication skills, working with Agile and designing software solutions.
- MCSE and AWS certified System Administrator with 5+ years of experience in system design and server operations management.
3. Write About Specific Skills and Abilities
Mention your areas of expertise. Whether it’s your analytical skills, managerial skills, or leadership skills, let the reader know where your strongest abilities and best qualities lie.
Here’s some examples:
- Strong understanding of data modeling, statistical methods, and predictive analytics using machine learning algorithms.
- Experienced in setting up email automation, segmentation, and list management.
- Specialized in growing tech and SaaS businesses.
4. Make a Value Proposition
The previous 3 steps is enough but if you want to add a bit more, end your summary section with a value proposition. In other words, either imply or directly address how you can bring value to the company you’re applying to (which should be tailored to the job description).
Here’s a few examples:
- Experienced in solving problems creatively and using tact and diplomacy to achieve win-win outcomes.
- Proven leadership skills to create a strong team dynamic and establish a strong brand voice.
- Specialized in business improvement, process optimization, and developing profitable strategies to help companies meet their goals.
5. 3 Sentences Is Ideal
4 sentences work but 3 sentences is ideal for showcasing your top relevant skills in the summary section. However, even 1-2 sentences can be more than enough.
Still, here’s an example of a 4-sentence resume summary which isn’t as common:
Impassioned software engineer with a knack for solving problems and bringing ideas to life with technology. Experience growing a team and implementing processes while converting a startup stack into a distributed enterprise solution. Proven leader on a high-caliber team in the fintech space, playing a key role in enabling our platform to achieve unicorn status. Eager to join Company X to build innovative solutions that help SMB founders win.
6. Play Around to See What Fits You Best
After completing your first draft, keep rewriting your resume summary until you’re happy with the result. Ultimately, how you structure your summary section comes down to preference and what the job description puts emphasis on. But, as long as you highlight a significant achievement as well as areas of expertise, you’re all good to go.
That said, you’ll notice how some resume summaries vary as we go through the examples below.
Professional Resume Summary Examples Based on Job Levels
We’ve listed a few professional summary examples below from our ATS resumes based on experience level:
- Students, recent graduates, and interns
- Career changers
- Entry-level and associate roles
- Mid-level and managers
- Seniors and executives
Resume Summary Examples for Students, Recent Graduates, and Interns
Showcasing soft skills is effective when writing a resume summary with limited experience. Or if you have any previous work experience that’s related to the job responsibilities, consider bringing this up first.
Anyhow, take inspiration from some of these examples to write a resume summary statement for your first job or internship role.
Biomedical Engineer Intern Resume Summary
Medical Scholar Relations Intern with 2 years of experience in administrative tasks and biomedicine. Expertise in a variety of administrative tasks and up-to-date on biomedical research.
Computer Engineering Student Resume Summary
Computer engineering student with experience in Robotics and skilled at Python, C, C++, MATLAB, VHDL, Verilog, Embedded C/C++, LATEX.
Corporate Rotational Graduate Resume Summary
Graduating from a 3-year rotational corporate study program and several extracurricular activities I've found joy in creating value for people by creating digital products. Analytical/structured person with a hands-on down to earth personality that loves to learn. Learning about emerging technologies and how they create value/impact for the consumer inspires me.
Management Student Resume Summary
MBA student with experience in real estate with the world's largest real estate network, Remax
Student Technical Assistant Resume Summary
Junior electrical and computer engineering student with a passion for robotics. A hard worker and a quick learner, I have experience with the electrical side of robotics work and am always excited to learn more.
Resume Summary Examples for Career Change Applicants
Take inspiration from these resume summary examples when you have gaps in your career timeline. However, these samples tie in more as a resume objective statement as opposed to a resume summary.
Mechanical Engineer to Project Consultant
Experienced Mechanical Engineering Executive looking to take the next step in my career as a project consultant.
Pharmacist to Medical Science Liaison
Pharmacist with 15 years of experience in best practices for balancing clinical reviews of medications. Seeking my first position as a medical science liaison with a growing pharmaceutical role.
Resume Summary Examples for Entry-Level and Associate Job Positions
This is for those of you with 1-3 years of experience looking to apply to an entry-level role or an associate job position.
English Language Teacher Resume Summary
Experienced educator and technology specialist with a passion for creating engaging and culturally responsive curriculum informed by universal design for learning.
Junior Software Engineer Resume Summary
Software engineer at Company B with 3 years of experience in computer science, software engineering, and Java. Extensive understanding of software development and data structures, including SQL and multi-threading. Applying for a position as Entry Level Software Engineer.
Legal Assistant Resume Summary
A highly motivated and confident self-starter, seeking to utilize acquired skills and experience in a paralegal position while contributing innovative ideas to achieve professional growth and progress.
Entry-Level Web Developer Resume Summary
Entry-level web developer with 2 years of experience in Python, HTML5, and React. Proven ability to create reusable components for an enterprise-level web application. Passionate about technology and building scalable web solutions.
Resume Summary Examples for Mid-Level Professionals and Managers
This is for those of you who have between 3-8 years of work experience.
Customer Support Team Lead Resume Summary
Experienced and highly motivated professional with a demonstrated history of working in the internet industry. A self-disciplined and goal-oriented individual who enjoys working with people. Passionate about building strong customer relationships, driving brand loyalty, and increasing customer engagement.
Finance Manager Resume Summary
Finance manager with 7 years of experience in the field of Supply Chain Finance and Inventory Management. Proven track record of increasing the profitability of companies through implementation of cost cutting measures while maintaining service quality.
IT Project Manager Resume Summary
IT project manager with 5+ years of experience in Project Management, Customer Service, Training and Operations.
International Marketing Manager Resume Summary
Marketing professional with 5+ years of experience in Marketing and Sales skilled at driving traffic and promoting brands.
Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer Resume Summary
Mechanical engineer with 3 years of experience in aerospace and spacecraft bus structure and hardware design using computer-aided design tools. Proven ability to deliver designs on time and within budget.
Resume Summary Examples for Seniors and Executive-Level Candidates
Here are some resume summary examples for executive-level applicants and seniors with over 8 years of formal work experience.
Chief Marketing Officer Resume Summary
Marketing professional with 10+ years of leadership experience in brand development, integrated media, digital marketing, content, influencer & social media marketing for startups to Fortune 500s and a proven track record in developing & implementing innovative multi-platform media & marketing strategies across key verticals including entertainment, digital media channels, lifestyle, and gaming.
Director of HR Resume Summary
HR Executive with xx years of hands-on experience across the public and private sectors. Demonstrated global leadership in large-scale, high-growth organizations, including implementing human resources solutions and policies. Proven track record of developing and managing robust, cross-functional teams.
Product Marketing Manager Resume Summary
Product marketing manager with 11 years of experience in managing products from initial conception to global distribution. Proficient in SQL, CSS, and HTML. Strong understanding of technical as well as commercial aspects of product management. Applying for the position of product marketing manager to create demand for innovative products.
Senior Data Analyst Resume Summary
Analytics Consultant with 11 years consulting experience, including 4 years experience delivering analytics solutions across European and Australian clients within the Financial Services, Government and Energy & Utilities industries.
Senior Engineering Manager Resume Summary
Senior Engineering Manager with over 20 years of experience in engineering leadership, team building, and software as a service while leading a direct and skip-level headcount of over thirty people. Proven record of success in scaling engineering teams, product development, and business operations and applying for a Director of Engineering level position to lead the growth of a company's engineering team.
Professional Resume Summary Examples Based on Industries
Now, we’ll share resume summary examples for a few different industries:
- Programming
- Marketing
- Engineering
- Finance
- Healthcare
- Design
Resume Summary Examples for Programming Jobs
Data Science Engineer Resume Summary
Data science engineer with 1 year of experience in visualizing data, Tableau, and SQL. Strong understanding of data management and data analysis. Proven ability to communicate effectively with clients and colleagues.
Front-End Engineer Resume Summary
Full-stack developer with proven technical, organizational, and communication skills, working with Agile and designing software solutions. Offering strong Vue skills and working experience with SQL(PostgreSQL), .NET Core, Javascript frameworks, and more.
Software Developer Resume Summary
Highly-skilled and motivated software engineer with 3 years of experience. Passionate about building world-class products through proven software development and engineering skills.
Resume Summary Examples for Marketing Jobs
Marketing Manager Resume Summary
Marketing professional with 5 years of extensive experience in paid ads, SEO, and social media. Proven understanding of scaling profitable marketing campaigns. Applying for the position of Marketing Manager to lead efforts through data analytics and technology.
SEO Specialist Resume Summary
Marketing professional with extensive experience in project management, social media marketing, and marketing segmentation. I am able to conduct dynamic research for marketing and branding initiatives. My work history includes developing and overseeing projects with focus on quality and efficiency. My skill sets include proficiency in Google Analytics and SEO to drive website traffic and increase brand engagement.
Social Media Manager Resume Summary
Social media manager with 2 years of experience creating, implementing and optimizing social media strategy for companies and brands. Relentlessly focused on generating new revenue through the use of social media.
Resume Summary Examples for Engineering Jobs
Facilities Engineer Resume Summary
Facilities Engineer with 4 years of experience in MATLAB, Microsoft Excel, LabView, Aspen HYSYS, SolidWorks, AutoCAD. Ability to perform detailed analysis of complex systems. Proven record of successfully improving operational efficiency by >20%.
Mechanical Engineer Resume Summary
Mechanical engineer with 3+ years of engineering experience with a focus on machine design. Demonstrated understanding of manufacturing process and ability to improve process efficiency. Proven work experience with product design and machine assembly.
VP of Engineering Resume Summary
VP of Engineering with 14 years of experience in software architecture and development. Proven track record of designing, building, and deploying complex software systems. Extensively involved in every step of the product development cycle.
Resume Summary Examples for Finance Jobs
Capital Markets Manager Resume Summary
Financial professional with 14+ years of experience, specializing in FP&A with broad exposure to banking, technology, and investments. Highly skilled in building financial models from scratch and creating automation to allow more time for analysis and less time compiling data. Passion for investing and the markets.
Investment Banking Resume Summary
Vice President with experience in providing strategic advice related to mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, restructuring and recapitalization, and raising capital in the debt capital markets.
Portfolio Manager Resume Summary
Executive with advanced degree in quantitative financial analysis. Managed $8 billion portfolio of fixed income investments including MBS, CMOs and high-grade municipal bonds that provide liquidity, interest income and balance sheet management.
Resume Summary Examples for Healthcare Jobs
Medical Assistant Resume Summary
Experienced Medical Assistant in helping with doctor care for patients by performing administrative and clinical tasks. Focused on taking patient histories, performing physical exams, taking vital signs, and preparing examination rooms while providing necessary support to the physician and the medical team.
Registered Nurse Resume Summary
Registered nurse with xx years of experience in cardiac and medical-surgical areas that transitioned into perioperative care through an internal PACU fellowship developing critical care knowledge and expertise. Actively involved in developing or improving processes within the unit that can improve workflow or patient satisfaction.
Resume Summary Examples for Design Jobs
Graphic Designer Resume Summary
Graphic Design leader that inspires and influences client and internal teams to create ground-breaking, compelling, end-to-end digital experiences that deliver measurable business and customer outcomes.
Senior Product Designer Resume Summary
Senior Product Designer with almost X years of experience in product design, user centered design, and design thinking. Passionate in developing innovative product solutions. Experienced in designing and developing user-centric products. Applying for this position to deliver exceptional customer experiences through user-centric design solutions.
User Experience Designer Resume Summary
User experience designer with 6 years of experience in HTML, CSS, Adobe Suite, Figma. Proven understanding of Search Engine Optimization and its impact on the user experience. Applying for the position of Sr. UI/UX Designer at Company X.
A Few More Resume Summary Examples
Research Assistant Resume Summary
A highly motivated and detail-oriented researcher with 5+ years of experience designing and executing complex functional assays with a particular focus on ion channel effects.
Field Supervisor Resume Summary
Proven ability to use leadership, innovative and critical thinking skills in the best viable way to successfully implement a company’s vision, initiatives, and goals. Strong interpersonal, organizational, and analytical management skills. Operations veteran with 9 years of experience and a proven understanding of operations management and analysis.
Video Editor Resume Summary
Video editor with experience in Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Final Cut pro, and other video editing software and also experience in working with video directors, art directors, account lead, and business partners, using my professional experience and technical knowledge to offer creative and technically appropriate solutions to meet business needs.
Key Takeaways
In short, here’s how to write a resume summary:
- State your job position followed by your top skills or years of experience
- Prove your credibility by highlighting career achievements
- Mention further areas of expertise
- Make a direct or subtle value proposition (optional)
The best resume summaries play to your professional strengths. This means focusing on how your top relevant skills will make a positive difference to the company you’re applying to.
All that being said, hopefully you’ve got some ideas from this guide as well as the resume summary examples listed.
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