When it comes to writing a professional summary statement, most job seekers suffer from Blank Page Syndrome — staring at the computer screen, not knowing where to start. What an overwhelming feeling!
This series, “How to Write a Solid Summary Statement for Your Resume,” will cure you of that.
If you haven’t read Part One: Job Description and STAR, please go check that out to learn why a summary is so crucial in representing yourself professionally. In that first post, I explain the first two steps for writing your resume summary.
Step One: Find a job description and Step Two: Explore your career successes are important concepts to understand before proceeding to Step Three: Write the sections of your resume summary. When you start to write the sections of your resume summary, you’ll want to have done the necessary prep work to develop high-quality content.
Once you know what job the summary is targeting and have achievements identified to include in your content, you’re ready to begin writing the summary. In this post, I’ll introduce the sections of a resume summary statement and explain the first (and easiest) part of the summary, the job title line. Examples are included so you can see what this looks like.
Step 3: Write the sections of your resume summary.
There are five main components of a summary statement. From the list below, you’ll want to use at least #1, listing a job title on your resume, and #2, writing a summary paragraph or bullet points. The last three sections are often optional depending on your situation and industry. These five components include:
1. Job title
2. Summary paragraph or bullet points
3. Branding statement
4. Technical skills or areas of expertise
5. Quote
Following are the steps for writing each of these five parts.
Step 3.1: Determine your job title.
Lead off your summary statement by telling the hiring manager what position you’re interested in. Having your desired job title front and center underneath your name makes your intentions clear right off the bat.
Many people omit this line, and that leaves human resources guessing what role you want. This situation could lead to confusion on their part (not the best first impression to make) or on yours when you’re called for an interview for a position you don’t remember applying for.
What words do you use for the job title line?
More than just the name of a position (the minimum amount of information for this section of the summary), the job title line can contain additional terms to describe the job you seek.
The job title line can include details about:
What you do and/or what position you’re applying for (Customer Service Representative, Registered Nurse)
Your level of experience (Associate, Director, Intern)
What industry or part of an industry you’re in (Retail Sales, Cardiac ICU, Cloud Operations, Financial Services)
Other helpful information about the job or your skills (Remote, Accounting Specialty)
Example job title lines using these details:
- Retail Sales Associate
- Customer Service Representative: Remote
- Registered Nurse (RN) | Cardiac ICU
- IT Director: Cloud Operations
- Financial Services Intern | Accounting Specialty
If the new position you’re applying for is the same as what you’re currently doing, the title on your resume will either be your old title or similar to it. Using the prospective employer’s wording will your goal obvious to the hiring manager.
The title line doesn’t have to be limited to just one title, however. You can include more than one name for the same job, especially if you’re in an industry where companies use different language to describe the same position. For example, when applying for sales jobs, some applicants write both Sales Representative / Sales Associate instead of using one or the other.
Of course, you should tailor the title line to what the job listing states as the official name for the job, but I’ve seen job descriptions where companies use similar titles interchangeably in the same posting. Using both names may help you with the ATS screening.
If your job title has an acronym, such as in medical fields, you want to use the spelled-out title and the abbreviation in your job title line. The hiring manager could be searching for either. You can see how this is done in the example above, where I used the job title Registered Nurse (RN).
Occasionally companies will create job titles with unique names to stand out and appeal to jobseekers. For example, “Client Happiness Hero,” “Digital Overlord,” and “Retail Jedi” come up as actual positions when you Google “weird job titles.” If it doesn’t feel authentic to use the name listed in the job description, go with your gut and use the terms that most honestly describe what you do. Or list both. You can change it for each opportunity. Always write a cover letter to clarify exactly which job you’re applying for.
If you’re transitioning to a different position or new field, the title should reflect what you’re aspiring to do. Resumes are future-focused documents. Don’t worry if you haven’t held that position or worked at that level yet. The job titles in the experience section of your resume will tell the whole story of your career trajectory. From that, the hiring manager will see why you’re applying for this new role.
Once you’ve decided what you want to say on your job title line, consider the design of your resume and where you want to place it for the biggest impact.
Where do you put the job title line?
Although you could have the job title on the same line as your name, it’s most often found below your name and contact information and above the summary paragraph. It can be centered or pushed to the right or left, depending on how you format your resume.
Here’s how the job title line commonly looks:
When you use more than one title or include other descriptors, separate them with the pipe symbol ( | ) for a clean look. This symbol is found directly above the enter key on your keyboard and is made by hitting the shift and backslash keys at the same time. Here’s how it looks to use a pipe to divide phrases:
Another instance where you may want to have more than one title is if the company isn’t officially hiring but you’re networking your way in, and they could possibly create a position for you. They may not know what to call it yet. Having multiple titles can show different ways you could fit into the company.
If you’re looking for something in a specific sector, you can include the industry or industries in your job title line. Here’s how that might look:
Including your level of experience, industry, and other additional terms in your job title makes it more specific and shows the hiring manager that you’re a match for the position and company. Once you’ve settled on the best words for your job title line, you’re ready to tackle writing the next part of your summary — the summary paragraph or bullet points.
Head over to the next post in this series for Step #3.2: Structure Your Summary Paragraph or Bullet Points. I’ll provide instructions and examples for writing a solid summary statement that will help the hiring manager see what stellar candidate you are for the job.
Want to have all six posts on this topic in one convenient e-book? Download “How To Write a Solid Summary Statement for Your Resume.” (Coming soon.)
Need personal assistance with your resume or job search? Book a complimentary consultation today.
Kristin S. Johnson, CJSS, CCMC, COPNS, CG3C, CBBSC
Job Search Coach and Resume Writer
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