Resume – Page 20 – TP Javeton WebNet

To Write the Professional Summary of a Resume

Your resume-projected personality

Employers rely on well-written resumes to screen potential job candidates, as well as to determine how they will fit into their work environments; especially in today’s competitive job market where, in many instances, employers look through job search web sites such, as HotJobs.com and Monster.com, to find job applicants with the skills, education, experience and professionalism that fit their staffing needs.

These employment search web sites, along with many of the hiring companies’ own online applications, require candidates to upload their resumes in order to express interest in a specific position. Without an opportunity to send a personal email or a cover letter, a job applicant must make sure that the resume s/he uploads expresses his/her personality in addition to listing professional and educational experiences and achievements.

Adherence to this guideline will mean that the applicant must include a professional profile or summary to begin the uploaded resume. This allows said applicant to market him/herself through a narrative. If, for example, you are the applicant in search of a position that meets your requirements and suits your qualifications; this section will allow your potential employers to learn something unique about you and your career, as well as to get a good feel for your communication skills.

Exclude non-career related personal info

To write an effective summary, you should first understand what information should not be communicated in your resume. While a summary provides an insight into what is unique and competitive about you, it is not a place for you to convey any personal information (PI) that does not relate to your career. Information such as ethnicity, marital status, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and affiliations, etc. should be left out of your resume.

While descriptive of who you are, this information is not relevant to your potential employer for the purpose of pre-screening your qualifications for their opportunity. Additionally, the summary should not contain your previous professional experience, unless you can clearly demonstrate how such background can be of value in your future career development.

Beware of generic statements such as, “I am well organized and detail oriented” since employers want to hear your unique voice and get a sense of your communication skills while reading the summary portion of your resume. So using generalizations about your abilities will lead potential employers to believe that you are either a poor communicator or are using such statements to fill up space on your resume.

Big, bold, well-crafted, professional you!

Your summary should be in the form of a short paragraph, or bulleted statements containing only several sentences; and while there isn’t a sentence limit, as a rule this should not use up more than one quarter of the page. More specifically, your summary should begin by a headline that summarizes your professional title and/or your professional statement, while emphasizing your title by featuring the headline in bold and larger font, as it allows your potential employer to grasp who you are in a direct and succinct manner.

Consider, for example, the following structure:

Financial Planning Professional
Achieved Double-Digit Return for All Clients through Well-Balanced Financial Portfolios

It is also important that this title is well crafted, as it is the first impression your potential employer will have of you. Keep in mind that there are three things a well-written summary should address:

Your experiences and skills as they relate to your ideal job
What you can bring to the organization and the open position that no other candidate can…and;
Your professional goals

Even though your resume summary is written by you, it should be composed in third person vernacular and present tense; and as such it should be thought of as a summary of what one of your best colleagues would say about your professional achievements. It is also important to reinforce your title, and sell only the experiences and skills that meet your career objective.

Customize, review, upload, hook, done!

If you have multiple career objectives such as, you wish to get a position in either marketing or public relations, you should develop separate resume summaries for each of the objectives. A summary can also include a brief bulleted section highlighting only a few vital competitive skills that you bring to the table. An example of an effective summary would be as follows:

Successful financial planning professional with over 15 years of personal and retirement planning experience. Managed a small financial planning firm, achieving double-digit financial returns for all clients by developing personalized investment portfolios. Leader in development and professional growth of four other financial planners in the firm through effective and motivating mentoring strategies.

Key competencies include:

Personalized portfolio development
Financial forecasting
Retirement portfolio management
Development on-going professional growth strategies

Much like your overall resume, your summary should be well-written and error-free; and you make sure to review your summary and customize it as necessary for the various opportunities of interest. An effective summary will help you “hook” your employer, and it should sell you as a primary candidate for the particular job, while leaving your employer with a great first impression of you.

Structure and Objective of an Internship Resume

Aligning education with experience

There is a special style of resume known as the Internship Resume; and as implied by its name, this style of resume is composed with the goal of obtaining an internship in a desired field. While Internship resumes are known to be chronological in format, they have a different set of goals than a resume created for purposes of acquiring a full-time professional position.

First and foremost, the objective is not to further an individual’s career, but rather, to gain experience and skills in a given field in order to expand on his/her education, an asset which will later be instrumental in obtaining a position in that particular industry.

Second, internships do not require professional experience; they are simply a way for college graduates and other youngsters who lack experience to gain such experience which can later be utilized to obtain a full-time job using what was learned during the internship.

Third, these types of resumes are more focused on academic achievements than on work background, because applicants must demonstrate that the desired internships are logical extensions of their studies. With this in mind, college students – new or returning – typically utilize this resume style to get their foot in the door with companies they might ultimately desire to work for after graduation.

Resume conveyances of priorities

Much like any other professional resume, the internship resume should contain an objective with which the applicant conveys to a potential employer how such an internship aligns with his/her studies; what s/he can bring to the table; what s/he hopes to gain out of the experience and how s/he will apply the newfound skills once s/he is out in the professional world. Essentially the applicant is convincing a potential employer that s/he is the best candidate for the internship, and that s/he will learn the most, as well as the fact that the experience is integral to professional growth.

If you are, or will soon be the subject of an internship resume, keep in mind that when composing your resume for an internship, you will need to highlight your education first. However, you should do more than just list your previous degrees, or degrees in progress. Point out the classes you have taken that qualify you for the internship, and indicate how your major is in line with the internship and how this experience will help you in your future studies.

After you indicate your objective and your education, list your qualifications, and make a list ahead of time of all the skills that qualify you for the internship. Review your list and prioritize it because most frequently made mistake in resume writing is in not prioritizing the supporting information and allowing most of your strongest skills to fall at the bottom of the list. Consider what qualifies you for the internship and list those qualifications first so that your employer recognizes that you are a great fit for the position.

Resume should include all your skills

Your work experience can help, but is typically not a make or break point in getting an internship, but if you have any work experience, go ahead and include it in your resume. You should also make sure to prioritize your responsibilities as they relate to the given internship and be mindful to indicate any experience you have in sharpening your inherently employable skills: skills which extend beyond your education and technical abilities, such as communication, customer relations, team work, taking charge, etc.

As indicated earlier, applying for an internship is somewhat different than applying for a full time job; but along with your internship resume, you will want to submit references. For any employment experience you’ve had to date, include your supervisor’s name, title and contact information so that your potential employer can obtain any information that might prove helpful to you, like recommendations.

In addition, it will be greatly benefit you to have recommendation letters from your professors, because they can identify your skills in terms of your dedication, work ethic, enthusiasm, interpersonal communication and interaction with others in your classroom. Employers look for these skills because they want to assure that you will be a good fit for their team, even if your role is short term.

Ask for and include recommendations

You might also want to ask two or three of your professors for their recommendation. Simply provide them with the contact information of your potential employer, including an email and a physical mailing address, so the letters can be mailed to that employer directly. Or, ask your professors to place their recommendation letters into sealed envelopes before giving them to you in order to assure that the information is confidential.

If possible, include your transcripts with the resume as this will be a great indication of your commitment to your education, providing of course that your grades are good. Your transcripts can only help in getting you the internship. As a final step, proof your application materials; and feel free to seek assistance from your school’s career center. You have only one chance to make a great first impression so do it well, and you should be in good enough position to get the internship of your choice.

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