RESUMES: Four elements of a good summary statement

RESUMES: FOUR ELEMENTS OF A GOOD SUMMARY STATEMENT
Overview vs. Objective and other ideas above the fold

NAKED BACON is probably a terrible thing to have at the top of your resume as an attention grabber, but maybe it works in blog posts. A well crafted description of who you are and what you specifically offer is like a banner headline of a newspaper.

In this post I’m going to touch on length of resume, objective vs summary statement, four elements of a good summary statement, accomplishment language and a few other odd resume ideas.

The problem with most resumes is they’re all about you. It is, by its very nature an extremely self-centered document. It is one reason most resumes don’t get attention in the form of an interview or even a rejection email. Your resume needs to be tnereffid and stand out. Look at your resume from the hiring manager’s perspective. Your audience isn’t concerned about “filling a position” as much as they are trying to solve a problem. They are evaluating you to see if you can fill their big, specific need so they are most often looking for two things: qualifications and fit.


LENGTH OF RESUME
You have two pages* at most to sell yourself and in most cases, far less than that. Most experts say you have between five and forty-five seconds to hook a reader. Therefore, err on the side of caution and hook them in five seconds by focusing on the top half of the top page as your lone opportunity to sell the rest of the resume.

* Two pages is probably right unless you are a super expert, a senior executive or have technical or other expertise that requires more space to explain. Experts refer to a resume that has three or more pages as a “brick”. A new college graduate should have a one-page resume.


OBJECTIVE vs. SUMMARY STATEMENT
From an earlier post entitled “Seven things to do upon losing your job”, I wrote a sample summary statement that – to me – is a masterpiece of futility which reads:
“Hard working, forward-thinking, professional, dedicated team player seeking employment with solid company where I can apply my skills and abilities to make a valuable contribution.”

If your summary statement of qualifications sounds anything like this, I’m going to personally punch you in the job you didn’t get. Those are great qualities, but they don’t differentiate you. They don’t speak to need. What job seeker wouldn’t say those things even if they are a lazy, short-sighted goon, who doesn’t work or play well with others willing to settle for a crappy job with a questionable company in hopes of flying under the radar? You are none of those things so be sure your banner headline makes someone say “I want to know more”.

For a new graduate or changing fields, an objective statement might be in order to state clearly what you are looking for. Some professional resume writers say you should never use an objective because that is focused on what you want as opposed to what you can do for a prospective employer. In most cases a summary statement may be more effective to keep your audience reading.


FOUR ELEMENTS OF A GOOD SUMMARY STATEMENT
1. [Job title] – All of the best summary statements I have seen start with the job title. It guides the reader and lets them know right up front how you can help them. Some resume experts suggest adding this title after your name at the very top of the resume. Both tactics serve the same purpose: guide the reader. Examples include: “Human Resources Generalist”, “Certified Project Manager”, “Sales manager”, etc.

2. [speak to outcomes] – Where possible, use numbers later on in the document to back this up but tell them what happens to departments or businesses where you are involved. You can’t promise success in a job you are seeking and don’t yet have, but you can use past success at other companies as an indicator of what a prospective employer can expect from you. If there is a common thread of success, that’s your banner headline. Won contract extensions, increased sales by X%, completed projects by an average of X% under budget, etc.

3. [touch on skill set] – What do you have that others don’t which make you a better asset? Using my skills as a polished presenter, creative problem solver, etc.

4. [speak to organizational fit] – Are you a strong team player who thrives on camaraderie and competition or an independent, task oriented self-starter? There is a place for both in an organization, so don’t pretend you will be content taking orders on the phone all day when you’d rather be out connecting with people (or vice versa). You should tell a prospective employer what type of environment allows you to deliver the greatest return.

Here are a few real examples of summary statements that I think are good, with each of the above elements noted.

“Human Resource generalist(1) skilled in the development and maintenance of a well-functioning HR department(2) as a value added, strategic partner(4) to the business.”

“Highly creative and recognized computer analyst(1) with a reputation(2) for complex logistical problem solving(3) and a passion(4) for quick response, lean process and high quality.”

“Energetic sales professional(1) with a proven history of closing and growing key accounts(2) that leads as a team contributor(4) and thrives presenting in person(3) .”

Some jobs are easier to quantify than others, so in some cases you may not be able to speak to outcomes as well as others. If you can include as many of these elements in your summary statement, it should encourage people to keep reading.


ACCOMPLISHMENT LANGUAGE
Experts that advocate this say it is not enough for you to take your existing resume and just add in accomplishment statements. They advocate starting over entirely. Accomplishments tell stories and help people remember you. If you’re going to go this route, start by making a list of all the contributions you have made in your previous jobs. To start it can be as simple as “big Atmos sale” or “HSBC upsell”. Your list should have at least 15 and could have many more. Once you have your list, expand each one to tell the situation, action and result/outcome.
Situation – when, company situation, etc.
Action – What did you specifically do?
Result – what was the positive outcome for the company?
If you are seeking a sales or sales management position you might have a group of accomplishments under the “Sales Management Accomplishments” header and others under “Sales accomplishments”. By adding these right after your summary statement you are giving your audience strong information about you early in the document. You can also move up something important in your resume that would otherwise be lost on page two.

One big caveat to accomplishment language that I hear consistently is HR people hate resumes like this. Therefore, if you have an accomplishment resume, have a chronological one ready in case someone gives you a signal that they don’t like the format. If you are concerned about it, consider leading with the chronological resume and showing up for the interview with an accomplishment format.


FINAL THOUGHTS
· Consider placing your contact information at the bottom of the page, leaving more valuable real estate for something that sells you.

· Don’t cram your resume so full of text that there is no white space. Make your resume easy to read.

· Consider hiding keywords in a very small font high up in your resume. When companies scan in a resume and have a program that looks for keywords, this could be a good way to get noticed. I removed a graphic line under my name before my summary statement and added in a line of text at font size 2 with lots of industry keyword terms and words to describe me. It never amounted to anything that I know of but I can’t imagine it hurt. I could have made it even smaller text but I hoped a human reader might notice it and give me points for creativity.

· Have one or several people who don’t know you well review your resume and give you input. Anytime you ask for input – ask two or three specific questions like “what stood out to you the most?” “As a hiring manager, what would you conclude about what I can do for your company?” You can even guide them a little now that you may know more about resume than they do like “Because I’m trying to communicate that I can solve a problem instead of just fill a job, what line/part would you identify as a weaknesses that didn’t speak to a prospective hiring manager?” You can probably come up with better questions, but don’t just throw them your resume and say “tell me what you think”. Guide your audience, just like with your resume!


Thanks to Laura Smith Proulx for her answer to a question I posted on this topic on LinkedIn. There were lots of great answers but I graded Laura’s as the BEST.