How to Write Resume Executive Summary Like a Pro

There is this saying – there is no second first impression. And the same saying goes to your resume. The prospective employer may either be captivated by your uncanny ability to form impressive early phrases, or otherwise decided that your resume belongs to the trash can.

So, to create this first impression, you will need to pay a critical attention the obvious portion – the top half of your resume – the part where your Executive Summary or Profile Summary can be the deciding factor. Make no mistake. Ignore this advice and watch your resume dumped into the bin in less than 30 seconds.

Some people prefer to write an Objective rather than Executive Summary. This is fine too, as long as you know the differences between the two.

Keywords of your strengths, skills and achievements.

List down some key words of your strengths, skills and achievements. This part is perhaps quite straight forward. In fact, you may have listed down these elements somewhere around your resume, possibly down there at the second half of your resume. Give them a little bit more attention. Some examples that you might have written down could be – result-oriented, dynamic, young, entrepreneurial, highly trained, enthusiastic, outgoing, energetic, motivated and so on. This group, as standalone words, does not really mean much but when you combined them with the following elements, it will work wonder.

Highlight your successes.

Skimming through your successes may (and will) give you that extra edge which indicated that you may just be the right person who can deliver the goods. No need to put too much information here; just some short list of your most outstanding achievements that would intrigued the employer to dig more about you.

And may I remind you that your achievements need to address the results through facts and figures. For example, ‘contributing to a significant cost saving through…’ is not as real as ‘contributing to a 35% cost saving through…’. Well, you get the picture.

Blend in some powerful adjectives.

Spice up your phrases by blending in some powerful adjectives to describe yourself and your achievements. Words like effective, distinguished, proactive, optimized, efficient, instrumental, reputable, proven, exceptional and so on would definitely bring up some smiles on the recruiter. Combining the powerful adjectives, the keywords of your skills and your achievements above, and voila, you’re on the right track to filling that desired job.

Other posts you may want to read:

1. Do I Write an Executive Summary or an Objective in My Resume?
2. Resume: Objective or Executive Summary?
3. 6 Ways How to Write Resume Job Descriptions
4. Resume Tip: How to Self Assess Your Resume
5. How to Write a Good Resume
6. 3 Different Formats of Resume
7. Is Job Objective Statement Important?
8. How to Write a Company Profile Like a Real Copywriter

Author's bio: Zul is the founder and principal contributor for the SKOR Career blog. He is the author of two books, The Malaysian Job Seeker's Dilemma and Buat Duit Tanpa Kerja Makan Gaji (How to Make Money Without a Job), available in major book stores nationwide. You can reach him at zulkiflimusa[at]gmail.com.