Resume Help - Summary Format

Welcome readers – we are happy to announce a new feature on Careers Done Write’s blog – a weekly résumé critique. 

Every Monday I am going to profile different sections of a client’s résumé, which will serve as a valuable guide to help people understand how a résumé should be constructed. In all instances, names and identifying information has been redacted to protect the innocent!

This exercise will serve to educate and inform you regarding best practices for preparing your own résumé. Take these tips and apply them to sell yourself and get the interview.

Meet John. This is the top part of his résumé, which needs a lot of help. My comments reveal the issues with John’s summary section.

Overall impression: Poor.

Reason: John is looking for a role as a senior financial analyst; however, he does not provide any information that would allow the reader to make a connection between his skills and the competencies necessary for that type of position.

Changes Required: John needs a strong summary section to quickly make an impact. This should include information regarding his background in the industry and how he has contributed. The summary will then support the subsequent professional experience section where his company names, overarching responsibilities and achievements (most important) will be showcased.

General Comments

John has an objective on his résumé – something that is no longer used. Rather than taking this outdated approach, John would greatly benefit from a strong headline to reveal his skills. For example: Quantitative and Financial Analysis. This immediately sets the tone for the document. The reader will then expect to see information following whereby John will have examples of those skills.

John’s summary does not provide any examples of his analytical or financial abilities. Simply stating that he has a well-rounded understanding of these things is not enough. John needs to SHOW the reader by way of example what his background is.

He can complement an example with other things related to his collaborative nature, communication skills, and industry knowledge. The idea is that the summary should showcase John’s financial knowledge as well as other things that make him an interesting candidate. The summary should be 5-6 sentences of hard-hitting information. Giving the reader a ‘taste, not the plate’ to allow for a quick win.

Following John’s summary, he can highlight between 6 and 8 competencies to facilitate key word search. The competencies will allow the reader to quickly scan the document and understand what John’s key skills are.

John needs to engage his audience. This section is prime ‘real estate’! For John to compete in this highly competitive job market, his résumé needs to reflect the depth and breadth of his financial acumen to generate results. vip-popki.net/en

Detailed Comments

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Would you like to have a portion of your résumé reviewed on the blog? If so, please send me your résumé and I will feature a section on the next installment of the critique. Critiques will go up every Monday. Don’t worry if you’re shy! I will redact all of your personal and discerning information to protect your privacy.

Send me your résumé at debra@careersdonewrite.com.