No! Why anyone ever thought that would be a good idea is a mystery to me. Your objective seems obvious: you want a job. Why waste space stating the obvious and patronizing the reader? Just, don’t.
The Career Summary: A Much Better Plan
The Career Summary, a far superior use of words on paper, is the first text-heavy segment of your resume. In a few quick statements, it should draw the reader in by concisely describing what they will get if they hire you. This is the place to talk about your balanced business and technical acumen, your leadership and communication skills, and your relentless drive to succeed. Some questions you might want to answer before you craft this include:
- Who is going to be reading this?
- What are the main things they’re going to need from you?
- In what ways can you add unique value to their team?
Make this your roadmap for your summary. As an example, here’s what I would present to someone looking for a National Sales Manager for a natural foods company, knowing that what they need is someone to generate revenue through prospecting and closing deals:
Dynamic sales strategist with 10+ years’ success driving business growth through relentless prospecting, attentive pipeline management, and product and service innovation.
Resourceful and persistent sales hunter with steadfast commitment to customer success and proven record of consistently exceeding key performance indicators (KPI) for businesses operating in the natural foods sector. Outstanding communication skills leveraged to foster and fortify relationships, transform customer complaints into opportunities to advance loyalty, and gain consensus from key stakeholders at all levels. Recognized as subject matter expert and repeatedly invited to present on relevant topics at universities and conferences.
Header Home Run
We’re a little out of order here, but I didn’t want to close this post without sharing a note on your header content. It should include:
- Your name. If you have a nickname, you can include it in quotes or parenthesis.
- Your email. This should be some iteration of “your name” @ “gmail.” There are a few others that are ok, but it should not be your company email address or an aol, hotmail, or yahoo address. If you use those email servers, I guarantee the reader is going to think, “This person is old and out of touch.” Don’t be that person.
- Your city, state, and (if you want) zip. Since your resume is probably going to be floating around the internet, don’t include your full address. There’s no need.
- Your LinkedIn URL. Click here for instructions on how to customize it and make it look pretty. You’re welcome.
