Crafting an Effective Resume Summary: 5 Tips and Examples
In the quest to understand what makes a resume summary effective, we posed this question to a range of professionals, including a career coach and a career consultant. From seeing quantifiable results in ESL teaching to highlighting versatile teaching opportunities for a professor, here are the top five examples they shared, highlighting why they found these summaries compelling and how they effectively summarized the candidate’s qualifications.
- Quantifiable Results in ESL Teaching
- Global Transformation by a Technology Strategist
- Successful Campaigns by a Marketing Professional
- Efficient Project Delivery by an Experienced Manager
- Versatile Teaching Opportunities for a Professor
Quantifiable Results in ESL Teaching
An example of an effective resume summary that makes employers say, “Wow! Look at those results! I want to hire that candidate!” is as follows:
“A licensed English as a Second Language teacher with extensive experience teaching listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills to diverse learners. Earned a 160-hour globally recognized TEFL certificate. Accrued over 1,000 hours instructing more than 800 online students in grades Pre-K – adult in language strategies. Consistently received a teacher rating of 10/10 and maintained an average overall rating of 9.5/10. Possess high-intermediate Spanish conversation skills; completed immersions in Ecuador and Peru. Proficient in utilizing Slack, Skype, Zoom, Blackboard, Microsoft Word, Teams, Access, PowerPoint, and Publisher.”
The effectiveness of this summary is because of the use of quantifiable data to show the tangible results the candidate achieved. It makes prospective employers want to replicate the results.
Julia Perry
Career Coach
Global Transformation by a Technology Strategist
“A technology strategist and change agent with international experience, who architects business systems and cultures for global organizations to create scale, drive exponential growth, and manage risk.
A board and executive advisor with cross-cultural business awareness, who motivates, mobilizes, and inspires high-performing teams, accelerating time to market and bridging the gap between insights, ideas, and execution to deliver EBITDA. A former IBM consultant with SAP expertise. A 3X marathon/5X ultra finisher.”
This client has a history of leading and managing change on global projects. He brings a background as an IBM consultant on major transformation initiatives with Fortune 500 clients, as well as a deep wealth of experience in SAP.
The summary conveys not only the what, but the why. Technology is not just a cost center, but a driver of business; this summary highlights that.
Adding personal achievements adds a finishing touch.
Rebecca Henninger
President, Rebecca Henninger Career Services, LLC
Successful Campaigns by a Marketing Professional
One effective resume summary I’ve encountered was for a marketing manager. It said, “Highly skilled marketing professional with five years’ experience, delivering successful campaigns that increased sales by 25%. A creative thinker and team leader, committed to meeting goals and driving growth.”
This summary is compelling because it gets straight to the point. In just a couple of lines, it gives a clear picture of the candidate’s experience, skills, and the results they have achieved. It leaves a good impression of the candidate by highlighting key successes and showing that they are goal-oriented and can make a real difference in a company.
Martin Potocki
CEO, Jobera
Efficient Project Delivery by an Experienced Manager
“Results-driven Project Manager with 8+ years of experience leading cross-functional teams to successful project completion. Proven track record of delivering complex projects on time and within budget, while maintaining high-quality standards. Expertise in stakeholder communication, risk management, and resource allocation. Adept at aligning project objectives with overall business goals to drive efficiency and ROI. PMP-certified with strong leadership skills and a collaborative approach to problem-solving. Ready to leverage my experience and skills to drive strategic initiatives for your organization.”
This resume summary is compelling because it starts by highlighting the candidate’s eight plus years of experience, immediately establishing their credibility in the field. The candidate emphasizes their track record of delivering successful projects on time and within budget, which shows their ability to achieve results.
Joe Li
Managing Director, CheckYa
Versatile Teaching Opportunities for a Professor
Effective resume summaries should be succinct, clear, and show character. They should contain a maximum of three to five sentence fragments, describing what you’ve done and what you’d like to do.
When building your summary, avoid filler words such as “results-driven,” “professional,” “motivated,” “successful,” and “proven track record.” Also, remove other filler words and first-person language like “I,” “me,” “my,” “strong,” and “comprehensive.”
Here is an example of an effective summary. This summary combines what the person has done, what they intend to do, and what they are available for:
“Professor seeking online, traditional, and hybrid college teaching and course development opportunities in business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and hospitality. Designed and delivered over 100 different college courses since 2008, both online and in person. Available as a facilitator for customized training.
Robert Braathe
Career Consultant, Career Service Station
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