Summarize yourself….Sell yourself

One of the most powerful things you can add to a resume to move it beyond being just a static listing of your education and work experience is to include a Summary section.  Some people call it the Highlights or Profile section. It is normally located just under the Objective statement, near the top of a resume.

In the summary section, you can pick the five or six top selling points you want an employer to know about you and put them in point form for him/her to clearly see.  A way to set this up might be:

• Number of years experience in a certain field;
• When you will be completing an education or training program;
• What certifications you have;
• What equipment or machinery you can operate;
• What personal strengths you have that relate to the position.

You might be asking at this point: “isn’t a lot of this information already listed in my resume?”  Maybe so - but the employer might not be immediately be making the connections you want him/her to make (like how you might have the perfect experience for this particular position). 

Summarizing your top selling points is a good way to figuratively ‘hit the employer on the head’ with the most important reasons you should be hired.  In seconds they are able to see a summary of your top qualifications. Then they may feel encouraged to scroll down the rest of the resume to get all the supporting details.

College of the Rockies Student Employment Services is available on a regular basis to help students create the strong resumes and cover letters required for a competitive summer and graduate job market.