Summary of Qualifications: What is it?

Definition and Examples of Qualifications Summary

What is a Qualifications Summary?

A qualifications summary is a section in a resume that lists achievements, skills, and experiences. This section is optional and if used, it should be tailored for each job.

How Does a Qualifications Summary Work?

A qualifications summary can consist of two sentences or a concise, bulleted list containing three to five items. It should be short and show the employer why you are qualified for the job. You can focus on the amount of relevant experience you have and mention qualifications that will set you apart from other candidates. Be specific about your achievements. For example, one of your bullet points for a public relations position with an organization might say, “Increased social media engagement by 20%.” You can also mention soft skills that align with the job you are applying for. Soft skills are non-technical skills such as work ethic and problem-solving. If you are applying for a retail management job, you could mention “Skills in customer service problem-solving.”

Benefits of a Qualifications Summary

The hiring manager or recruiter takes on the task of reviewing many job applications and may spend just a little over seven seconds reviewing the submitted resumes. One advantage of adding a qualifications summary is that it is a great tool to grab the reviewer’s attention in that critical timeframe of no more than seven seconds. Similar to a cover letter, tailoring and customizing your summary to fit the needs of each specific employer is beneficial. You can do this by carefully reading the qualifications required in the job advertisement and then designing your summary to reflect those qualifications. Although a qualifications summary is optional, it is worth considering for many job seekers. It can benefit:

• Experienced job seekers: A qualifications summary works particularly well for those with extensive work experience. It’s an effective way to showcase experiences that best speak to the qualifications the employer is looking for.
• Recent college graduates: Resume summary statements are also a useful tool for recent college graduates. If they have limited work experience, new graduates should customize the statement to highlight transferable skills they developed through their educational experiences and volunteer work.
• Career changers: Career changers can also highlight transferable skills in their qualifications summary and prevent their recent, potentially unrelated experience from frustrating the hiring manager.

Note: Although it was once common for job candidates to include a career objective at the beginning of their resumes, this practice has recently become discouraged as it implicitly shifts the focus to the applicant’s goals rather than the employer’s needs.

Examples of Qualifications Summary

Your summary can be brief and engaging, or longer with more information. Here are examples of short summary statements:

• Production assistant for a nationally aired television series
• Five years of case management experience
• Certified workforce development professional
• Sales professional with 10 years of experience
• Achievement Award winner for sports writing

Here are examples of longer summary statements:

• A dynamic entrepreneur using creativity, leadership, and teamwork to design and implement solutions that create value for customers. An effective communicator able to create marketing materials that convey value to customers and end-users.
• An experienced professional in planning and organizing balancing work, team support, and incidental responsibilities in a professional and timely manner.
• Business development manager with 20 years of experience in technical sales, sales management, team leadership, business growth, and expansion. Oversaw a 30% increase in sales revenue.
• Professional

• Unique experience in technical expertise, administrative experience, business leadership, and design and production support. Led the delivery and implementation of a critical software system for mission XYZ.
• 10 years of experience in AIX, HP/UX, Windows, VB.NET, C#, .NET Framework, C, C++, SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, and business systems.

Key Takeaways:

• The qualifications summary is an optional section of the resume that lists achievements, skills, and experiences.
• The qualifications summary can consist of two sentences or a concise, bullet-pointed list that contains three to five items.
• The qualifications summary can include soft skills that align with the job being applied for.
• The qualifications summary helps grab the hiring manager’s attention in a short amount of time and can be tailored to meet the needs of each employer.
• The qualifications summary is worth considering for experienced job seekers, recent graduates, and career changers.

Source: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-a-summary-of-qualifications-2063332