How Do I Summarize My Special Skills and Qualifications Acquired From Employment or Other Experience?
A summary of qualifications is a section commonly included in a résumé, typically near the top of the document. This section should highlight a job seeker’s most outstanding qualifications for the job. Some qualifications to list include any foreign language abilities, software proficiencies and other unique skills. In addition, the summary should list a candidate’s primary areas of job expertise and any special certifications earned, classes taken or awards received.
The summary of qualifications is sometimes labeled as a professional summary or profile. While a job seeker may have a standard summary of qualifications to use on résumés, it’s a good idea to rewrite or reorder it depending on the position. Many hiring managers or job recruiters glance at a summary of qualifications to determine whether to keep reading the résumé, so a summary that is tailored for a specific job is likely to catch the recruiter’s attention. It’s a good idea to base a summary of qualifications on the type of language used in a the job description.
Salespeople may want to list specific accomplishments or amounts generated, and managers should list how many people they’ve managed. Don’t list personal information, such as hobbies, and keep the summary of qualifications to nine bullet points at the most.
