A profile summary is a succinct statement or introduction that highlights a person’s education, experience, talents, and accomplishments. It is often used for professional purposes, such as a CV or web profile.
Why Is Profile Summary Important?
A well-written profile summary is important in a CV and decisive in the hiring process because it:
- Makes a strong first impression: A clear and concise profile summary can quickly grab the attention of recruiters and make a positive impact.
- Highlights relevant skills and experience: The profile summary is the ideal place to showcase the skills and experience that are most relevant to the desired job.
- Saves time for recruiters: By providing a brief overview of the candidate’s qualifications, the profile summary helps recruiters quickly determine if they are a good fit for the job, saving time in the hiring process.
- Increases the chances of getting shortlisted: A well-crafted profile summary can increase the chances of a candidate getting shortlisted for an interview.
How To Write a Profile Summary in a CV?
Simply said, a strong professional summary should entice a potential employer to continue reading your CV. If it succeeds in doing that, its goal has been achieved.
It can be challenging to condense the most interesting parts of your experience into 2-3 lines or 50–100 words, so achieving this is easier said than done.
Fortunately, there are a few strategies you may employ to create a compelling CV summary.
As you prepare to write:
- Write Profile Summary In Last: Write the other sections of your CV before adding your professional summary because it becomes fairly simple to choose the most impressive statistics and information to include.
- Choose the most important keywords: Select the most important keywords related to the job you are applying for and include those keywords to create a strong summary. Start with the job description that prompted your application. Reread it attentively and highlight the most crucial phrases. These are the nouns or expressions that most accurately define the job role, relevant skills, and the ideal applicant. Before you start writing, consider how they relate to your knowledge and experiences. You also have a better chance of passing the ATS if you do it this way.
When you begin writing:
- Write your title: Remember to include the total number of years of experience. You need to express your professional identity right away. It may also be written in bold. E.g. “Certified Project Management Professional with over 4 years of experience.”
- Rephrase the key points on your CV: The three to four strongest sections of your CV should be rewritten into catchy language. Tempt your future employer to continue reading. Did you win an award for providing the greatest customer service? or achieve 95% of sales goals for five years running? These are the elements your CV should highlight at the top!
- Quantify The Achievements: Use statistics, percentages, or awe-inspiring sales figures. It provides the hiring manager with a better understanding of your past performance. Numbers are interesting. Use that to your advantage.
- Summarize your offerings: Consider what they desire before expressing your own. Clearly state the values you can contribute to the business. Look for patterns in your work experience and the talents that are most relevant to the position.
Important Elements of a Profile Summary In 2023
The most important elements of a well-written profile summary in 2023 are:
Relevance: The profile summary should focus on the skills and experience that are most relevant to the desired job.
Concision: Keep the profile summary brief and to the point, avoiding unnecessary details.
Keywords: Use keywords related to the desired job and industry to help the profile summary rank well in applicant tracking systems.
Personal branding: Use the profile summary to showcase the candidate’s unique value proposition and what sets them apart from other applicants.
Results-oriented language: Highlight accomplishments and specific results achieved in previous roles to demonstrate the candidate’s value to potential employers.
Relevance to the company: Show how the candidate’s skills and experience align with the values and mission of the target company.
By incorporating these elements, a well-written profile summary can effectively communicate a candidate’s qualifications, make a strong first impression, and increase the chances of getting shortlisted for a job. Therefore, investing time and effort into writing an effective profile summary can greatly impact the success of a job search and help secure the desired position.
Contents Of a Well-Written Profile Summary
Your abilities, supplementary knowledge, qualifications, and accomplishments that align with the job title’s requirements are all included in the CV profile summary. As per professional CV writers in Pakistan, a CV profile summary must be succinct but thorough. Usually, a profile summary includes the following contents:
Qualifications: If the company has requested specific qualifications, include them together with any honors or awards you have received. For increased effectiveness, add additional workshops and courses.
Experience: The majority of employers demand a specific amount of industry experience. As a result, you can describe your experience by giving it a number and a plus sign following it.
Special Talent: Write first why you are the most qualified applicant for the position. Name the special trait or ability you possess that the employer has included in the job title.
Expertise: You can match your unique technical talent and other soft abilities with the job requirements if you have attentively read the company’s job advertisement. In bold type, emphasize your primary education and professional experience.
Achievements: Mention at least one noteworthy accomplishment in the summary to let the employer know about your track record of success and the value you provide to the organization.
Where To Place Profile Summary on CV?
The profile summary should be placed at the top of a CV, just below the candidate’s contact information, and before the work experience section. By placing the summary of the candidate’s profile first, recruiters and hiring managers can quickly learn about the candidate’s credentials and value proposition.
The profile summary should be near the top of the CV to underline its significance and demonstrate that the applicant has given careful attention to the message they want to convey to potential employers. According to professional CV writing services in Pakistan, this consequently creates a favorable initial impression and can raise the likelihood that the CV will be shortlisted.
Length Of a Profile Summary In CV
A profile summary for a CV should be 2-3 sentences or 50-100 words. This length is great since it enables you to succinctly highlight your pertinent experiences and talents while maintaining the reader’s attention on the most crucial details. Keep your profile summary succinct so that recruiters and hiring managers can swiftly examine it. These individuals can receive hundreds of CVs for each position that is open.
How To Make Profile Summary ATS Friendly?
An ATS-friendly profile summary is a brief statement written in a way that allows it to be easily parsed by an applicant tracking system (ATS). ATS is software used by many organizations to sort and filter job applications based on keywords, qualifications, and other factors.
Here are some tips for writing an ATS-friendly profile summary:
- Use keywords: Incorporate keywords related to the job you’re applying for, such as specific skills, technologies, or industries.
- Avoid using graphics or special formatting: Stick to plain text, as ATS may not recognize graphics or special formatting.
- Be concise: Limit your summary to 2-3 sentences or 50-100 words.
- Highlight relevant experience: Emphasize your most relevant experience and qualifications for the position you’re applying for.
- Match the language used in the job posting: Use similar language and terminology found in the job description to increase the chances of your profile being picked up by the ATS.
Example:
“Experienced marketing professional with 5+ years of experience in developing and implementing successful marketing campaigns. Proficient in data analysis and marketing automation tools, including Google Analytics and Hubspot. Holds a B.A. in Marketing from XYZ University.”
Conclusion
Finally, if you’ve made the decision to review and update the summary on your current CV, carefully read this article to understand “how to write a profile summary in a CV” so that you can stand out and be chosen for further consideration.