How long should a resume summary be?
A resume summary (aka a professional summary) should be a few lines at the top of the resume just below your name and contact information.
In 3–5 lines or a few phrases, summarize the following:
- Your professional role and years of experience (e.g. “Resourceful and results-driven retail manager with over 5 years of experience exceeding revenue goals and mentoring sales associates”)
- The main accomplishments or strengths that are relevant to the job you’re applying for (e.g., “Spearheaded recruiting and training programs that increased employee retention by 50%”)
This section used to be called an objective, but a resume summary is the current standard practice.
When you’re revising a resume to achieve the ideal resume length of 1–2 pages, QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you with concise word choices.
Related article: How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples
Summarizing, or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text. There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary: Read the text Break it down into sections Identify the key points in each […]
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