All You Need to Know About Summary of Qualifications

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A summary of qualifications section goes on top of a resume and gives employers an understanding of a person in front of them. Thanks to a summary of qualifications, they can quickly and easily understand if the candidate is a possible fit for a position.

Highlighting your experiences, accomplishments, and skills in this section will definitely grow your interview chances. Moreover, if your goal is to create a strong resume to ace in a job search, it should start with the list of resume qualifications that would catch the attention.

That means you need to know what information to include, and this article is all about it:

- What is a summary of qualifications?

- Summary of qualifications examples

- Summary of qualifications importance

- How to write a summary of qualifications for a resume?

- What should a person include in the summary of qualifications?

Wanna know more? Delve deep into the topic or ask professionals for help. Expert resume writers would be glad to help.

What Is a Summary of Qualifications?

As the name suggests, a summary of qualification is a summary of your whole career. You should list key career milestones there along with skills, experience, and important work achievements. Also, this is a great place to communicate your future goals and expectations.

This section is a synopsis of your career. It also tells others how you define yourself and what your biggest contributions are. Ask yourself what you would want others to know about you as a professional, and you’ll know what to write there. Make a list of skills to write a great skills summary intertwined with your accomplishments and expectations, and you’ll create a perfect summary.

Summary of Qualification Importance

A qualification summary is the first thing a hiring manager sees when they look at your resume. They usually need about 8 seconds to understand if they want to proceed with you as a candidate. Most of this attention span is paid to the summary of qualifications section.

That means a professional summary for resume should include the details that meet job description requirements and even more. It should build your professional and personal profile to let others know who you are and what ideas you can bring to the table.

Who Might Use a Qualification Summary for Resume?

The professional summary of a resume should be present in every document. Regardless of your status – an entry-level specialist or a pro – you need to use resume qualification when applying for jobs. This is a perfect chance to communicate your strengths or achievements.

Moreover, candidates seeking a career change or promotion should use this section strategically. They need to connect their current job and experience with the future position, answering the question of why they are perfect for the role. Students, however, should express their goals rather than highlight a lack of experience.

Resume Summary, Qualifications Summary, and Resume Objective

Summary of qualifications for resume is the opportunity to explain specific skills to a recruiter. A resume summary is a brief about your career path. An objective is a statement of where you want to go in your career. All sections pursue slightly different goals.

Summary of Qualifications Examples

Since every resume is going to go through a scan, a summary of qualifications section has its standards. It is usually presented as a bullet point list with the most relevant facts about a candidate. Relevancy is key, so it’s critical to make sure that the information you include fits the requirements in a job description.

Below is a summary of qualifications example for different jobs for your reference. 

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Summary of Qualifications for Executive Assistant

Below are two examples of summary of qualifications for executive assistant.

Wrong

  • I am an executive assistant with years of experience in different assistant roles. I can boost your chances of running a successful business. I have a proven track record of success.

Right

  • A results-driven executive assistant providing support with internal operations, data processing, scheduling, and reporting to the senior leadership team. Effective communicator with excellent relationship-building skills needed to form strong teams and lead them t

Summary of Qualifications for Administrative Assistant

Below are two resume summary of qualifications examples for administrative assistant.

Wrong

  • I am an office manager who is working with office equipment and administrative duties. Offer knowledge of computer systems and some hardware. Manage relationships with vendors to purchase office supplies.

Right

  • Meticulous administrative assistant with five years of practical experience and advanced knowledge of MS Office to run office operations, build improvement strategies, check on employees, and maintain their productivity. Effective communicator who negotiates vendors and replenishes stocks.

Customer Service Summary of Qualifications

Check the summary of qualifications for customer service agents below.

Wrong

  • I am a skilled customer service agent who is on a job hunt for a well-paid client-facing role to utilize my skills. I am a great communicator who negotiates with customers and handles their problems.

Right

  • Customer-oriented manager with experience in mitigating conflicts and developing solutions for the most difficult client situations. Effective team leader who managed to decrease the complaint rate from 4 to 1 out of 5.

Accounting Resume Summary of Qualifications Examples

Here is a summary of qualifications accounting example to ace a hiring process.

Wrong

  • I am an accounting professional experienced in account reconciliation and month-end closure. I know the standards of accounting and apply them in practice. Skilled ACCA Member.

Right

  • Diligent accountant with 10 years of experience and vast knowledge of international accounting standards applied in practice. Experienced auditor working as part of internal and external teams. ACCA Active Member who attended and participated in several speaking organization-wide engagements.

Summary of Qualifications for Teacher

Below are a few summary of qualifications for teachers samples.

Wrong

  • I am a high school teacher helping children learn English and facilitating their learning process. I am a graduate of Concordia University with seven years of practical experience.

Right

  • Experienced educator with exemplary knowledge of best teaching methods and practices, who advocates for continuous improvement of classroom instruction. Change implementation specialist who adjusts the curriculum to meet the needs of students and adjust to an ever-changing learning environment.

Summary of Qualifications Manager

Check the example of summary of qualifications for a manager below.

Wrong

  • I am a leader with managerial skills who is involved in strategy planning. I am keen on managing people and making sure they complete the assigned tasks.

Right

  • Target-oriented manager who leads a 60-member team involved in different projects across a wide portfolio. Hands-on team leader who engages in work and provides valuable guidance to whoever requests assistance. Recognized as “Manager of the Year” for outstanding team performance.

Summary of Qualifications for Entry Level

Entry-level specialists can also use summary of qualifications resumes to their advantage. Even if you’re just about to start your career, you can briefly mention internships, extracurricular activities, or accomplishments and skills relevant to the job position.

Wrong

  • I am looking for a role as an actor to become popular and participate in different projects. I have diverse skills that make me a good fit for your position.

Right

  • Aspiring actor with a motivation to keep studying and applying the diverse skill set in practice while participating in projects as extra. Quick learner with a dedication to applying best work standards and practices.

Qualifications Summary for Career Changers

A summary of qualifications resume is not suitable for job seekers changing their role and career. After all, they don’t have the required expertise yet, and their previous qualifications would probably be irrelevant to the new position once you are about career change in your near future. 

If you intend to change your career, it’s better to opt for a resume objective and focus on your motivation and goals rather than not-so-relevant experience.

How to Write Summary of Qualifications?

To write a great summary of qualifications on resume, you need to study the company and the jobs you plan to land. By doing this, you’ll know what a potential employer expects from a candidate and what skills you need to highlight.

Our resume writers for hire used to print job descriptions to highlight things that would make the biggest impact. Today, SkillHub automates this process by analyzing your resume against the job descriptions and suggesting the skills to emphasize.

Showcase the Number of Your Achievements on a Qualification Summary Resume

Numbers always look good on qualifications for resume. The size of the budget or specific data might be more comprehensive in explaining the depth of your achievement. They specify the scope of your accomplishments and the level of contribution you made. Check the examples below.

Wrong

  • Skilled program manager who handled large projects with huge budgets being completed by hundreds of employees.

Right

  • Skilled program manager who handled project budgets of $5.5M in total and 600 employees involved in digital transformation program implementation.

Follow the Next Steps to Write the Best Resume Professional Summary

1. To write a perfect ability summary for yo

ur resume, start by matching your professional profile with a job offer.

2. Proceed with the top bullet point, which should clearly communicate who you are and how much experience you have.

3. The second bullet point should provide measurable data to assess your previous role.

4. Then proceed with soft skills to show how you work with a team, adjust to a new environment, or handle tasks requiring cultural tolerance.

Learn more about professional resume summary here.

Include Those Components

When writing a summary of qualifications, you need to include the following:

- efficiencies;

- problems;

- mentions.

You need to build a profile of a person who solves problems, building greater efficiency and earning recognition from managers. This is a candidate most employers want to see. This is a candidate who is likely to land a job.

Check any summary of qualifications resume sample above. They all talk about leaders and problem solvers who helped the company and led it to success.

Use Keywords for Resumes With Summary of Qualifications

Do not forget about the keywords in the summary section. It should be easy-to-scan as the rest of the document. An applicant tracking system should recognize a successful candidate from the very first lines.

If you wonder how to write a summary of qualifications for a resume, the answer is simple. Have ATS software in mind when you build your sentences. Create something that reads

“Hands-on leader who spearheaded the implementation of XYZ program, earning $6M of extra revenue” rather than “Earned some cash when leading a team.”

If you are still unsure what resume keywords to use, keep reading on resume action words on Skillhub.

Additional Tips on How to Put Qualifications Summary Resume

To make sure your qualification summary example withstands criticism, you need to personalize it. Recruiters are tired of reading the same qualifications statement in every resume over and over. Include your accomplishments and make each of your statements unique. Do not use resume samples available online for this section. You risk spoiling the very first impression your resume makes on a reader.

Summary of Qualifications Template

To help candidates with a summary of qualifications, our professional resume writers have developed a resume template summary of qualifications. It is now available on SkillHub.

The template includes a degree, professional recognition, and any quantifiable data that proves candidates’ accomplishments. Check the template below.

- Adjective + position title with X years of experience in [field/industry] who [accomplishment]

- Adjective + degree title with a solid background in [area] and [metrics/qualifying data to showcase an accomplishment]

- Adjective + leadership skill who [drives a positive change] by [managing/designing/etc.] effective solutions in [field]

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Key Features in Summary of Qualifications

To help you navigate through all those tips for writing qualifications on resumes, we’ve created a few bullet points as takeaways:

- mention your accomplishments rather than vague statements from the Internet;

- personalize your summary of qualifications to increase your chances of getting hired;

- answer position requirements to land an interview;

- do not forget about the keywords, as your resume will be scanned.

If you still do not feel confident enough about writing your own qualifications summary examples, we have a solution. Refer to https://skillhub.com/resume-writing advice or order professional help in crafting a winning resume from top to bottom.