The summary is the first thing a recruiter reads, often the only thing on a first pass. It answers three questions in three or four lines: what you do, what you're best at, and what you're looking for.
A shape that works
- Who you are, in their terms. Your role and level, in the words job posts use: "Backend engineer with eight years in payments", not "Passionate technologist".
- What you've done that proves it. One or two results you'd want to talk about in an interview.
- What you want next. The kind of role or problem, so a reader can tell at a glance whether you fit.
Examples
Product designer with six years in B2B software. Led the redesign of an onboarding flow used by 40,000 teams a month, and built the design system three product squads now ship with. Looking for a senior role on a product where research shapes the roadmap.
Registered nurse with a decade in emergency and intensive care. Charge nurse on a 24-bed unit, trainer for new graduates, and part of the team that brought in a sepsis screening protocol. Looking to move into clinical education.
What to leave out
- Adjectives anyone could claim. "Hard-working, detail-oriented team player" tells a reader nothing. Show it with a result instead.
- Your whole history. That's what the rest of the resume is for.
- "I" and "my". Resume style drops them: "Led the redesign", not "I led the redesign".
Change it for each application
The summary is the cheapest part to tailor. Swap the last line, or the result you lead with, to match the job you're applying for. On jsonresume.org you can keep a version for each job without touching your main resume.
Ready to write yours? Make your resume: bring the one you have, or answer a few questions.