Resume Tips

Writing Personal  or Professional Strengths

The Strengths, Skills, or Summary section of the resume will appear second after the Objective statement. The Strengths section may also be titled Professional Strengths, Summary of Qualifications, or Summary of Skills. A Professional Summary is usually used when the candidate has an extensive work history or can also be used by graduate level students.

Your statements should be brief, one-line entries that highlight and draw attention to your most valuable qualifications. Remember, employers summarize a resume in about 10  to 15 seconds. The purpose of the Strengths section should encourage the reader to take an in depth look at your qualifications, performance, and work history.

A general formula for compiling a Strengths section should include the following:

• Experience statements summarizing skills developed through your work history, i.e., customer service, cash management, supervision, training, inventory management;
• At least 1 statement on technical expertise to include knowledge of computer systems, hardware and software or programming languages;
• 1 or 2 statements on personal attributes which are identifiable through your documented work performance, i.e., Team player who also works well independently, Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines in a timely manner, Strong written and verbal communication skills;
• A final statement can be added to draw attention to any special endorsements, talents or abilities, i.e., Student of ROTC, Bilingual with ability to speak fluent Spanish, Pursuing MCSE certification.

  Begin writing your Strengths statements by reviewing your work history and documenting the skills that you have mastered.  If you have extensive experience in a field of work, you may include the number of years of experience in the statement. Examples of the skills you have mastered and how to write your statements might include:

  Restaurant and Retail Sales Work:

• Experienced in customer service and cash management in food services
• Knowledge of cash transactions and inventory management in retail sales
• ??? years experience in restaurant operations

  Teaching or Sports Positions:

• Experienced in delivery of instructional material in a classroom setting
• Experienced in coordinating sports programs for children ages ??? thru ???
• Experienced in management and safe operations of sports facilities and equipment

  Supervision

• Ability to supervise staff with knowledge of training procedures
• Experienced in supervision of staff in a ??? setting

Technical

• Experienced in network administration and systems installation
• Ability to troubleshoot and repair computer systems and peripherals

  Organizations and Volunteering

• Experienced in organizing community functions on a college campus
• Knowledge of organizational leadership

  Remember:  Statements documented in your Strengths section must correlate to your work and educational experience. You may be asked, in an interview setting, to give examples of any statement made on your resume.

Be prepared with accomplishment statements that support the Summary section.