Transcript: Lesson 5: Writing a Resume, Part 2:

Headline and Summary

Hello, in this video, we're going to look at the headline and summary section of your resume. We'll look at what
information you need to include here and prepare you to write your own headline and summary. In the past,
people wrote an objective in their resume. This objective described what the candidate was looking for in a job.
However, nowadays it is more popular to use a headline instead of an objective. Can you see what the headline in
this resume is?

Abdul Al Saud
1875 West Florida Ave., Atlanta, GA 30305
Tel: 827-468-4921 abdul.alsaud@expressmail.com

Project Coordinator
Highly motivated, tech-savvy professional with over 5 years’ experience in a fast-paced consulting
environment. Extensive experience supporting senior consultants in high-profile technology projects.
Exceptional analytical ability and talent for managing information. Certified Associate in Project Management
(CAPM) certification. Proficient in:
• Project Coordination • Microsoft SharePoint
• Project Setup & Monitoring • Microsoft Project
• Project Communication • Microsoft Excel

That's right! In this case, it's Project Coordinator- someone who manages or is in charge of a piece of work.

The headline is a phrase that highlights your value as a candidate for the position you're applying for. It is often the
job title, which you want. It should be short and specific. Avoid making it too general. Again, refer back to the job
advertisement and search the key words there for help with this.

The next part is the summary. The summary is a short paragraph where you can list your strengths and experience
making you a better candidate. Often the summary is followed by a series of bullet points listing your key skills. If
we look at Abdul's resume, again, we can see he has included both a summary paragraph and a bullet point list of
his skills.

Now, let's take a closer look at each of these things.

In the summary section, Abdul has highlighted his strengths and experience. He says, “highly motivated, 5 years'
experience in a fast-paced consulting environment. Exceptional analytical ability, talent for managing information,
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification.”

These are all things he wants the employer who reads his resume to see and then say, “this Abdul guy is a great fit
for my project coordinator position.”

© 2021 by FHI 360. “Transcript: Lesson 5: Writing a Resume, Part 2: Headline and Summary” for the Online
Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by
the U.S. government and administered by FHI 360. This work is an adaptation of “Video: Writing a Resume, 1
Part 2: Headline and Summary”, by The University of Pennsylvania licensed under the Creative Commons
Share-Alike License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
 Abdul then goes on to list some of his key skills. As we learned in our lesson about key words, these skills should
try to relate to the key words in the job advertisement.

The first set of skills he lists, the ones on the left, are related to project coordination or management. After all, he's
applying for a Project Coordinator position. These include project coordination, setup, and monitoring and
communication.

The second set of skills, the ones on the right, are related to Microsoft Software programs such as SharePoint
Project and Excel.

Overall, as you can see, Abdul makes a good first impression with the employer by writing a short and specific
headline, a clear summary of his strengths and experience, and a bullet point list of his key skills. All these are
directly connected to the job advertisement for the job he's applying to and uses key words from that ad.

Summary
In this video, I hope you have learned the importance of using a headline and a summary in your resume.

What’s Next?
Next, we will look at another important part of your resume, work experience. Bye for now.