The summary of qualifications section is arguably the most important section in a resume. It is positioned in the top half of the first page of the resume and is the one thing that employers will read first. As the title indicates, the summary of qualifications is meant to give an overview of the applicant’s experience and credentials. The summary of qualifications cannot be written in the abstract however, but needs to refer to the specific requirements of the position you are applying to.

Before writing the summary of qualifications, you need to have a clear idea of what the employer wants in a candidate. What would be the ideal candidate for this employer? From there you simply need to connect the skills that you can bring to the position. Again, the summary of qualifications section does not mean a summary of all your qualifications. It is a summary of your qualifications as relevant to the specific job you are applying to. Relevance is an unwritten rule that applies for all the sections of a resume.

A variable that many professional resume writers like to add to the summary of qualifications is a list of relevant skills at the end of the paragraph. The paragraph would end like: … Other skills include: … and you have here a list of the skills using bullet points, typically listed in a two or three-column table. The skills can include areas of specialization, languages spoken, computer programs with which you are familiar, specific certifications, etc.