Should You Include a Summary on Your Resume

Should You Include a Summary on Your ResumeGone are the old days of the Objective paragraph at the top of a resume. Everywhere you look, job gurus are insisting that the Summary statement is the next new thing. Does that mean we should all run out and add one to our resumes? Not exactly. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) In some cases, its just a matter of fashion. Style, not substance. In those cases, its best to resist the trend and stick with the traditional. Heres a primer for determining whether or not you need a summary statementand, more importantly, whether one could help or hurt you.Ask Yourself Where are you now?Figure out what you would feature in the summary. Just a distilled repetition of information you already have in the body of your resume? Are you just taking up valuable real estate on the page to repeat yourself?If you have a wealth of seemingly disparate experiences that require a bit of context to tie togetheri.e. you want to feature a particular core set of skills to unify your job history, or you have multiple years of experience and would like to highlight the arc of your work journey (aka, your brand)then it can be an incredibly useful tool.Ask Yourself Where do you want to be?Do the requisite soul searching to figure out what you really want in your next position. What kind of job are you after? What skills do you enjoy utilizing the fruchtwein? What accomplishments highlight those skills best? What are you passionate about? Once you answer these questions, youll be much better prepared to highlight the skills and special information that would make you more appealing to hiring managers in that area.Ask Yourself Where is your industry?Do a bit of legwork to figure out what your ideal industry is after. What skills will matter most to hiring managers in your field? Are these skills you have, but perhaps arent clear enough in your work history?Wield your summary to show HR you have what they n eed most. Consider what your biggest selling points might be and focus on those. Show how uniquely equipped you are to tackle their biggest issues and address their biggest needs. Show you care about their core concerns.Craft your statement.Be concise. You have limited space and you really dont want to just regurgitate the bullet points in your resume. Try not to repeat anything that follows in the Summary. Instead, focus on providing valuable context, narrative-shaping, and synthesis that will hopefully prove to be game-changing. Use this space to show your potential employer what you have to offer, but make sure to target and match that with what theyre looking for and need the most.

One Thing That Drastically Improved My Everyday Stress Level

One Thing That Drastically Improved My Everyday Stress Level Quick name two topics that get a lot of coverage on the Internet. There are a lot, but my two today are stressand morning routines.But lets back up... Again, morning routines get a lot coverage hit the gym, mediate, dont snooze, dont check your phone for 20 minutes, dont forget to eat breakfast, abflug the day with lemon water, dont eat breakfast (I made that up), take a cold shower, take a hot shower.The list goes on, and for good reason theyre important. But the thing is, like every part of life, the optimal morning routine is different for everyone and takes time to find.So is it worth it to explore yourself, your time, your needs, and your preferences to build an optimal morning routine? From me, youre going to get a resounding yes for one reason Doing this for myself has improved my overall life and drastically reduced my stress level.Bold claim, I know.A bit about me I own and operate a leadership, life, and career co achingbusiness. Ive been doing this for 3 years and have expanded to building and leading workshops at global organizations and institutions. About a year ago I began teaching a Career Preparation course in the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago. Oh, and I also run a demand generation marketing program, that Ive built from scratch, for a Fortune 100 company.I love my work, but when I took on teaching I began to get overwhelmed (no surprise). I welches now arguably holding 3 full-time jobs. Im also a social, fun person so spending time with friends and family, traveling, and maintaining hobbies (like how I decided to re-learn the saxophone this summer) is important to me. Were all busy Im not glamorizing being busy or claiming Im the *busiest* because Im not (also heres a good read about how we romanticize being busy, which does beg the question about my loaded plate, which Ill come back to...) In fact, its important to note there are a whole lot of women who ar e busier than I ammothers, caretakers, people with more jobs. But again, thats not the point. The point is how I took myself back from a near breaking point and the small move I made that brought me my sanity back.For me, there welches never a breaking point, which I feel lucky about. But in late winter of my first semester teaching I had a steady number of regular clients, my full-time job welches expanding and travel was increasing, and I was behind on grading (like, really behind). I decided to take off the entire week of spring break from my full-time job. I spent this week doing some coaching work and grading but also just being. I got a massage. I got a facial. I cooked nice, long meals for myself. I went to my favorite gym classes. Some days I slept in. Some days I was up early. I sat and let myself enjoy the coffee I grind and brew daily like I do on a Sunday.When the week passed I didnt mourn the vacation the way I have before. Something else happened instead I saw my needs and myself more clearly. I had been productive and happy that week but was also on a slower schedule. I was calm and breathing. I was relaxed. I felt better. Now, yes, I was on vacation. This is what happens on vacation. But I felt that surely there were ways to incorporate this approach into my daily, non-vacation life. So I gave it a whirl.I reflected on that week and asked myself what, specifically, was so alluring to me about that time. The answer the mornings. So I decided I needed to figure out what I needed during that time and find ways to incorporate to my normal routine.I started by reflecting on what my ideal morning would be. I decided I wanted time to slowly wake up (read snooze button). I currently dont enjoy a morning workout (but have in the past, and surely will again in the future) so I didnt want to force myself to hit the gym early. I also really enjoy slow, quiet time. I dont usually like to put on the news (again, something Ive done in the past and surely will again in the future) and dont even play music (again, has been different in the past will likely be different in the future).Now that I had an idea of what I did and did not want, I started to design a short period of time that gave me this. I work remotely full-time so I have more time in the mornings that most people because I dont commute. I had already been using this time to work but I started thinking differently about it. Yes, some days Id be up and grading or up and taking an early morning client call. But I also wanted the vorkaufsrecht to sip my coffee slowly and not make my bed for hours? I started to give myself the freedom to make my mornings work for me. How could this have such an impact on my stress?I noticed that trying to cram so much into each day was leaving me feeling depleted, overwhelmed, and, well, stressed. This freedom gave me the space to decide what I needed each day and then ensure I got that. Some days I needed quiet time, some days I needed to work, s ome days I thought I needed to work and ended up sitting in silence drinking coffee next to my computer that I closed after 20 minutes of staring at a blank screen. The ability to decide what I needed actually let me figure out what I needed to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stressed.Again, there are some important nuances of my life I am not a mother and I am not responsible for any dependents. That would drastically change things, I know. Also, I work remotely so I dont begin my workday until sometime between 8 and 9.My circumstances allow me to operate like this not everyones will. But thats also the point to explore what, within your circumstance, makes for an ideal morning.So, do that. Ask yourself what makes an ideal morning? Consider how much time you have and what needs to get done for yourself and others. Maybe you cant sit and process and do personal/side business projects like me (or you dont want to or want side projects). Thats okay Maybe you decide that you want to sit and eat (at an actual table) with your family. Or sit and eat (at an actual table) by yourself. Or maybe you like to take 10 minutes to sweep the floor and put dishes away because thats soothing for you or because it will never get done after the workday. Maybe you live with a partner or roommate and want to operate in complete silence and avoid this person. Or the oppositeyou both agree that you want to connect while youre brewing coffee or blending a smoothie.The point is not to carve out hours of time for yourself but to reflect on what you need and want from a morning routine that will enable you to have your ideal day.Again with some examples because I cannot emphasize enough that our morning desires, needs, and routines should be as different as we are I know women who prefer to motor through a morning routine so they can sit in a quiet, Zen-like office for forty minutes in peace. Or women who like to go on morning walks with their neighbors to catch up. Or women who like sit outside quietly sipping coffee regardless of the weather.Theres no prescription for how to spend your morning but rather to figure out what your ideal morning is given whats going on in your life and career, and fine a way to optimize your time. Trust me on this one. Now to wrap up this article because its nearing 830 am and I need to shift gears___Jane Scudder is a certified leadership, career, and life coach, facilitator, and workplace consultant based in Chicago, IL. She helps individuals and group navigate their careers, teams, and personal lives. Find out more atjanescudder.com.