How to tailor your professional summary to the specific job posting and industry?

In my experience job postings are on the extreme idealist's mode. It describes the perfect man-fit for the vacant position. Not all applicants are in the perfect state and therefore just offer what you have as your highlighted achievements, but make sure it is completely in tune with what the employer or the job posts demand.

When you apply for a job that has captured your attention and you feel you are a good fit for the role, review the job description and also conduct research into the company, what their focus is and the problems their business aims to solve for their customers or clients. Analyse the tone of the job description and search on LinkedIn for professionals who have worked in a similar position at that company. The will give you a good idea of how they position themselves and it may give you an idea of how you will craft your Profile Summary. Include your skills that are a 'must have' to be successful in the role so it's obvious that you are a strong candidate.

Not just the professional summary but your 'branding' title. Using words like 'Professional Summary' or 'About Me' in front of your job title are a turn-off. You wan to not only get a hiring manager's attention but pass the online screening whether it be by an ATS or a recruiter. This is about visibility. If I don't know easily what your job title is, I may move on and ignore everything else

In researching the industry, also make sure that you have a complete knowledge of the area you're delving into. I mean you know the ins-and-outs of the industry or at least have a clear grasp of the playing field.

Highlighting your achievements and results that are relevant to the job and industry - this is the most important thing. Degrees and decorations are "nonsense" if it is far from the nature of work you are trying to get.

To identify your achievements use the 'Problem-Action-Result' method and then choose the 2 most relevant achievements for the role, turn them into short bullet points to include in your summary by taking the Action and Result and create a 1-2 line accomplishment bullet point. For example, "Designed and delivered xxx which resulted in ... [% or $ or perceived improvement". I would recommend that you add a 'Key Achievements' heading under your professional summary to draw attention to those tailored bullet points.

Always spell check and proof read your professional summary. Take a step back and come back to it, then refine and edit if necessary. Sometimes you get so close to your own resume that it's difficult to be objective. This is where getting someone who understands your industry and type of role to review what you have written is helpful.

One key point that has yet to be raised is, once you've written your professional summary, step away from it for a day or two and then come back to it, read it again, and see if it still clearly conveys the information you intend. If so, it works. If not, then revise it again, step away, and then review it again. This is an iterative process that helps ensure you develop the best professional summary possible. The reason for following that process is that when you're writing/revising a summary it's easy to get locked into what has been written. Stepping away lets you see it with fresh eyes and a clear perspective, similar to what the person you're sending it to will have, making it easier to see if additional edits still need to be made.