A 4-step framework to help you write a kick-ass CV Personal Summary
The personal summary at the very top of your CV is prime real estate and your best opportunity to engage the reader.
Yet most of us waste it with littering buzzwords like ambitious, autonomous, adaptable, balanced, best in class, and collaborative. You get my drift, and I stopped at C.
Without denying these adjectives accurately describe you, I am merely suggesting the reader stays on autopilot. Behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman refers to this as “System 1”, which is the brain's automatic, intuitive, and unconscious thinking mode. It requires little energy or attention, but it is often biased prone.
Basically, if you asked the reader to repeat what they just read, they’d struggle.
You want to engage the reader’s “System 2”, which is a slow, controlled and analytical method of thinking where reason dominates.
The best way to do this is through writing in story format. I recommend using this condensed version of the ‘SB7’ framework by Donald Miller which you can find in his book Building a Story Brand:
Step 1 – Identify the character
Every story needs a hero. However, you are not the hero of this story. The company/role you’re applying for is the hero. You need to position yourself as the guide who can help the hero achieve their goals.
Step 2 – Who has a problem
Think about why they are hiring for this role. For every job, there is a need, and you want to identify it here.
Step 3 - The plan
How are you going to help the hero and provide solutions to their problems?
Step 4 - Ends in success
What do you want to have achieved in this role after, say, 2 years? Be specific here.
Here’s an example of what it can look like when Shanaya, a software engineer, is applying to a medical devices company in Dublin. They are advertising for mid-level software engineers to help develop new machine learning products to meet increasing demand from the healthcare sector:
I’m a Dublin-based software engineer with 5 years of experience and eager to join the medical devices industry. I’d like to use my passion for fixing real world problems to build products that can help save lives. My skills in .Net and Azure DevOps will allow me to develop and deploy code straight away while I can leverage my Masters in Artificial Intelligence to contribute to the overall product strategy. My goal is to be recognised as a software engineer who writes reliable and modifiable code, and to progress into a senior role within 2 years.
Who would not want to interview her?!