I see hundreds of CVs every month. One recurring pattern stands out: the summary at the top—meant to hook a recruiter in 10 seconds—either disappears into a sea of bland statements or reads like a job description in reverse. The result? Your CV gets skimmed or scanned by an ATS, rather than read with interest. If your summary isn’t doing its job, it’s usually because it tries to do too much or nothing specific at all.
Why most CV summaries fail
Here are the common reasons I stop reading a summary within a few seconds.
- It’s vague and generic. “Hardworking professional seeking new challenges” tells the reader nothing about what you actually deliver.
- It’s too long or unfocused. A paragraph that reads like a biography is easy to skip—recruiters want a quick signal, not your life story.
- It lacks evidence. Claims like “results-driven” are weak when they aren’t backed by a metric or concrete example.
- It’s written for the job, not the role. Many summaries are keyword-stuffed to trick ATS but don’t communicate actual value to a hiring manager.
- It doesn’t match the role you want. You might have broad experience, but your summary should clearly orient readers to the specific role or sector you’re targeting.
The three-line summary that actually works
If you only change one thing on your CV today, make it this: reduce your summary to three purposeful lines. Each line has a clear function. Together they communicate who you are, what you’ve delivered, and what you’re looking for—fast.
- Line 1: Quick identity + specialism — 6–10 words that tell the reader your job title and sector (e.g. “Marketing analyst specialising in B2B SaaS”). This sets expectations instantly.
- Line 2: One strong achievement or skill + metric — one concrete outcome that proves your value (e.g. “Drove 35% year-on-year SQL growth through A/B testing and lifecycle segmentation”).
- Line 3: Target role or value proposition — a short phrase that explains the role you want or the problem you solve for employers (e.g. “Ready to scale demand-generation for growth-stage fintechs”).
Why this works: recruiters get identity, evidence and intent in under 15 words each. It’s readable for humans and modular for ATS—each line contains searchable keywords and quantifiable impact.
How to write each line (with examples)
Below I’ll unpack each line and give real-world examples you can adapt.
Line 1 — Who you are, fast
This is your label. Use job titles hiring managers recognise. If your current title is internal or unusual, pick the market equivalent. Add a sector, specialism or seniority marker if space allows.
- Good: “Chartered HR generalist (employee relations & talent mobility)”
- Not great: “Experienced people professional with HR expertise”
Keep it tight. Avoid buzzwords that add no clarity (e.g. “motivated”, “passionate”).
Line 2 — Proof, ideally quantified
This line is the most important. Pick one achievement or capability that directly links to the role you want. Use numbers where possible: % improvement, £ saved, number of hires, size of budgets, time reduced, etc.
- Example (graduate): “Achieved 20% increase in campus engagement through a student-led marketing campaign.”
- Example (data role): “Built a forecasting model that improved demand-forecast accuracy by 18%.”
- Example (senior): “Led a cross-functional team to deliver a £1.3m cost-saving within 12 months.”
If you can’t quantify, use concise qualitative outcomes: “Reduced onboarding time and improved early-role retention.”
Line 3 — What you want or the value you bring
Finish with a sentence that signals fit and intent. This helps a recruiter quickly classify you for roles and pipelines. It can be target-role focused, sector-focused, or solution-focused.
- Role-focused: “Seeking product manager role in edtech scaleups.”
- Solution-focused: “Helps small retailers adopt ecommerce to boost revenue.”
- Career-change: “Transferring customer-success skills into SaaS onboarding roles.”
Avoid passive phrasing like “open to opportunities” unless you’re actively networking; specificity beats vagueness.
Examples across career stages
Here are full three-line summaries tailored to common profiles. Copy the structure, not the wording.
- Graduate (finance internship)
Finance graduate with internship experience in corporate reporting.
Built financial models that reduced quarter-end close time by 25% during internship.
Seeking junior FP&A role in retail or consumer goods. - Mid-career marketer
Performance marketer specialising in paid social and lifecycle email.
Scaled CAC-efficient growth, reducing new-customer CPA by 30% YoY.
Looking to lead paid acquisition for subscription-first consumer brands. - Senior manager (IT project)
IT programme manager with 10+ years in public-sector transformation.
Delivered a £4m digital transformation, improving service availability to 99.9%.
Available to run multi-stakeholder programmes in government or healthcare. - Career changer (teacher to L&D)
Former secondary-school teacher with six years’ experience designing learning sequences.
Developed assessment frameworks adopted across 8 schools, improving attainment by 12%.
Transitioning into corporate L&D to design blended training for frontline teams.
Quick ATS and formatting tips
- Keep it short. Three lines should fit in 40–60 words. That’s scannable and fits most CV templates without pushing key details down the page.
- Use role-specific keywords. Mirror language from the job advert—if the job asks for “demand-generation”, include that phrasing if you do it.
- Place metrics near action verbs. Recruiters look for “saved”, “led”, “reduced” paired with numbers.
- Avoid full stops after each line. A clean line break looks modern; if you build a paragraph, keep it to three short sentences.
- Don’t duplicate your LinkedIn headline word-for-word. They serve different purposes—LinkedIn can be broader; your CV should be role-targeted.
Before and after: a quick comparison
| Failing summary | Three-line fix |
|---|---|
| “Motivated marketing professional with experience across digital channels. Looking for new challenges and opportunities to grow in a fast-paced environment.” | “Performance marketer (paid and lifecycle) with 5 years in SaaS. Reduced CAC by 30% through testing and optimisation. Seeking acquisition lead role for growth-stage SaaS.” |
Small, specific edits like these change the signal your CV sends. You stop being “motivated” and start being “the person who reduced CAC by 30%.” That’s memorable—and actionable—for whoever’s reading.
If you want, paste your current summary and I’ll rewrite it into the three-line format so you can slot it straight into your CV template.
