The summary is the first thing a recruiter reads and one of the first sections an applicant tracking system tries to identify. A good one tells the reader who you are, what you are strong at and what you have achieved, in about three or four lines.
The formula
Use this structure: role and experience + two or three strongest skills + one proof point. For example: your title, how long you have done the work, the tools or methods you are best at, and one result you can back up.
Before and after
Weak: 'Hard-working professional looking for a challenging role in a reputed organisation.'
Stronger: 'Project manager with 8 years of experience delivering software projects with Agile teams. Strong in stakeholder management, risk planning and Azure Boards reporting. Led a 12-person team through a 300-dashboard migration.' Replace each fact with your own.
What to avoid
Skip first-person wording ("I am..."), generic buzzwords such as 'team player' or 'results-oriented', and objectives that talk about what you want instead of what you offer. Do not claim skills or numbers you cannot defend in an interview.
Make it match the job
Read the job posting and make sure your summary uses the same role name and two or three of the same tools you genuinely have. That helps keyword matching and tells a human reader you are relevant at a glance.
Length and placement
Keep it under about 70 words, directly under your name and contact details, with a plain heading such as Professional Summary. The ResumeChecker builder can help you tighten the wording, and its suggestions tab flags summaries that are too short or too long.
Checklist
• Role and years of experience. • Two or three real strengths. • One provable result. • No first person and no buzzwords. • Roughly 40 to 70 words.