Your Resume Headline - The Most Important Part of Your Resume

Your headline is your eye-catcher, your interest-grabber, your hook, your attention builder.  If you indeed have only 15 to30 seconds to grab a hiring agent's attention (since she may have dozens or even hundreds more resumes to get to), why wouldn't you want the best two lines of text possible to catch her attention?

 

What is a Headline?

It is one to two well-written sentences, utilizing powerful adjectives and action verbs to wow and impact your reader.   Because you want to encourage your reader to read-on, you should employ a common copywriting tip - don't put a period at the end of the sentence.

The Headline incorporates two things - 1) your professional objective, and 2) some of your key accomplishments, things written specifically for the position you are seeking.  Using this formula provides two pieces of important information right off the bat:  what you are seeking and what you can potentially offer them.

There is no Header used for the Headline, as there is for other parts of your resume, i.e. Summary of Qualifications, Work History, and Education. 

It is written directly below the Header (name and contact information), with two spaces in-between.

Different from An Objective

Ten years ago, we wrote Objectives, which just summarized the position the job-hunter was seeking.  In essence, it focused only on the job-seeker, and what they had accomplished, not on what they could offer a potential employer; i.e.

Executive Chef in charge of corporate dining facilities & events

Am seeking a position as a heavy equipment operator for a California-based company

Prefer a Part-Time Position in account management where I can utilize my education and skills.

Nowadays, we more often write Headlines, which are geared toward supplying the employer with a candidate who will meet their criteria and what the candidate can offer if they were employed. 

Very important: Write a custom Headline for each position you are applying for.

Keep it concise and clear, a short but powerful summary - sort of like a motto, or an ad.  It should be italicized, bold, in 10-12 size font.  Eliminate wordiness by cutting the articles, such as "a" "an" or "the".  This principle is true throughout your resume.

4 Steps To Creating a Powerful Headline

First - Start with some powerful adjectives to describe yourself. Be truthful, but it is okay to sing your own praises here.

Second - Add  the function or description of the position(s) you have held (and are currently seeking.

Real estate sales - computer management - senior communications manager -
master gardener - sales representative - marketing professional

                        Third - describe your level of expertise or years of experience

Professional - assistant - a decade of experience -over twenty years -
extensive background in - accomplished in

                Lastly, add some of your key accomplishments

…with a proven track record of customer satisfaction  
…with strong business acumen in computer programming and systems analysis
… with proven experience in managing retail sales setup and operations
… with a master's degree in new product development and marketing
… with a strong record of (list your key accomplishments)

Hopefully, you will end up with something like this:

Award-winning and successful senior communications manager
with an strong record of developing customer loyalty and managing retail sales operations

Bolster your confidence and enhance your resume's chances of being seen with a good strong Headline.  It may be the most valuable piece of real estate within your resume.