CV summary: how to write a personal profile that gets read

What is a CV summary?

The summary is also called a profile, personal profile or personal statement. It sits right below your name and contact details and works as a short introduction to you as a candidate. Where the cover letter explains why you want this particular job, the summary sums up what you have to offer.

A recruiter with many applications to get through often skims the top of the CV first. A good summary makes that job easier. They see straight away what role you have, how much experience you bring and whether you could fit the position.

How long should the summary be?

Three to five sentences, or roughly 50 to 90 words, is enough for most people. Any longer and it stops being a summary. It should be quick to read.

You can write in the first person (“I am a registered nurse and ...”) or without pronouns (“Registered nurse with ...”). Both are common in Norway. What matters is that you choose one style and stick to it all the way through.

A simple formula for your CV profile

Most good summaries answer four questions, in this order. You do not need a sentence for each, but all four should be there.

• Who are you? Your profession or field and how much experience you have, for example “Accountant with six years of experience at an accounting firm”.
• What are you especially good at? Two or three skills that matter for the job you are applying for.
• What have you achieved? One concrete result or responsibility that proves your claim.
• What are you looking for? A short sentence about what you want to contribute in your next job, linked to the position.

CV summary examples

Here are six examples for different situations. Use them as inspiration and swap in your own details. A summary only works if everything in it is true. If you have just finished your studies, our guide to CVs for recent graduates has more tips.

• Recent graduate: “Recent graduate with a bachelor's degree in business administration from OsloMet, specialising in marketing. Wrote my bachelor's thesis on customer loyalty in grocery retail together with a local chain. Have worked part time in a shop for four years and am used to busy days and direct customer contact. Looking to use analysis and customer insight in a marketing or sales role.”
• Career change: “Former teacher with eight years of experience at lower secondary school, now moving into HR. Have planned and delivered training for colleagues, led parent meetings and handled difficult conversations with pupils and parents. Completed a course in personnel management this year alongside my job. Looking for a role in training or recruitment where communication and relationship building matter.”
• Experienced: “Project manager with more than 12 years of experience in construction and property, the last five responsible for projects worth between 50 and 200 million kroner. Known for keeping to schedule and budget through close follow up of subcontractors and clients. Have led teams of up to 15 people. Seeking a role with responsibility for larger projects from early phase to handover.”
• Healthcare: “Registered nurse with five years of experience on a medical ward and in home nursing. Confident in medication management, observing acutely ill patients and working with relatives. Have been the ward's resource nurse for wound care and trained new colleagues. Want to work in a professional environment where patient safety and professional development are a priority.”
• Sales: “Salesperson with six years of experience in B2B sales of office solutions to small and medium sized businesses. Build long term customer relationships and have beaten budget in four of the last five years. Experienced in the whole sales cycle, from prospecting and booking meetings to negotiation and closing. Keen to contribute to growth in a company with ambitious goals and a strong product.”
• IT: “Developer with four years of frontend experience, mainly React and TypeScript. Have built and maintained online shops with many daily users, and made the pages noticeably faster through better image handling and code splitting. Enjoy working closely with design and product in small teams. Looking for a team where quality, testing and good user experience are important.”

Tailor the summary to the job

The summary is the part of your CV most worth rewriting for each application. Read the ad and see which two or three requirements carry the most weight. Make sure they appear in your summary, using the same words as the ad, if they match your experience. If the ad is in Norwegian, that usually means writing the summary and the rest of the CV in Norwegian.

An example: a nurse applying to an emergency department should highlight experience with acutely ill patients and triage. If the same person applies to a home nursing service, independence, working with GPs and relatives, and digital patient record systems matter more. The experience is the same, but the emphasis is different.

Read more about tailoring your whole CV in our guide on how to write a CV.

What to avoid in your summary

Many summaries look alike because they are full of the same words. That makes you disappear in the crowd. Watch out for these:

• Buzzwords with no evidence, such as “committed, solution oriented and a team player”. Show something you have done that proves it instead.
• Focusing on what you want: “I am looking for a job where I can develop.” The employer first wants to know what you can contribute.
• Too much text. More than five sentences becomes a paragraph nobody reads.
• Repeating your whole CV. Pick the most important points, the rest is further down.
• Exaggerations such as “expert” or “best in class” with nothing to back them up.
• Personal details such as age, marital status or family. They do not belong here.

Get help with your summary

Writing about yourself can be hard, and many people end up with something too modest or too generic. In Selja you can paste the job ad and get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job in under a minute, with a summary written for that exact position. The text is based only on the details you have entered, so you will not get claims you cannot stand behind.

If you want to know how your summary and the rest of your CV come across to a recruiter, try CV score for free once. You get an honest assessment and concrete points to improve. If you are writing a cover letter at the same time, read our guide on how to write a cover letter.