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Write a Callback-Ready Summary in 6 Lines

A simple structure that makes recruiters immediately understand your level, scope, and outcomes.

Amira Khan · Jan 28, 2026
Notebook, pen, and coffee on a desk for drafting a professional summary

Your summary is not a biography. It is a positioning statement. If you can make a recruiter nod in six lines, the rest of the CV gets read with trust.

The 6-Line Template

  1. Line 1: Target title + lane (e.g., "Product Manager | B2B SaaS | Payments").
  2. Line 2: Years + domain credibility (industry, customer type, regulated environment).
  3. Line 3: Scope (team size, stakeholders, regions, scale).
  4. Line 4: One standout outcome with a number.
  5. Line 5: Second outcome with a number (different dimension).
  6. Line 6: Tools/skills grouped (not a shopping list).

A Worked Example

Product Manager | B2B SaaS | Identity & Access
5+ years building workflow products for mid-market + enterprise teams.
Owned roadmap across onboarding, permissions, and audit readiness.
Shipped self-serve provisioning that cut onboarding time by 34%.
Improved retention +6.1% by redesigning activation + lifecycle nudges.
Tools: Jira, SQL, Amplitude, Figma | Methods: discovery, experiments, OKRs.
One small upgrade
If you are switching industries, keep the title constant and change the lane: "Data Analyst | Healthcare" becomes "Data Analyst | FinTech". Your bullets will do the heavy lifting.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing in first person ("I am a...")
  • Using soft adjectives instead of scope ("highly motivated", "results-driven")
  • Listing every tool you have ever touched
  • Forgetting to say what level you operate at

A good summary makes the recruiter's next click easy: it tells them which roles to shortlist you for.

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