A professional summary is the short paragraph that sits directly below your contact information and above your experience section. It's what a recruiter reads first — often the only thing they read before deciding whether to continue — so it has to do a lot of work in four sentences or less.
The reliable structure: role and years of experience, two or three core skills that match the target job, and one quantified achievement that proves you can deliver. For example: "Product Marketing Manager with 6 years in B2B SaaS, specializing in GTM strategy, positioning, and lifecycle campaigns. Grew qualified pipeline 32% YoY at [Company] through repositioning and category education."
Tailor the summary to every role you apply to — mirror the job description's exact terminology for the top skills. A generic summary is easy to skip; a tailored one feels like you're already a half-step into the job.