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Create ResumeA strong SEEK profile summary should quickly explain who you are, what work you do, what value you bring, and what kind of role you are suitable for. It is not a mini cover letter, a life story, or a place to say you are “hardworking and passionate” without proving anything. When I look at SEEK profiles, I am usually trying to answer one question fast: does this person look relevant enough to contact? Your summary helps me make that call before I even open your full resume. The best SEEK profile summaries are specific, natural, keyword aware, and written for the roles you actually want in the Australian job market.
Your SEEK profile summary is the short professional introduction that appears on your SEEK profile. It gives recruiters and employers a quick snapshot of your background before they decide whether to view more detail, download your resume, or contact you.
That sounds simple, but candidates often misunderstand its purpose.
A SEEK profile summary is not there to impress everyone. It is there to help the right employer understand your fit quickly. That is a very different job.
When I review candidate profiles, I am not sitting there hoping to be emotionally moved by someone’s “career journey”. I am usually scanning for practical signals:
What role does this person actually do?
Which industry have they worked in?
What level are they at?
Do they have relevant systems, licences, qualifications, or technical skills?
Are they suitable for the role I am recruiting for?
A strong SEEK profile summary usually follows a simple structure:
Your current role, profession, or career direction
Your level of experience or area of specialisation
The industries, environments, or role types you know well
Your strongest practical skills, tools, systems, or strengths
The type of opportunity you are targeting next
The mistake many candidates make is writing a summary that sounds nice but tells me almost nothing useful.
Weak Example
Reliable and hardworking professional with excellent communication skills. I am passionate about helping people and looking for a new opportunity where I can grow and contribute to a successful team.
This is not terrible because it sounds bad. It is weak because it is interchangeable. It could belong to a receptionist, warehouse worker, accountant, support worker, retail assistant, sales consultant, office administrator, or half the Australian workforce on a Monday morning.
Are they likely to be worth contacting before another recruiter does?
That last point matters more than candidates realise. Recruiters often work quickly because good candidates move quickly. A clear profile summary can make the difference between being shortlisted, messaged, or skipped.
A vague profile summary forces the recruiter to work harder. And when recruiters are reviewing a large candidate pool, “making them work harder” is not a strategy. It is a risk.
Good Example
Customer service professional with experience across retail, call centre, and front desk environments. Skilled in handling high volume enquiries, resolving customer issues, processing orders, and using CRM systems to maintain accurate records. I am now looking for a customer support or administration role where I can combine strong communication, organisation, and problem solving skills.
This works better because it gives the recruiter something concrete to work with. I can see the person’s background, transferable skills, likely fit, and target direction.
A good SEEK profile summary should not make the recruiter guess. Guessing is where candidates lose opportunities.
The right SEEK profile summary depends on your experience level, industry, and target role. Do not copy an example blindly. Use it as a structure and adapt it so it reflects your real background.
Customer service professional with experience supporting customers across retail and contact centre environments. Confident handling enquiries, resolving complaints, processing orders, updating customer records, and working in fast paced teams. I am known for staying calm with difficult customers, communicating clearly, and following issues through properly instead of passing them around. I am now seeking a customer service or customer support role where I can bring strong communication, reliability, and practical problem solving.
Why this works: it does not just say “good communication skills”. It shows where those skills are used. That is what recruiters care about.
Administration professional with experience supporting office operations, scheduling, data entry, document management, customer enquiries, and internal coordination. Comfortable working with Microsoft Office, email systems, databases, and competing priorities in busy office environments. I bring strong attention to detail, a practical approach to organisation, and the ability to keep things moving without needing constant follow up. I am looking for an administration, office support, or team assistant role in a stable and professional environment.
This kind of summary is useful because administration roles are broad. A recruiter needs to know whether your experience is general admin, reception, data entry, executive support, operations support, or something else.
Retail professional with experience in customer service, sales, stock handling, merchandising, POS systems, and maintaining store presentation standards. I enjoy working in customer facing environments where service, product knowledge, and reliability matter. I have experience working to sales targets, supporting team members during busy trading periods, and helping customers make confident purchasing decisions. I am seeking a retail assistant, sales assistant, or store support role with a team focused employer.
This is stronger than saying you are “passionate about retail”. Passion is nice. Rostering reliability, customer service, product knowledge, and sales awareness are more useful.
Hospitality professional with experience across front of house service, customer support, food and beverage operations, and busy shift environments. Confident taking orders, handling payments, supporting team members, maintaining service standards, and staying composed during peak periods. I understand that good hospitality is not just being friendly. It is timing, communication, awareness, and consistency when the venue is under pressure. I am looking for a hospitality role where I can contribute to a reliable and customer focused team.
This has a more realistic tone because hospitality employers know the work is demanding. They want people who understand the pace, not just people who say they like people.
Warehouse and logistics worker with experience in picking, packing, stock control, dispatch, receiving goods, RF scanning, manual handling, and working to daily productivity targets. I am comfortable in fast paced warehouse environments where accuracy, safety, and reliability are important. I have experience following procedures, working with team leaders, and maintaining clean and organised work areas. I am seeking a warehouse, storeperson, pick packer, or logistics support role with consistent hours.
This summary works because warehouse recruiters often search for specific operational terms. If your summary is too vague, you may not appear relevant in searches.
Recent business graduate with practical experience gained through university projects, part time customer service work, and internships. Strong interest in administration, operations, marketing support, and business coordination roles. I bring good written communication, research skills, stakeholder communication, and a willingness to learn how work actually happens inside a business, not just in theory. I am looking for an entry level role where I can build strong foundations and contribute reliably from the start.
Graduate summaries need to be careful. Do not pretend to have senior capability. Show potential, maturity, and readiness to learn without sounding passive.
Former retail supervisor moving into administration and office support, with strong experience in customer service, rostering, team coordination, problem solving, stock management, and handling daily operational pressure. I am confident communicating with customers, suppliers, and internal teams, and I bring practical organisation skills developed in busy frontline environments. I am now seeking an administration or office support role where I can transfer my coordination, communication, and reliability into a professional office setting.
Career changers need to connect the dots for recruiters. Do not assume the employer will automatically understand how your previous experience transfers. Spell it out clearly.
Project coordinator with experience supporting project delivery, stakeholder communication, scheduling, reporting, documentation, meeting coordination, and follow up across internal teams and external suppliers. Skilled at keeping project information organised, tracking actions, identifying delays early, and making sure people have the information they need to move work forward. I am seeking a project coordinator or project support role where I can contribute strong organisation, communication, and delivery discipline.
This works because it explains the practical function of the role. Project coordination is often misunderstood. Employers want evidence that you can keep work moving, not just attend meetings and update spreadsheets.
Marketing professional with experience across content coordination, campaign support, social media, email marketing, website updates, reporting, and brand communications. Comfortable working with marketing calendars, content briefs, analytics, and internal stakeholders to deliver practical campaign activity. I bring a balance of creativity and organisation, which matters because marketing ideas are only useful when they are actually executed well. I am looking for a marketing coordinator or digital marketing support role.
This avoids the common marketing summary problem: sounding creative but not operational. Hiring managers want both.
Sales professional with experience in customer relationship management, lead follow up, product advice, pipeline activity, and achieving sales targets in competitive environments. Confident building rapport, identifying customer needs, handling objections, and maintaining accurate records in CRM systems. I understand that good sales is not pressure. It is timing, trust, follow through, and knowing when a customer is actually ready to move. I am seeking a sales consultant, account executive, or business development role.
This is more credible than “born salesperson”. Hiring managers hear that constantly. They want signs of process, resilience, and commercial judgement.
IT support professional with experience providing technical assistance across hardware, software, user access, troubleshooting, ticket management, and internal support requests. Comfortable working with service desk systems, Microsoft environments, device setup, password resets, user onboarding, and clear communication with non technical users. I focus on resolving issues properly, documenting steps, and keeping users informed rather than leaving tickets sitting in silence. I am seeking an IT support, service desk, or technical support role.
This summary gives recruiters the technical and behavioural signals they need. In IT support, communication is not a soft extra. It is part of the job.
Healthcare support worker with experience assisting clients and patients with daily care, personal support, mobility assistance, documentation, communication with families, and following care plans. I bring patience, reliability, emotional awareness, and respect for privacy and dignity in care environments. I understand that good support work is not just being kind. It is being observant, consistent, and responsible when people are vulnerable. I am seeking a support worker, aged care, or disability support role.
This works because care employers look for trust, consistency, and practical judgement. Generic kindness is not enough.
Operations and team leader with experience managing daily workflows, staff coordination, customer service standards, performance follow up, rostering, issue resolution, and process improvement. I am comfortable balancing people, priorities, and commercial expectations in busy environments. My strength is creating structure without overcomplicating things, helping teams understand what matters, and fixing operational gaps before they become bigger problems. I am seeking a team leader, supervisor, or operations management role.
For leadership roles, avoid sounding like a motivational poster. Show how you lead in practical situations.
Recruiters do not read SEEK profiles the way candidates write them. That is the uncomfortable truth.
Candidates often write summaries slowly and carefully, hoping every sentence sounds professional. Recruiters usually scan them quickly, looking for relevance signals.
I am usually checking for:
Role match
Industry match
Seniority level
Location or work preference
Technical skills
Systems experience
Licences or qualifications
Communication quality
Career direction
Red flags or confusion
If your SEEK summary is clear, I can place you mentally. If it is vague, I have to investigate. If I have many strong candidates, I may not investigate at all.
This is why clarity beats cleverness.
A summary like “dynamic professional seeking exciting opportunities” does not help me. Dynamic how? Which opportunities? What role? What industry? What level? What skills?
The best summaries reduce uncertainty. They tell the recruiter enough to think, “Yes, this person could fit the search.”
That does not mean your summary needs to be perfect. It needs to be useful.
Your SEEK profile summary should include the information that helps recruiters understand your fit quickly.
Include your role or target role. Do not hide the obvious. If you are an accounts payable officer, say that. If you are moving into administration, say that too.
Include your industry background where relevant. Australian employers often care whether you have worked in similar environments. Someone from construction administration may be a stronger match for a construction company than a general administrator from an unrelated industry, even if both can use Excel.
Include important tools, systems, and technical skills. This can include MYOB, Xero, SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft Excel, CRM systems, rostering systems, POS systems, RF scanners, ticketing systems, or industry specific platforms.
Include licences, qualifications, or compliance requirements when they matter. For example, forklift licence, RSA, Working with Children Check, white card, first aid, Cert III, diploma, degree, or professional registration.
Include the type of role you are targeting. This is especially important if your background is broad, you are changing careers, or your resume contains several different job types.
A good summary should help the recruiter understand your professional direction, not just your past.
Most weak SEEK summaries fail for the same reasons. They are too vague, too self focused, or too disconnected from how hiring decisions are made.
Avoid phrases that do not prove anything:
Hardworking
Team player
Passionate
Motivated
Results driven
Fast learner
Excellent communication skills
Works well under pressure
These phrases are not banned. They are just weak when used alone. If you say you work well under pressure, show the type of pressure. Is it peak retail trade? High volume calls? End of month finance deadlines? Multiple support tickets? Busy hospital shifts? Site coordination?
Context makes the claim believable.
Also avoid sounding desperate. I see summaries that say things like “I am willing to do anything” or “I just need someone to give me a chance”. I understand the emotion behind that, especially when someone has been applying for weeks. But it does not position you well.
Employers hire for fit, not sympathy. That sounds harsh, but it is better to know it than waste your profile space.
Instead of saying you will do anything, say what you are suited for and where you can add value.
A SEEK profile summary should usually be around three to five sentences. Long enough to give useful context, short enough for a recruiter to scan quickly.
If it is only one sentence, it may not give enough information. If it is a huge paragraph, recruiters may skim past it.
The sweet spot is usually:
One sentence explaining your role or background
One sentence covering your strongest skills or experience areas
One sentence giving practical proof or work style
One sentence explaining what role you are looking for next
For example:
Administration assistant with experience supporting customer enquiries, data entry, document management, scheduling, and day to day office coordination. Confident using Microsoft Office, email systems, databases, and internal processes to keep information accurate and work moving. I am known for being organised, calm under pressure, and reliable with follow up. I am now seeking an administration or office support role where I can contribute strong coordination and communication skills.
That is enough. It gives me the key information without making me dig through a speech.
If you have limited work experience, do not try to sound senior. Recruiters can spot inflated language quickly, and it creates doubt.
Instead, focus on:
Your education or training
Part time work
Volunteer work
Placement experience
Transferable skills
Reliability
Communication
Practical readiness
Weak Example
Highly experienced professional with strong leadership skills and a passion for business success.
If you are applying for entry level roles and have limited experience, this does not help. It sounds inflated and unclear.
Good Example
Recent university graduate with part time retail experience and strong interest in administration, customer service, and business support roles. Through study and work, I have developed strong communication, organisation, research, and problem solving skills. I am comfortable learning new systems, following processes, and supporting customers or internal teams with a professional attitude. I am seeking an entry level role where I can build practical workplace experience and contribute reliably.
This is honest, but still positioned well. Honesty does not mean underselling yourself. It means making your strengths believable.
Career changers need to be especially clear because recruiters may not immediately understand the connection between your past role and your target role.
The biggest mistake career changers make is focusing too much on what they want and not enough on what transfers.
A hiring manager is not thinking, “What is this person’s dream?” They are thinking, “Can this person do the job with a reasonable amount of support?”
Your summary needs to answer that.
Weak Example
I am looking for a career change into HR because I have always been interested in people and would love the opportunity to grow in this area.
That explains your interest, but not your value.
Good Example
Retail supervisor transitioning into HR administration, with practical experience in rostering, onboarding casual staff, handling employee queries, supporting performance conversations, maintaining records, and coordinating daily team operations. I have developed strong communication, confidentiality, organisation, and problem solving skills in people focused environments. I am now seeking an HR assistant or HR administration role where I can apply my frontline leadership experience in a more structured people and operations function.
This summary does the job properly. It translates experience into relevance.
SEEK profiles are not only read by humans. They are also found through recruiter searches. That means your wording matters.
Recruiters often search using job titles, skills, systems, qualifications, and industry terms. If your profile does not include the right words, you may not appear in the right searches.
This does not mean stuffing your summary with keywords like an awkward robot. It means using natural language that matches the roles you want.
For example, if you want administration roles, include relevant terms such as administration, office support, data entry, scheduling, document management, customer enquiries, Microsoft Office, and records management if they genuinely apply.
If you want warehouse roles, include terms such as warehouse, pick packing, dispatch, receiving, inventory, RF scanning, stock control, forklift, manual handling, and safety procedures if relevant.
If you want customer service roles, include customer service, complaints, enquiries, CRM, call centre, order processing, customer support, issue resolution, and communication.
Recruiters do not always search creatively. Sometimes they search literally. If your profile uses poetic wording instead of the terms used in job ads, you may be making yourself harder to find.
Use this simple formula:
I am a [role or profession] with experience in [industries, environments, or functions]. I have strong skills in [key skills, tools, systems, or responsibilities]. I am known for [practical work style or strength]. I am seeking [target role type] where I can [value you bring].
Here is that formula in action:
Example
I am an accounts payable officer with experience in high volume invoice processing, reconciliations, supplier enquiries, payment runs, and finance administration. I have strong skills in Excel, accounting systems, data accuracy, and resolving invoice discrepancies. I am known for being thorough, organised, and calm during deadline driven periods. I am seeking an accounts payable or finance officer role where I can contribute accuracy, reliability, and strong process discipline.
The reason this formula works is simple: it follows the way recruiters think. It answers who you are, what you do, what you bring, and where you fit.
Office support professional with experience across administration, reception, customer enquiries, scheduling, document preparation, and data entry. Confident managing competing priorities, keeping records accurate, and supporting internal teams with practical day to day coordination. I bring a calm, organised, and helpful approach to busy office environments. I am seeking an office support, administration, or reception role where I can provide reliable operational support.
Finance officer with experience in accounts payable, accounts receivable, reconciliations, invoice processing, supplier communication, payment support, and financial administration. Skilled in maintaining accurate records, following finance processes, resolving discrepancies, and supporting month end activity. I am detail focused without losing sight of deadlines and practical business needs. I am seeking a finance officer or accounts role in a structured and professional team.
HR administrator with experience supporting recruitment coordination, onboarding, employee records, compliance documentation, HR inbox management, interview scheduling, and internal employee enquiries. Comfortable working with confidential information, structured processes, and stakeholders across different business areas. I bring strong organisation, discretion, and follow through to people operations. I am seeking an HR assistant, HR administrator, or people and culture support role.
Construction administration professional with experience supporting project teams, site documentation, subcontractor communication, purchase orders, compliance records, scheduling, and general office coordination. Comfortable working in fast moving environments where priorities change and information needs to be accurate. I understand the importance of clear communication between office, site, suppliers, and clients. I am seeking a construction administration or project support role.
Education support professional with experience assisting students, teachers, and school teams in classroom and administrative environments. Skilled in communication, behaviour support, learning assistance, record keeping, and creating a calm and respectful environment for students. I bring patience, structure, and practical awareness to education settings. I am seeking a teacher aide, learning support, or education assistant role.
Executive assistant with experience supporting senior leaders through diary management, inbox coordination, meeting preparation, travel arrangements, stakeholder communication, reporting, and confidential administration. I am comfortable managing shifting priorities, protecting executive time, and anticipating what needs to be handled before it becomes urgent. I am seeking an executive assistant or senior administration role where I can provide organised, discreet, and high quality support.
Operations professional with experience coordinating workflows, improving processes, supporting teams, managing daily priorities, tracking performance, and resolving practical business issues. I am comfortable working across departments to identify bottlenecks, clarify responsibilities, and keep work moving. My strength is bringing structure to busy environments without making things unnecessarily complicated. I am seeking an operations coordinator or operations support role.
The first major mistake is writing a summary that is too broad. If your summary says you are open to everything, you may look suitable for nothing. Flexibility can be useful, but positioning still matters.
The second mistake is copying your resume summary without adapting it for SEEK. Your resume may be tailored to one application. Your SEEK profile may be discovered by recruiters searching more broadly. It needs to be clear enough to stand alone.
The third mistake is using emotional language instead of evidence. “I am passionate about helping businesses succeed” sounds fine, but what do you actually do? Payroll? Rostering? Customer retention? Scheduling? Reporting? Sales? Operations? Hiring decisions are made on evidence, not vibes.
The fourth mistake is ignoring the role you want next. A recruiter may understand your past but not your direction. This is especially important if you have had mixed roles or are changing careers.
The fifth mistake is writing like a corporate brochure. Nobody speaks like “I utilise my multifaceted interpersonal capabilities to deliver stakeholder centric solutions” in real life. And if they do, I worry for everyone in the meeting.
Clear beats fancy. Specific beats inflated. Real beats polished nonsense.
Employers notice when a candidate sounds like they understand the work.
That is different from sounding enthusiastic.
A strong summary gives the impression that you know what the role involves, what pressures come with it, and where you add value. For example, a customer service candidate who mentions complaint handling, CRM accuracy, and follow through sounds more realistic than someone who only says they love helping people.
A warehouse candidate who mentions safety, accuracy, dispatch, and productivity targets sounds more credible than someone who only says they are physically fit.
An administrator who mentions scheduling, document control, inbox management, and competing priorities sounds more relevant than someone who only says they are organised.
Recruiters and hiring managers are constantly trying to reduce hiring risk. Your SEEK summary should reduce uncertainty. It should make you easier to understand, easier to place, and easier to shortlist.
Before you publish or update your SEEK profile summary, check whether it answers these questions:
Is my current role or target role clear?
Have I included relevant skills, systems, industries, or qualifications?
Does the summary sound specific enough for the roles I want?
Have I avoided vague claims without evidence?
Would a recruiter understand my fit within a few seconds?
Does it sound like a real person wrote it?
Have I included keywords that match Australian job ads in my target field?
Does it explain what I want next without sounding desperate?
The best SEEK profile summary is not the most dramatic one. It is the one that helps the right employer quickly understand why you are relevant.
That is the goal. Not sounding perfect. Not sounding fancy. Being clear, credible, and searchable.
Written by Simar Malhi, a recruiter and headhunter with international recruitment experience. I write about CVs, job applications, hiring decisions, and the reality behind recruitment processes. My goal is to help candidates understand more honestly how employers, recruiters, and hiring managers actually select candidates.
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