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Seven Key Resume Sections and How to Organize Them

13 min read · Updated on March 05, 2024

Not sure how to organize your resume? We've got you covered

Did you know that most employers only spend about six seconds skimming each resume that hits their desk? That's right; no matter how qualified you might be, your resume needs to capture a hiring manager's interest in just a few short moments. If you do grab their attention, they'll give the rest of the document more consideration. Fortunately, you can increase your resume's readability by including the right resume sections and organizing them in a structured way.

In this post, we'll explain why organization matters and explore the seven key resume sections that you should include in your resume. We'll also provide some useful tips that can help you to maximize the effectiveness of each section of your resume.

Why the order of your resume sections matters

Resumes need to do more than just provide basic information about your skills and employment history. They need to deliver a compelling message about the value that you can bring to any organization that's fortunate enough to hire you. To convey that narrative, however, you need to arrange your resume sections in a way that tells a story about your skills, professional experience, and achievements.

As we go through each of the key resume sections, you'll notice that each is designed to include a specific type of employment information. Several of the sections will also have their own headings, to ensure that employers can quickly locate those specific details. In addition, certain types of information will be formatted using bullet points to make those details even easier for employers to find.

Seven key resume sections

Though there are many ways to organize your resume, we recommend focusing on a seven-section structure. Those seven sections are:

Contact information

Resume headline

Professional summary

Core competencies

Professional experience

Optional section (or sections)

To better understand why we organize resumes this way, let's go through each section and explain its important role in establishing your career narrative.

1.     Contact Information

This part of a resume may seem obvious, but a TopResume study found that 25% of people either forget to include all the necessary pieces of contact information or fail to format them in a way that can be read by an ATS. When writing your resume, be sure to include the following personal details at the top of the document, just below the header section:

Full name: Include your preferred first name (e.g. Bill instead of William) and last name on your resume. Then, make sure you use the same version of your name on all your other job-search materials, such as your LinkedIn profile, cover letter, and business cards. The key is to be consistent.

Cell phone number: It's best to include the phone number to your personal cell phone on your resume. That way, you have control over the voicemail recording, who answers calls, and when.

Address: Contrary to popular belief, it's no longer necessary to include your full mailing address on your resume. Instead, include your city, state, and zip code if you're seeking work near your home. If you're conducting a long-distance job search or you're open to relocation, you may opt to not include any mailing address information.

Email address: Create an email address that's dedicated to your job-search activities with a modern provider like Gmail, so that it's easy to manage your job applications and communication with recruiters and valuable networking contacts.

Social media: The most common social media profile to include on a resume is a customized URL to your public LinkedIn profile . Other social media profiles should only be added if they're relevant to your line of work. If you work in a creative field, you may also want to add a link to your online portfolio or blog.

Related post : How Should I Format My Contact Information on a Resume ?

2.     Resume headline

The professional title part of a resume is fairly straightforward. Below your contact information, add a line that describes the type of role you're pursuing. For instance, if you're pursuing a position as a Director or Senior Manager of FP&A, you may put “Senior Financial Planning & Analysis Professional” as your professional title.

When you're submitting your resume for a specific job, it's common to change your professional title to match the one listed in the job posting. If you're updating your resume after changing careers and feel weird about putting a title you've never held before at the top, you can place the word “Objective:” in front of it to provide some context for the reader.

3.     Professional Summary

A resume professional summary - also referred to as a career summary, executive summary, or career statement - has taken the place of the resume objective statement you likely learned how to write back in college.

Historically, a standard resume objective statement focused on the job seeker's wants, needs, and goals. A resume professional summary, however, focuses on what the job seeker has to offer a prospective employer, by describing his or her qualifications. Click on the following link to view some resume statement examples .

If you're still unsure about how to create a winning resume summary statement, just use our simple template:

[Professional title] with [years of experience] in [job-related specializations and experiences]. [Describe a measurable achievement that demonstrates your value]. [Describe a second professional achievement that highlights your skills and how you used them to create value for an employer. Use real numbers to quantify that value].

4.     Core competencies

Your “Core Competencies” or "Key Skills" section is a great place to incorporate the all-important keywords that will help your resume get found in searches. Focus on highlighting the hard and soft skills that are most relevant to the role you're pursuing.

If you're unsure what to include in this part of your resume, gather a few job descriptions that interest you and run them through a word cloud generator. This will help you to quickly identify which terms routinely pop up for this type of job opportunity. If you possess that skill, be sure to incorporate it into this section of your resume, your professional summary, and even your work history, where appropriate.

It's also vital to examine the job posting to see which skills and experiences the company cites as required qualifications. There's always a good chance that those qualifications may be used as keywords by applicant tracking systems. Try to use those exact terms in your resume, to increase your chances of being found.

5.     Professional Experience

The most popular resume format lists your work experience in reverse chronological order. This means that your most recent professional experience will appear toward the top of your resume and your earliest experiences will be listed towards the end of your document. The rule of thumb is to elaborate on the most recent 10-15 years of experience only.

The work history part of the resume can include a variety of professional experiences beyond a full-time job, from unpaid internships to consulting gigs and relevant volunteer work. That can be vitally important if your work experience is a little thin – for example, if you're trying to change careers and suffer from a lack of experience in your chosen industry.

It's also important to make sure that you include measurable achievements for each job title you've held. Instead of listing that role's duties and responsibilities, focus attention on how you used your skills to provide your employers with real value. Aim for four or more bullet point examples of these achievements and quantify each one with numbers. For example:

Increased client acquisition by 23%, boosting sales revenue by an average of $120,000 each year

Led network acquisition and implementation effort that reduced workplace inefficiencies by 30%

Created a new sales training program that reduced onboarding time by 20%, while increasing team productivity and sales goal achievement by 13% and 31% respectively

6.     Education

If you're a recent college graduate, chances are your newly minted diploma is one of your top selling points at this stage in your career. If that's the case, then this information should appear near the top of your resume, just above your work experience. However, if you're no longer an entry-level professional, it's best to move your education details to the end of your resume. 

This section should include the name of the school, its location (city and state), the degree you earned, and any honors with which you graduated (such as summa cum laude). If you graduated college within the past 15 years, include the year that you received your degree; otherwise, leave the date off.

Note also that it's only necessary to include details about your GPA and some of the 400-level courses you completed if you're new to the workforce and need more fodder to demonstrate your employability to companies.

If you've earned multiple degrees, list these accolades in chronological order, starting with the most recent. This part of the resume is also a great place to list any relevant certifications, licenses, training, or professional development coursework you've completed that will make you a more desirable candidate.

7.     Optional: additional parts of a resume

In addition to these standard resume components, you may want to include some of the following sections, depending on your experience and the role you're targeting.

Career highlights: This section, which is typically used by senior-level professionals with more than 10 years of experience, may be included in addition to, or in lieu of, a professional summary. It calls attention to relevant, noteworthy achievements that may be scattered throughout a professional's extensive work experience. By highlighting these accomplishments at the top of the first page of the resume, you're helping readers to understand the value you bring to the table and enticing them to thoroughly read your resume to learn more.

Volunteer experience: Hiring managers and recruiters alike look favorably on professionals who engage in philanthropic activities such as volunteering for non-profits and mentoring programs. If you actively volunteer for a non-profit organization, consider sharing this information on your resume and LinkedIn profile.

Technical hard skills: If you work in a technical field, this section may take the place of your “Core Competencies” at the top of your resume. However, if you work in a non-technical profession but use many technical platforms to do your job - and these tools are often noted in the job descriptions you're interested in - then you may want to add a section at the end of your resume to list all these tools.

Language skills: If you're multilingual, be sure to note these language proficiencies in your professional summary and detail them out in a separate section toward the end of your resume. Only list the language on your resume if you would feel comfortable going to an interview that was spoken in that language.

Publications: If you are seeking work in the medical, dental, academic, scientific, or research field, then your academic resume - also known as an academic CV - will likely include a section to showcase the presentations you've given or publications you've written or been featured in.

Tips for making the most of your resume sections

To help you quickly get up to speed on how to organize your resume sections and make the most of each one, we've compiled some helpful tips.

Choose the right resume section order

While it's important to include the six essential sections (plus any optional sections) in your resume, there may be times when you need to use a different structure than that provided above. For example:

1.      Resume sections for students are often organized using a different order: contact information, resume headline, resume objective statement, education, experience, skills, optional sections.

 The goal of that structure is to focus on your educational qualifications and career objective, to compensate for your lack of experience and skill.

 2.      Experienced professionals may use a structure that emphasizes their work history and achievements: contact information, resume headline, resume summary, work experience, education, skills, optional sections.

 In most instances, an employee with a great deal of experience in their industry will want to emphasize their career trajectory and achievements rather than their skills.

 3.      Career changers often want to use a structure that focuses attention on transferable skills and related achievements. The following structure can help to draw attention to those qualifications: contact information, resume headline, resume summary (including career objective), key skills, work experience (focusing on related experience and emphasizing achievements), education, and optional sections.

Keep it brief

While it might seem as though seven sections will require a lot of resume space, your goal should be to limit the total length of your resume to no more than two pages. One is even better. Remember, hiring managers may be put off by longer resumes, especially if they have dozens or hundreds of other applicants to consider.

Make it readable and informative

Use bullet points for your skills and work achievements. To save space, you should consider formatting your core competencies section into two or three columns.

Don't just list skills in your core competencies section. You should scatter mentions of them throughout your resume, including in your resume summary paragraph and work history achievements.

Don't use the same resume for every job submission. Instead, tailor your base resume to each job you're seeking. To learn more, check out this related post: How to Tailor Your Resume to a Specific Job Description .

Make sure that your resume is easy to read and pleasing to the eye. If everything seems a little cramped on the page, try to adjust your margins, fonts, and other page elements to ensure that there's enough white space on the page to make for easy reading.

Always use a blank space or a solid line to separate the different sections on your page. Include headings for your core competencies, professional history, education, and any optional sections, to help hiring managers quickly locate the information they're seeking.

Using the right resume sections is vital for telling the right story

As you design your resume's structure, consider the story you're relaying to your reader. Each resume section is there for a purpose and plays a vital role in convincing the employer that you have what it takes to be a valuable member of their team. With the right resume section structure and a keen commitment to conveying your value as a professional, you can increase your odds of landing that essential interview!

If you're unsure about what should be in a resume, don't be afraid to ask for help. Request a free resume review today to find out how to improve your chances of landing the interview.

This article was originally written by Amanda Augustine and has been updated by Ken Chase.

Recommended reading:

11 Steps to Writing the Perfect Resume

How to Tailor Your Resume for a Specific Application

10 of the Worst Cover Letter Mistakes to Avoid

Related Articles:

Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

How to Create a Resume With No Education

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

See how your resume stacks up.

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The Most Important Parts of a Resume (2023 Edition)

Your resume is the cornerstone of every job application, and the parts of a resume tell the story of your professional experience.

But the approach to crafting a well-rounded overview of your career has shifted.

Adhering to a rigid structure, including every detail of your experience, and keeping irrelevant information to fill a page are outdated techniques.

Modern resume practices are about precision, tailoring, strategy, and impact.

So, what elements of a resume really matter? And how can you curate the perfect resume, with the right sections, for each unique opportunity?

3 key takeaways

• Parts of a resume
• What to include in each part of your resume
• Using the Drag-and-Drop Editor in the free Teal AI Resume Builder to highlight the right content for each unique job

The resume puzzle

Think of the elements of your resume like puzzle pieces. Each piece represents a part of your professional journey. But there's a twist: not  every  piece is equally important for  every  job opportunity. 

Does this go against the advice you've read over the years, like the traditional "mandatory 5 parts of a resume" or "required 7 parts of a resume"? Possibly, but here's why.

One size may not fit all

Your resume is a collection of pieces made up of your qualifications and experiences. You also need certain information (like your contact information and education) to complete it.

On the other hand, every role you apply for during your job search represents a unique puzzle with specific requirements and expectations, and your resume needs align with those demands.

Tailoring your resume for every job

With each new application, aligning your puzzle pieces (key qualifications, experiences, and resume sections ) with the shape of the job's puzzle highlights only the essential elements that matter most to that particular job— showcasing your top 10% that's 100% relevant to the role you're applying for.

For instance, your resume for a position with a job posting focusing heavily on certifications and hard skills will differ from one for a job focusing exclusively on professional experience.

Aligning your details and resume parts to different roles takes time, effort, and consideration to make sure that every piece fits seamlessly (and strategically) into place.

Adapting to modern guidelines

Your resume should only be around one page for ten years of experience or less and two pages for ten years or more. In addition to tailoring your experience, you also need to adapt its content accordingly to fit within these parameters, too.

Hiring and Recruitment Consultant Mike Peditto says,

"Fewer words, more impact is one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give in the current market of too many applicants and short attention spans. Don't bloat your resume with extra stuff that doesn't have an impact on your ability to do the job like you're trying to hit a word count. Ask yourself with every line on your resume: "Does this impact me getting the job I'm applying to?" If it doesn't, use that space for something that does."

Essential parts of a resume

As you start creating, updating, or editing your resume, some elements will stay consistent, but the details and pieces can and should shift and change to fit a new shape—every time you hit apply.

Remember, the sections below need to fit the specific puzzle of each job application to be essential—reflecting a tailored approach.

1. Contact information

What are the important parts of a resume that will always be consistent? Well, up first is your contact information. 

Including your contact information in every resume ensures recruiters, hiring managers, and potential employers can contact you with ease.

Your "Contact Information" section should have the following: 

• Professional email address
• Location (excluding physical street address)
• Full LinkedIn URL 
• Optional: Portfolio link or URL
• Optional: Personal website link or URL

2. Target title

As long as the role you're applying for has a title, your resume can (and should!) have a target title, too.

And, believe it or not, this title may not be the same as any position you've held.

While your target title and any professional title you've held should have some similarities in the role's requirements, your target title should align as closely as possible with what a recruiter or hiring manager has specified in the job ad.

For example, let's say you've held the title of content writer; in that case, your target title might be copywriter, content manager, content strategist, or content development specialist, depending on the job description.

3. Professional resume summary

Unlike a resume objective (which talks more about your career goals), think of your professional resume summary as an "About Me" resume section . This is your opportunity to talk about your career in aggregate with a high-level overview of your most impressive (and relevant to the job!) bullet points. For most applications, this is one of the resume components you'll want to include each time.

With every application, you should tailor the content of this summary to address the job's requirements by incorporating keywords and language from the job description. It should be around 3-5 sentences, written in the first person voice, and include:

• A time-based statement
• "Backend engineer with 7 years of experience in the SaaS industry..."
• At least two key skills and the impact of those skills
• "Proficient in Python programming, I apply my meticulous attention to detail and problem-solving skills to reduce system errors and improve efficiency ."
• At least one metric (numbers or data)
• "This approach has resulted in a 15% reduction in application downtime , improving application efficiency and user satisfaction."

Final result: "Backend engineer with 7 years of experience in the SaaS industry, specializing in optimizing system performance. Leveraging Python programming, attention to detail, and problem-solving, I reduced errors and improved efficiency, leading to a 20% reduction in system response time, enhanced user experience, and increased overall system reliability."

4. Work experience

Your resume "Work Experience " section connects your previous jobs to your potential in a new role. 

In a chronological resume layout, which is widely recognized and preferred, present your relevant experience in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position. 

For each company, include the following details:

• Company Name:  Clearly state the company's name, and for smaller companies, consider adding a brief description to align with keywords from the job description of your target role.
• Job Title:  Your job title signifies your level of responsibility.
• Location:  Include the city and state of the company. If you worked remotely, mentioning "Remote" can be beneficial.
• Dates of Employment:  Specify the duration of your employment, including start and end dates, with the month and year to provide transparency.

Then, for each role, highlight 3-5 key bullet points (not just a list of job duties) as bullet points to offer concrete evidence of your impact, contributions, and value.

This is how one example of work history should look:

Writing work history with no professional experience

What if you're starting out or transitioning careers and creating a resume with no relevant work experience? 

Well, in that case, you may need to replace your "Work Experience" section with more relevant elements of a resume like the "Education" section, a "Projects" section, or "Volunteer Experience." Check out " How to Make a Resume With No Experience in 9 Steps " for more specific guidance. 

Once you know what works best for the role you're applying to and your experience level, you can easily swap sections of your resume and showcase your most relevant accomplishments using the Drag-and-Drop Editor in the free Teal  AI Resume Builder . Here, you can arrange each section—ensuring optimal positioning.

5. Education

If you have traditional work experience, your "Education" section will likely be consistent (or close) across job applications.

You can limit this section to your highest level of education. However, if a job ad mentions a specific undergraduate degree or other educational requirement, incorporating that into your "Education" section will help align your qualifications to the role.  

Here's how you should list your educational background:

• Institution
• Completion date
• GPA (optional)
• Coursework (only if you're creating a resume with no work experience) 

If you're a recent high school or college graduate, consider adding your GPA (if it's above 3.0) and any relevant coursework.

6. Certifications

While not necessarily one of the main parts of a resume (especially if you don't have any), certifications help you align your credentials to the qualifications hiring managers, recruiters, and prospective employers are looking for.

If you plan to incorporate any certifications into your resume, make sure they're:

• Relevant to the role
• Formatted identically

Incorporating your skills throughout various sections of your resume highlights how you made an impact.

If you want to add a dedicated resume "Skills" section highlighting your relevant hard skills (like Microsoft Word, Python, or specific language skills), that's okay. But be mindful that while you can include soft skills (like communication or collaboration) in this skills section, these are more challenging to measure objectively.

 Additional resume sections to consider

Especially if you have non-traditional work experience, there are some optional sections you can consider including in your resume to align your qualifications with the role you're applying to.

• Projects: If the skills you used during a project are relevant, create a dedicated "Projects" section similar to a traditional "Work Experience" section.
• Awards and Scholarships: Strategically select the scholarships or awards on a resume that support the job you're targeting.
• Volunteer Work and Leadership: Highlighting skills you've developed (using keywords) can align these experiences with a potential role.
• Publications: Whether you're the listed author or a featured expert, publications provide evidence of specific expertise and skills. 

How to arrange the sections of your resume

Your experience and the position you're applying for play an important role in arranging the sections of your resume. Let's take a look at a few examples.

Resume components for traditional work experience

• Contact Information
• Target Title
• Professional Summary 
• Work Experience
• Certifications
• Optional – Projects – Awards and Scholarships – Volunteering and Leadership – Publications

Resume sections for someone pivoting careers

• Optional – Volunteering and Leadership – Publications

Elements of a resume for a recent graduate

• Volunteering and Leadership
• Awards and Scholarships

The Teal AI Resume Builder makes it easy to adjust the sections of your resume to showcase the details of your most relevant accomplishments. Use the Drag-and-Drop Editor to position each section in as many ways (and as many times!) as you want.

Optimize the essential parts of your resume with Teal

The most important parts of a resume are those that align your career journey with the role you're applying to. Just like puzzle pieces, these sections must fit seamlessly into place for every application to create a compelling picture of your qualifications.

Ready to craft a well-rounded resume tailored to every job opportunity? Sign up for Teal and piece together your career success today.

Frequently Asked Questions

How have the parts of a resume evolved in 2023 compared to previous years, is the objective statement still a crucial part of a resume in 2023, what is the significance of keywords in the parts of a resume for 2023.

Kayte Grady

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The Most Important Parts of a Resume—Explained

There are a few things that are part of every resume: your name and contact information, your experience, your skills, and your education. But there are plenty of other optional yet still common components you might choose to include. What you add to your resume (and how much space you give to each part) will vary based on the job you’re applying to, your career, your level of experience, and other details of your personal situation.

When you’re deciding which parts to include on your resume, “thinking about what an employer will be looking for and what additional or optional sections would make sense is a good starting point,” says Muse career coach Cassie Spencer . “Tell a story with your resume and show an employer everything that you bring to the role.” 

The most common parts of a resume are:

Name and Contact Information

Regardless of  resume format or order , your name and contact information should be at the top of the page. You could have the best resume in the world, but it won’t matter if recruiters don’t know who you are or how to contact you. So always include your name, your phone number, and a professional-sounding email address. If you have a LinkedIn profile (and for most careers and industries you should), include the url as well. If you’re in a field where examples of your work are important—like writing, design, or software development—you might also include a link to your personal website or portfolio.

You may see resume examples and advice that indicate that you should include your street address as well, but your city and state are plenty, and even including that is optional. For instance, if you already live, or are moving, close to the job, you might list your location or “Relocating to: City, State.”

What does this look like all together? Here’s one example:

Cleo Thomas (555) 444-3333 | [email protected] | Chicago, IL linkedin.com/in/thomascleo | cleothomas.com

Read More: Here's Exactly What Should Be Included in Your Resume's Header

Resume Headline (Optional)

A resume headline, sometimes called a resume title, is a succinct, often single-sentence, description that introduces you to the reader. If you choose to include a resume headline, you might use it to mention common job titles that describe what you do (such as “Front-End Developer” or “Executive Assistant”), experiences or skills that are key for finding your next job, or impressive professional achievements.

For example:

Corporate financial analyst who has optimized budgets to save $10+ million annually for tech startups

Read More: What Is a Resume Headline? Tips and Examples to Help You Write Your Own

Resume Summary (Optional)

A resume summary is another optional part of a resume that allows you to sum up who you are and emphasize the skills and experiences you want recruiters to read about first—usually in the form of a few sentences or bullet points just under your headline or contact info.

An experienced science writer who is adept at breaking down and explaining complex medical research topics for a general audience. Possesses expert-level knowledge on topics relating to heart disease, cancer, nutrition, and the drug approval process as well as graduate-level anatomy and dietetics education and 5 years of research experience in an academic setting. Has written reported articles, blog posts, and scripts for informational explainer videos.

Resume summaries are most helpful for later-career professionals who have a number of experiences they want to tie together, people who are looking to switch careers or fields, entry-level candidates who want to show how their background and education connect to the field they’re hoping to enter, and anyone with unusual circumstances, like a career gap, that they’d like to explain up front. If you’re using an uncommon resume format like a hybrid or functional layout, you might also consider using a resume summary to put your skills into context. If you have a relatively straightforward career history, you could skip the summary to make more room for other information.

Read more: 3 Resume Summary Examples That'll Make Writing Your Own Easier

Your past experience is the main substance of your resume, and as such it often takes up the most room. Your experience section (sometimes labeled “Work Experience” or “Professional Experience”) generally lists any past jobs or internships that you’ve had, though you may omit early positions  if you’ve been in the workforce a while. It can also include any freelance or other work directly related to the job you’re applying for. If you’re using the most common resume format—the chronological resume —the jobs should all be listed in reverse chronological order. For each experience, include your position as well what organization you worked for (if applicable), where, and when. Your key job duties and achievements should be included under each position in the form of bullet points .

An example job entry might look like this:

Email Marketing Manager, CKB Inc | September 2017 – October 2019

New York, NY

• Planned, scheduled, built, and sent 4 weekly newsletters to 30K+ email subscribers using Mailchimp, increasing open rate from 8% to 16% and click through rate from 1% to 2.5% over one year.
• Used A/B testing to establish the ideal number of links per newsletter, the most opened subject line format, and the best newsletter copy tone.
• Pulled, analyzed, and presented data to marketing team once a month, and used insights gained to adjust plans for the coming months.

Read More:  The Right Way to Include Your Work Experience on a Resume (With Examples)

If you’re a recent grad or entry-level candidate, you might choose to place your education above your experience, but on most resumes, it will come after. This part of your resume should include an entry for each school you graduated from or are currently attending. If you’ve finished or are attending college, you can generally leave your high school off your resume.

For each entry, include the school name and what degree you earned along with your major and, if you’re early in your career, your graduation year. If you haven’t graduated yet, include your expected graduation month and year. You can also mention online courses and certificates , licenses and certifications (see below), coding bootcamps, and other professional development or training programs in your education section.

If you’re a recent grad, “you may also choose to include your GPA , minors, academic concentrations, awards (such as Dean’s List), and other relevant information about your academic experience,” Spencer says. This additional information might include relevant coursework and major projects you completed during your time in school.

Bachelor of Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI | 2019 Major: Physics | Minor: Chemical Physics

Read More: How to (and How Not to) List Education on Your Resume

Depending on your industry and your resume format, your skills section may come before or after your work experience. Include any skills you have that are mentioned in the job description or are directly relevant to the job you’re applying to; if you have a lot of them, consider dividing your skills section into categories for readability.

Design Skills : InDesign, Photoshop, Canva Programming Skills : CSS, JavaScript, HTML

In addition to listing your skills in this section, you should also work them into bullet points throughout your resume and into your summary or headline. Oh, and resist the temptation to use fancy graphs or charts to display your skills: The computer programs that scan many resumes can’t read them .

Read More: Every Question You Have About Putting Skills on Your Resume, Answered

Licenses and Certifications (Dependent on Your Job)

For certain professions, like nursing, accounting, and teaching, you may legally need licenses and/or certifications in order to do the job. There are other situations where companies require or prefer certain certifications or licenses. In either case, including your certifications or licenses on a resume is a must. They can be in their own section or part of your education section.

What information to include depends on the field, but you should always include the full name of the certification or license, the body that issued it, and the date you obtained it. You can list in-progress certifications and licenses as well.

Certified Public Accountant (CPA) | AICPA | March 2020

Read More: Exactly When, Where, and How to List Certifications on Your Resume (Because You’ve Earned Them)

Awards (Optional)

If you’ve received awards for your performance, especially in areas that specifically relate to the job you’re applying to, you should add these to your resume as well. If they’re from the company you work for, your school (including scholarships), or another experience listed on your resume, you should include the award there. If not, consider an “awards” section. Include the name of the award, why you got it, and who awarded it (if not otherwise obvious).

For example, under an experience entry you might say:

• 2019 Salesperson of the Year : Awarded for securing a record $2 million in new business over four quarters, the highest on the 20-person sales team.

Read More:   Why You Should Show Off Your Awards on Your Resume (and the Right Way to Do It)

Special Projects (Optional)

If you’ve done a project (or projects) outside of your full-time job that’s relevant to a job you’re applying for, consider including it. “Project sections can be a good opportunity to showcase technical skills along with other transferable skills like teamwork, time management, and more,” Spencer says. 

For example, as a student you may have done a capstone or similar project that gave you skills or experience that are relevant to the job you want. Or maybe you had or have a side project that’s helped you grow your skills or explore a passion.

Special projects can be their own section or part of an education or freelance job entry and should be listed on a resume the same way as a past experience: Include what the project was, when you completed it, and what organization you completed it for, if applicable. Then, use bullet points to describe what skills you used and any results you achieved. If it’s a project that you can easily view online, consider including a link.

Read More:   How—and When—to Include Projects on Your Resume (Plus Examples!)

Volunteer Work (Optional)

If you’ve done volunteer work related to the jobs you’re applying to, go ahead and include it on a resume—especially if you used or gained relevant experience and skills. In addition to demonstrating skills, “volunteer work is a great way to showcase the causes that you’re passionate about,” Spencer says.

A volunteer experience should be formatted the same way as a past job: Include that you were a volunteer, what organization and/or department you volunteered for and when, then use bullet points to highlight your skills and achievements. 

Volunteer experience is usually a separate section, but if it’s especially relevant to the job you’re applying to (while the rest of your experience isn’t) or you’re light on paid jobs, you might place it in your experience section.

Read More: This Is Exactly How to List Volunteer Work on Your Resume

Professional Affiliations or Other Activities or Clubs (Optional)

If you participate in professional groups or other activities that are related to the job you’re applying to, you might include them on your resume—usually in a separate section. This is especially relevant for people just entering the workforce who were part of a club or activity in school. Like special projects and volunteering, you should format activities, club, and group entries the same way you would a professional experience.

What Not to Include on Your Resume

There are a few things that should not be part of your resume regardless of your situation:

• Photos of you: While it’s common in some parts of the world to add your photo to your resume, in the U.S., this is likely to land you straight in the rejection pile because of the potential to create bias in hiring.
• Resume objectives : The objective of your resume is always to get a job. Use a resume summary instead.
• References: Employers will ask for references when they want them. And no need to include “References Available Upon Request” either.
• White text of the job description or anything else intended to game the system: You may have seen advice on how to “cheat” an ATS (applicant tracking system) using tricks like pasting in all the keywords or even the entire job description in white. Don’t do it! You will get caught—and your resume will likely end up in the rejection pile.

We're aware of a global phishing scam impersonating employees via email, WhatsApp, and Telegram, but no PageGroup systems have been breached.  Find out how to protect yourself

Breaking Down Seven Key Elements of a Resume

• Do not mention resume or curriculum vitae as your first heading, it is obvious
• Mention your name in CAPITAL and BOLD so that you can be easily found 
• Specify your location, that is, city and country
• Do not miss out on specifying your email address for instance should they wish to contact you for an interview
• Mention nationality and date of birth only if this information is specifically requested
• Add a professional photo, again, only if it is a specific requirement by the employer
• Mention your career objective or a short description of your professional aspiration to help the employer know more about you 
• Do not make it too long or vague for the reader, it should be to the point with specific details only
• Your statement should describe why you are the best for the job

Skills and experience:

• Be aware of gaps in your career and make your reason clear to address the curiosity of the employer. Mention what you did in during that gap (e.g. a short course, diploma or an internship for extra knowledge and practical skills)
• A brief summary of your skills relevant for the job as well as experience with timeline because the employer could give anywhere from 10 seconds to 15 minutes reviewing your CV and deciding if you are eligible for the post or not
• Use short sentences and single words to describe your skills instead of paragraphs
• Use keywords or phrases that are in the description of the job you are applying fory
• Mention your work experience in a reverse order with the most recent on the top
• Must write your key accomplishments related to the obtained skill (technical or soft)
• After your experience section, list your academic qualifications next
• Start with your most recent or on-going educational degree
• Mention institute and major course name as well as city and country where you are pursuing this course from
• Your obtained marks or GPA/ Grade/ Division 
• Any awards or achievement in the relevant degrees

Certifications/Awards:

• Provide details about any achievement/award with proper sequence
• Share details of your added skills, that is, technical course, internships, diploma, project
• List down any published articles with proper reference and details
• Mention language skills, computer and software proficiency (if any)

Interests and activities:

• Pegged to the position you are applying for, add interest and activities to provide a way to make you a more compelling candidate
• Understand that your interests and activities will reflect your personality
• Mention any activity that describes your command on leadership qualities, project handling, strong communication skills, organizational management as well as implies good health and lifestyle
• Avoid giving this section a heading such as ‘Hobbies’ because that could be inferred as unprofessional
• Avoid describing vague interests such as ‘reading’- instead specify the kind of books or genre you like reading (again make this relevant to the role you are applying for)
• Do not mention your political or religious activities or views 
• If reference is available, provide relevant details upon request

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Key Elements of a Resume

Resumes tell the employer about your experiences, skills and work history. Use your resume to highlight items that indicate you are a good worker, are qualified for the position and bring desirable skills to the job. If you are a student and have little or no previous job experiences, enhance information about your school and community activities.

Personal Information

Name Current and Permanent address (may be omitted from a resume posted on the web) Telephone number E-mail address

In one short sentence summarize your goal for your job search. The goal statement should be related to the specific position for which you are applying. It is also effective to highlight your skills in the goal statement. Examples: Seeking a position as a social worker providing service to the aged. Seeking a position that utilizes my skills in counseling, research, and proposal writing.

High school name City and State Date of graduation Course Highlights (courses directly related to the job or your career field and special abilities) Certificates

Work and Related Experience

Summer jobs, Internships, Volunteer work (Include position title, company/organization, city/state, dates and a brief list of the job duties)

Awards and Honors

Academic, musical, athletic and or other recognition. (Include name of the award/honor, who awarded it, and when it was awarded.)

Activities/Hobbies

Include your role in the position, the organization and dates.

Example: Captain, Shorewood High School, Volley Ball Team, 1999 2001

Soft skills: (being responsible, loyal, hardworking, energetic, outgoing.) Hard skills: (research and writing, Microsoft word 98, Microsoft Publisher 2000, Public speaking.)

References (3-5 people)

Teacher/Professor Work supervisor (current or past) Character reference (Pastor, Headmaster, youth group leader or someone who knows you well) Include the name, relationship to you, organization, contact phone numbers.

Other Considerations

Limit your resume to one or two pages. Do not include birth date, health status or social security number. Limit the use of personal pronouns such as "I”. Begin sentences with action verbs. Be honest but avoid writing anything negative in your resume. Make your resume error free. Have someone proof read it for you. Use a simple, easy to read font style, 10-14 point. Use high quality paper.  

For your resume to be scannable it should use Sans Serif type, little formats, no Italics, and no underlining. When developing an e-mailable resume, contact the company for specific guidelines if they are not provided in the application materials.

More From Forbes

20 key elements to include in your cover letter.

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When it comes to landing your dream job, your cover letter can be your strongest ally. A well-crafted cover letter goes beyond just reiterating your resume—it's a chance to showcase your personality, highlight your relevant skills and explain why you're the perfect fit for the position. In a competitive job market, standing out is crucial and a thoughtfully written cover letter can catch the right attention.

Below, Forbes Human Resources Council members share advice on 20 essential components that every potential employee should include in their cover letters to make a lasting impression and increase their chances of securing an interview.

1. Tailor Your Cover Letter To A Specific Role

If asked for a cover letter, make it meaningful and use the opportunity to show a potential employer you did your homework. Don't miss an opportunity to bring your unique voice to your application, and be sure to make it relevant to the specific role. Employers, if you want to read something interesting, ask for it! Put the effort in, too—ask candidates to respond to a creative prompt. - Tory Clarke , Bridge Partners

2. Share The Context That Supports Your Resume

Cover letters are tricky. I don’t just want your sales pitch. I want to see the context that supports and informs your quantifiable impact and accomplishments in your career. The cover letter is your opportunity to share the context that supports the resume, not regurgitate it. - Christopher Courneen , M S International, Inc. (MSI)

3. Let Your Personality Shine Through

Your cover letter is an excellent opportunity to highlight your past accomplishments and how they can benefit this potential employer. All accomplishments should be personalized to the specific role you're applying for. It's also a great way to let your personality shine through. Doing something a little different will often catch the hiring manager's eye and make you stand out. - Hazel Kassu , Sudduth Search

4. Demonstrate How You Will Fit In With The Culture

As culture is moving to the forefront, many companies are looking more for cultural fit. Cover letters should connect your character traits and practices to that of the company's core values and culture indicators, which makes it easier for companies to visualize a great fit. - Tiersa Smith-Hall , Impactful Imprints, Training & Consulting

5. Create A Compelling And Tailored Narrative

The most important thing for candidates to include in their cover letters is a compelling and tailored narrative that effectively communicates their qualifications, experience, enthusiasm, unique selling points, company knowledge and alignment with the job requirements. Tailor each letter, be concise, proofread and include contact information. - Subhash Chandar , Laminaar Aviation Infotech

Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?

6. Explain Questions That Arise About Your Resume

A cover letter can show your story. Were you laid off? Did you take time off to have a family? What did you learn from your time off of work? It is a great way to explain resume gaps, highlight training or education, add additional skills and abilities and explain any other situations. It gives the recruiter and hiring manager a chance to get to know more about you. - Erin ImHof , CertiK

7. Treat Your Cover Letter As A Mission Statement

Your cover letter is a mission statement, presenting not what you can do but why you do it. In a tough market with an abundance of qualified candidates, you need to differentiate yourself with personality and aspirations. Recruiters are looking for your passion for the company and why your values match the company’s mission—stand out as a candidate who will have drive behind their work. - Laurie Chamberlin , LHH

8. Do Your Research And Demonstrate Your Knowledge Of The Company

Cover letters that stand out demonstrate a potential employee’s deep knowledge of the company and why they want to work there. Cover letters should not be vague or formulaic. Candidates who want to land a job need to take the time to do their research, get to know the company and be specific about why they are a good fit. - Leigh Yanocha , Knopman Marks Financial Training

9. Outline Two Tangible Accomplishments And Keep It Brief

Keep it brief. Outline two tangible accomplishments that showcase ownership, collaboration and determination to succeed. Also, it is important to not repeat what is included in your resume. Instead, connect specific and relevant information that highlights your communication and critical thinking skills, and your growth and progressive mindset. Lastly, what is your value to the company? - Chandran Fernando , Matrix360 Inc.

10. Demonstrate How Your Skills Are Transferable And Adaptable

Talent agility is key for organizations in this era of technological innovation. Demonstrate what skills you have in your backpack and how those are transferable and adaptable across different kinds of work and roles. Given the shrinking shelf-life of skills, it's also a huge advantage to show an appetite for continuous learning so that you can grow and pivot with the organization. - Siobhan Savage , Reejig

11. Be Present On Social Media, Especially LinkedIn

Cover letters are a practice that is a little outdated. CVs, too. Keep your LinkedIn profile up to date and add as many details as you can there. Write articles or be present on social channels. And if you want to add an extra flavor to your application, record a short video highlighting why you are the best person for this role. - Ilona Bernotaite , Kilo Health

12. Be Specific About What Excites You

Candidates should explain why they are enthusiastic about the job. Organizations want skilled employees, but they also want employees who will bring positive energy to work and contribute to the culture. By being specific about what excites them about the role, candidates demonstrate their ability to drive culture, engagement and productivity. - Niki Jorgensen , Insperity

13. State Your Value Proposition Clearly

Some may argue that the cover letter's crown jewel is your value proposition: what you can offer that no one else can. This isn't merely a repetition of your CV. Instead, it's a story about how your unique skills and experiences make you the right person for the job. Conveying this effectively can set you apart from the crowd. What makes you unique? What is your superpower? - Joseph Soares , IBPROM Corp.

14. Highlight Your Value As A New Hire

Always intertwine the mission, vision and values of the organization into your message. It allows the reader to easily convey which skills and experiences support and relate to the company's specific values and aspects of the vision and mission. Also, using the mission, vision and values to describe how you plan to address conflict and company challenges will highlight your value as a new hire. - Kimika Banfield , Arootah

15. Choose The Appropriate Format To Submit

Are cover letters passé? Maybe. Maybe not. Many employers describe the value of cover letters as a means for the candidate to highlight their alignment of values and skills, yet so many cover letters go unread or skimmed at best. If applying for a writing position, then adhering to the tradition might be a good idea. If not, consider replacing the written document with a quick and entertaining video clip that exposes personality and fit! - Laci Loew , XpertHR (a division of LexisNexis Risk Solutions)

16. Prepare Your Digital Footprint As Well

A cover letter may still be expected, but is it really needed? In today’s world, let your digital footprint tell your story. Make sure your online brand and resume—your LinkedIn account and social media channels—are updated, professional and competition-ready. A cover letter is fine, but it doesn't tell your whole story. - Jess Elmquist , Phenom

17. Make Your Cover Letter Interactive

Cover letters can be seen as outdated and offer little space to tell a truly impactful story. So, work with that and create a differentiated and interactive cover letter that engages the reader. Add a QR code to your LinkedIn profile, a custom microsite or portfolio, social media accounts, or a personalized video message that shows your passion (free tools exist). Branding 101—get creative to stand out. - Nicole Fernandes , Blu Ivy Group

18. Treat Your Cover Letter And Resume As Marketing Materials

Cover letters continue to be controversial in their value proposition. Some recruiters and managers may say the most important thing to include is to not submit a cover letter at all. That said, if you are including a cover letter, use that to differentiate and capture the attention of the reader. Cover letters and resumes are marketing documents so choose your words and tone wisely. - Julie Hankins , NNIT

19. Highlight Your Most Significant Accomplishments

Cover letters are not an effective tool in the modern job market but they can supplement a resume if written in formal, explicit language. It should be well-organized, concise and accurate, highlighting the candidate's most significant accomplishments on projects or tasks. The key to overcoming an employer's preconceptions about all job applicants is to highlight relevant skills and experience. - Dr. Nara Ringrose , Cyclife Aquila Nuclear

20. Sell Who You Are And Your Superpower

As cover letters start to fall out of trend, the employers that require them are even more likely to read them. So don't miss the opportunity to sell who you are, how you align with the role and the superpower that makes you rise above the other candidates. - Jessica Wallen , Marten Law

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The Elements of Resume Style: Essential Rules and Eye-Opening Advice for Writing Resumes and Cover Letters that Work Paperback – January 1, 2005

• Print length 119 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Amacom Books
• Publication date January 1, 2005
• Dimensions 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
• ISBN-10 081447280X
• ISBN-13 978-0814472804
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Editorial Reviews

About the author.

Scott Bennett has read tens of thousands of resumes, conducted thousands of interviews, and hired and developed hundreds of employees at all levels in small, mid-size, and large organizations. In 1996, he transitioned from his role as President and Chief Operating Officer of Public Service Computer Software, Inc., into career coaching. Individually and in seminars and workshops, he has coached more than 4,000 job seekers from more than 100 countries. After launching the Career Services Office at Baruch College School of Public Affairs in New York City, he developed click4careercoaching.com to provide free information, tools, and resources for active career seekers.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amacom Books; 1st edition (January 1, 2005)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 119 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 081447280X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0814472804
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
• #12,626 in Business Education & Reference (Books)
• #14,391 in Job Hunting & Career Guides

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10 Elements to Include in a Cover Letter

Writing a cover letter isn't easy. You've got limited space and the task to make the best impression possible. While it may seem tough and confusing, the process could be much easier if you've got all the right elements in place. This is where we come in to help.

in this guide we'll teach you:

• The 10 elements you have to have in order to make the best of your cover letter
• Detailed information on why you need each element and how to include it in the letter

Before we get into it, have one last look at your resume and make sure it looks great. After all, the resume opens the door to the cover letter.

Head over to our resume builder for expert help.

10 Elements to Include in your Cover Letter

Let's get right into it. Every job-landing cover letter includes these 10 elements:

• the hiring manager's name
• your contact details
• a relevant example of the candidate performing the tasks the job requires
• an impressive accomplishment
• explanation of what the candidate can do for the company
• motivation for applying
• knowledge of the company
• a reference to a contact in the company or someone who referred the candidate
• short explanation of how the candidate's experience is relevant
• transferable skills

Now let's look at each of these elements in depth.

1. The hiring manager's name

Begin the cover letter right by addressing the person who's deciding whether to give you the job or not.

There's nothing worse than saying "to whom it may concern." Instead, look for the hiring manager's name in the job ad.

Usually, you'll see the name listed or at least their email address. If the ad doesn't say the name, go on LinkedIn and look up "hiring manager" within the company.

Then, address them as:

Dear Ms/ Mr (Name)

If there's no information whatsoever on the hiring manager, simply say:

Dear Hiring Manager

2. Your contact details

What good is it to have an amazing cover letter if you forget to provide your contact details? While your resume should have your email and phone number , it's a good idea to list your email one more time on the cover letter.

VelvetJobs Expert Tip

Make sure your email address is professional , such as [email protected]

as opposed to

[email protected]

3. A relevant example

Include a relevant example of how you've performed the tasks the job requires in the past.

While the resume states the facts of your career, the cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell an engaging story and show how you've used your skills.

4. An impressive accomplishment

It's always a good idea to include an impressive and relevant accomplishment. If you're applying for a sales position for example, mention that you've won prizes for reaching and exceeding your quota.

If you've worked as a marketing expert, mention that your company's content has gone viral.

Make sure to relate the accomplishment to the position you're applying to.

5. Explain what you can do for the company

Many candidates make the mistake of being too self-focused. Explain how you want and are capable of helping the business. Don't forget that a cover letter is a two-way street.

While you should mention how you'd benefit from the position, you also have to offer your vision on what you can achieve and help move the business forward.

6. Motivation for applying

Related to the previous point, mention why you want to be a part of the company and the team you're applying to.

Will you be capable of making a difference? Is this the position you've dreamed of and prepared for all throughout your career?

The cover letter is the place to mention all of this. Hiring managers always prefer the most driven candidates.

7. Knowledge of the company

Show that you care. Mention relevant company accomplishments or current news. You can find out the company mission and values on the company site.

Go on LinkedIn, the company blog , and Twitter to see what the company has been up to recently and mention it briefly on the cover letter.

8. A company reference

Did someone from the company refer you to apply? Do you have a contact who knows the hiring manager?

It's always a good idea to mention that on your cover letter. Personal connections can make a difference and give you an edge.

9. A short explanation of relevant experience

Mention how your past experience relates to the job you're applying to. While your acquired skills should already be on the resume, include an example of how you've successfully performed the tasks already.

For example, if the job needs someone to make door-to-door sales, explain how you've done it in the past and hit your quota every time.

10. Transferable skills

In case you're applying to an industry different from the one you've got experience in, mention how your acquired skills are applicable to the job you want.

For example, if you've worked as a hotel concierge, chances are that you're great at customer service and pay attention to detail.

If you're applying to be a bank teller, these exact skills will come in handy, so go ahead and mention how your skills transfer even if it's not obvious at first sight.

Writing a cover can be much easier and productive if you include the 10 elements above. Make sure you've got relevant examples, a vision of yourself helping the business progress, and a reference to any relevant contacts. Finally, make sure your resume is finished and get to applying.

If you need any help with your resume, head over to our resume builder .

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