Guide to Resume Sections, Categories, Titles, and Headings

You’ve come to the perfect site if you’re wondering what sections to include on a resume…

We’ll go over the most crucial resume sections/categories, as well as suggested titles and headings, step by step.

We’ll also go through how to create each area, as well as some tried-and-true resume writing methods and a few optional sections to help you land more interviews… So read all the way to the conclusion.

Let’s get this party started…

The Most Important Resume Sections and Titles/Headings:

1. Name and Contact Info

This is the first and most important portion of your resume, and it should be at the top of page one, before any other material. It’s a document heading that prominently displays your name and relevant contact information.
Include your name, address (if applicable), and email address in your message. If you choose, you can also give phone number. Finally, if you have one, consider including a link to your LinkedIn page.

There is usually no need for a title in this section of the resume; instead, start with your name and contact information.

“Contact Information” is the ideal option if you wish to include a section title.

If you want companies to know you’re local but don’t want to provide your specific street address for privacy reasons, you can include your city/state without your street address. As a result, this is a possibility to consider.

Let’s move on to the other essential resume components to include…

2. Career Summary

This is the summary that follows the heading at the top of the document. It should be a three- to four-line synopsis that gives a high-level overview of your career to date while mentioning a few notable accomplishments.

It’s also a good idea to identify one or two of the job titles you’re after, as this is a critical area that an Applicant Tracking System will search.

Check out this page on resume summary examples for more information and examples of how to write this part.

Use the following section headings on your resume:

You can start your summary right now without a title, or you can title it “Career Summary” or “Professional Summary.”

3. Professional History

Employers will like to see your employment history near the top of the first page of your resume if you have any.

Indeed, you should consider putting it ahead of your skills section.

Why? Instead of viewing a general list of all your skills, most hiring managers like to see the dates and jobs where you did each work (and developed each skill).

This is particularly true if you intend to list 15, 20, or even 30 abilities. A large list with no indication of where each talent was applied is unlikely to impress many companies.

As a result, including a general “Skills” section at the top of your resume typically results in the reader reading over it and moving on down the page. This isn’t good.

Remember that you don’t have to list every job you’ve ever had when creating this area of your resume.
In actuality, only the most pertinent facts regarding the previous 10-15 years of work experience should be included. If relevant career history exists earlier than this, it should be provided in a section titled Earlier Career History, with dates omitted to avoid age prejudice.

Here’s a terrific article with lots of great resume job history samples if you need some inspiration.

Use the following section titles on your resume:

Use “Employment History,” “Work History,” “Work Experience,” or “Experience” instead of “Experience.”

4. Core Competencies/Skills

Your skills and abilities are the next areas that should be highlighted. The objective of this section might be referred to by a number of different names. There will be a section in a job advertisement that details the qualifications or skill set necessary. These are the identical words that your resume should include.

If the job demands “Management Abilities,” and your skills section now lists “Supervisory Skills,” modify it to “Management Abilities.” This will help you pass the ATS process more easily. If you want to learn more about how to adapt your CV for a certain job in order to score more interviews, read on.

Some people suggest that parts #3 and #4 above be swapped. You can put the Skills section above the Work Experience part if you want.

Or, at the very least, include a tiny section that highlights your KEY talents (maybe 5-10 skills) that are most relevant to the position you’ve applied for. Before your work experience part, that could be a good small thing to include.

Section titles on a resume:

This part can be labeled as “Skills,” “Core Strengths,” or “Core Competencies.”

5. Education

In most cases, your Education part should come after your Professional History and Skills sections. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to provide a date of graduation with your education.

In fact, I advise clients against providing a date because it may be used to “date” you in the future. Only when someone has recently graduated from college and has little to no professional experience should Education be mentioned before Professional History.

Stick to the order for everyone else.

Section titles on a resume:

Use the “Education” header.

Those are the primary sections of a resume, along with section titles that are suggested. Let’s take a look at some resume components that are optional.

6. Community Engagement

This area can be used to describe any volunteer activities, leadership roles, or major community contributions you have made. While this part isn’t required on a resume, it’s a good approach to come up with conversation starters or show off your interests outside of work.

Section titles on a resume:

“Community Involvement” or “Community Engagement” are both acceptable options.

7. Optional: Technical Skills Listed in Separate Resume Section

All resume sections 6 through 10 are optional, but I want to make clear that this recommendation in particular is not essential for everyone.

Some job searchers, on the other hand, divide their skills into two sections on their resumes.

They possess both technical and non-technical abilities.

This may be a nice approach to organizing everything if you work in a highly technical field like software engineering. Here’s an example of how it might seem. Take note of the two distinct sections and titles.

8. Certifications or Continuing Education

If you hold a significant qualification (such as a CPA or PMP) or have attended multiple seminars in your industry, it’s critical to demonstrate that you are a lifelong learner who is prepared to go above and beyond in furthering your career ambitions.

Here’s an example of a resume section heading:

“Continuing Education” or “Certifications.”

9. Testimonials

You can also include bits of testimonials from customers, team members, or managers if you’re searching for a way to really stand out and convey a third-person perspective. Another strategy to emphasize your primary abilities and what you can offer a potential employer is to use this format.

Titles for this portion of the resume:

“Endorsements” or “Testimonials.”

10. Languages

If you speak more than one language and believe it is useful to the employer, make sure to mention it. It will set you apart, and they will almost certainly ask you about it during the interview, so it will also serve as an excellent conversation starter.

It’s both a science and an art to writing a resume. There is no one “correct” method to lay out your career history; nonetheless, following this list of must-have resume parts and incorporating each one can help you catch hiring managers’ attention and land more interviews.

Choose one of the following for the title of this section:

“Languages Spoken” or “Languages.”