The typical time employers spend scanning a resume is less than 10 seconds. That means the top part of your resume needs to make a good impression so they keep reading! Here are some tips to make the top section of your resume work for you.
Maya's example:
Here's how Maya grabs the reader’s attention and communicates a strong sense of her experience and qualifications:
- A strong headline (Project Coordinator) lines up under her name. This gives the reader a sense that Maya is already a project coordinator.
- A strong summary communicates her talents, skills, and initiative. We get an immediate sense of Maya as a capable professional.
- Though it's not typical, she adds an optional testimonial that provides specific information on one of her top achievements as an administrative assistant.
Header
Here's what to include at the top of your resume, in a header section:
- Name. This can be your full name or another name that you prefer to be called. If you have a work-related designation or title, you can include it after your name. Notice that Maya added her CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) designation after her name. This supports her current goal to be a project coordinator.
- City and state. There is no need to include your full street address on a resume.
- Personal email address. This provides a convenient, confidential way for employers to contact you. Make sure your email address is professional; if it isn't, sign up for a free account from Google or another trusted provider.
- LinkedIn or portfolio link. Include your LinkedIn link if you have a complete profile and maintain it regularly. If you have your own work-related website or portfolio, include that link in your header.
- Phone number. Like an email address, this is another convenient and confidential way for employers to contact you.
Headline
This goes below the header and is the attention-getting statement that quickly identifies your focus. You can use just the job title, such as Maya's "Project Coordinator", or a very short (10-12 words) tagline that describes your key qualification. For example:
- Manufacturing Engineer 5+ years; saved company $100K in one year of process improvements
- Career Counselor | Helped 2,000+ make successful college-to-work transition
- Licensed Practical Nurse | 10 years in geriatric care | Collaborative approach
- Impact-driven Data Analyst | Visualization & storytelling expertise
Next, there are some optional sections to show you are well-suited to the job you are applying for.
Summary
A Summary follows the headline and highlights your top skills and accomplishments related to the job, using keywords from the job posting. Length is 3-4 sentences or 3-5 bullet points. Title this section "Professional Summary", "Summary", or use a job title, like “Accountant Summary”.
Avoid repeating your work experience or using "puffed up" phrases. For people changing careers, the Summary can help show how your experience translates into the new field. Skip the Summary section if you don't have much experience (3 years or less), or your work experience shows a clear, consistent progression.
- Numbers help tell a story and create a picture of your experience, such as "Built 3 houses start-to-finish in one construction season".
- Include personal qualities relevant to the job, such as detail orientation, physical strength, high energy, or other.
- Recognition can add evidence to your Summary, such as: “Consistently earned top sales”; “Promoted repeatedly for outstanding performance”; “Recognized by leadership for most creative team”.
- Include unique and notable experience that doesn't otherwise appear on your resume, for example from 15+ years ago, such as: “Art directed project for Fortune 500 company”.
- Can also include specialized academic or training highlights.
- Avoid jargon—the people reading your resume may not have background in the field.
Skills
Skills is an optional section that may be positioned after the headline or Summary when skills are essential to the job, or after Education & Training if they’re important but not as significant. Title this section "Skills", "Technical Skills", or reference the job, such as "Teaching Skills". It's typical to list your skills in columns, referencing software, other digital tools, or short phrases, such as “Proficient in Python” or just “Python”. It's a great section to include when you have exactly the skills the employer is looking for.
- Technical skills and other job-specific skills are the typical focus.
- Include only skills that are relevant to the job.
- If you use a Summary section, include soft skills there rather than in “Skills.”
