What to put on the top of a resume?

Asked by: Norval Gutmann  |  Last update: May 3, 2026
Score: 4.1/5 (32 votes)

At the very top of your resume should be your Name and Contact Information (phone, professional email, city/state), followed by a concise Resume Summary or Profile that highlights your key skills and goals, grabbing the recruiter's attention immediately. This header section is crucial for first impressions and quick contact.

What should I put on top of my resume?

  • Your professional experience.
  • Your career highlights / achievements.
  • Any projects that you have completed.
  • Any training or certifications you did.
  • References if they can make a difference.
  • Personal info only relevant to you and required.
  • Use more of the bullets than paragraphs.

What is the best headline for a resume?

The best resume headline is a short, specific, keyword-rich phrase that acts as a mini-summary, blending your job title, years of experience, key skills, and quantifiable achievements, tailored for the job you want to get, like "Data-Driven Marketing Manager | 7+ Yrs Driving 20% ROI in SaaS". It should immediately tell recruiters who you are, what you do, and why you're a strong match, using powerful words and numbers to stand out from generic claims. 

What are the five titles on a resume?

It's important to include all the elements in your resume to give potential employers a better understanding of your skills, strengths, and key qualifications. With few exceptions, all resumes have contact, summary, education, experience, and skills sections.

How should the top of a resume look?

Your resume header should be concise, simple, and easy to read. Use a clear and legible resume font, such as Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, or Calibri. Avoid using any fancy or decorative fonts that may be difficult to read by hiring managers and applicant tracking systems (ATS) used to scan and organize resumes.

My Resume That Got Selected at GOOGLE, AMAZON, MICROSOFT & META

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What are the 3 C's of a resume?

The 3 C's of a resume typically refer to Clear, Concise, and Consistent formatting and content, ensuring your skills and experience are easy to read, brief, and follow a uniform style, while other interpretations focus on Competence, Character, and Chemistry for hiring, or Clarity, Connections, and Confidence for job search strategy. The most common resume advice emphasizes making it easy for recruiters to quickly grasp your qualifications through clear, brief, and consistent presentation. 

What are the 5 P's of a resume?

The "5 Ps of a Resume" aren't a single, universally agreed-upon list but often refer to key principles for standing out, such as Positioning, Personal Branding, Presentation, Persistence, and Proofreading/Precision, focusing on clearly showing who you are, what problems you solve, and how you're a valuable asset, all while ensuring your application is flawless and targeted. It's about being strategic and making an immediate, positive impact with your application materials. 

What are red flags on resumes?

Resume red flags are warning signs that can get you rejected, including typos/grammar errors, unexplained employment gaps, job hopping, a lack of quantifiable achievements, poor formatting, not tailoring the resume to the job, and including irrelevant personal details or outdated skills, all signaling a lack of attention to detail, professionalism, or relevance for the role.
 

What is a strong resume title?

A good resume title often includes your target job title, your key skills, your qualifications, and/or your years of experience. You can also include your awards, industry, or specializations.

What are the top 5 resume mistakes?

The top 5 resume mistakes include typos and grammar errors, not tailoring the resume to the specific job, focusing on responsibilities instead of quantifiable achievements, using poor or complex formatting, and including irrelevant or outdated information/objective statements, all leading to a generic, hard-to-read document that fails to impress recruiters or pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). 

What is a good catchy headline?

Eye-catching headlines use numbers, questions, strong adjectives, urgency, or solve a specific problem, like "7 Secrets to a Stress-Free Vacation" or "How I Made a Fortune With a 'Fool Idea'," often featuring clear benefits, curiosity, or direct results, such as "How to Boost Your Traffic by 20%" or "The Guaranteed Method for Avoiding Work Burnout," to instantly hook readers by promising value or addressing pain points.
 

What is the best opening line for a resume?

A strong resume opening statement (summary) is a 2-3 sentence pitch highlighting your professional title, years of experience, key quantifiable achievements, and core skills, tailored to the job by using keywords from the description to show immediate value and capture the recruiter's attention. Start with your role and experience, then showcase impact (e.g., "Increased sales by 20%") and list relevant abilities, focusing on the value you bring to the employer, not just what you want. 

What is an impressive resume?

It should highlight your strongest assets and skills, and differentiate you from other candidates seeking similar positions. Although it alone won't get you a job or internship, a good resume is an important factor in obtaining an interview. Tailor your resume to the type of position you're seeking.

What not to put on a resume?

You should not put personal details (age, marital status, photo, religion), irrelevant hobbies, salary history, negative comments about past employers, or lies on a resume, focusing instead on quantifiable achievements, professional skills, and tailoring it to the job, while avoiding errors like typos and overly long paragraphs. Leave out generic phrases like "references available upon request" and an unprofessional email address.
 

What is the 7 second rule in resume?

The "7-second resume rule" means recruiters spend only about 7 seconds on their initial scan of a resume to decide if a candidate is a potential match, making it crucial to have a clear, concise, and keyword-optimized document that highlights key achievements and skills to capture attention quickly, often with the help of an ATS (Applicant Tracking System). To succeed, focus on strong formatting, quantifying accomplishments with numbers, using action verbs, and tailoring the content to the specific job description to pass both automated filters and human review. 

What makes a resume stand out?

Making your resume stand out

Customize your resume to match the job description by including relevant keywords and skills, without lying or stretching the truth. Make sure to always use action verbs when describing experiences. Consider including any awards or performance recognitions to highlight your achievements.

What should I avoid in a resume headline?

Common mistakes in resume headlines include being too generic, overly complex language, focusing solely on job titles, exaggeration, lack of keywords, being too long-winded, not tailoring to the job, and ignoring branding opportunities.

What are powerful words to use in a resume?

Power words for a resume are strong action verbs and descriptive adjectives that showcase your accomplishments and skills, replacing weak phrases with impactful words like Achieved, Developed, Led, Optimized, Launched, Analyzed, Managed, Created, Increased, and Streamlined, categorized by function (leadership, problem-solving, creativity, etc.) to highlight results and drive impact, such as "Boosted sales by 20%" instead of "Was responsible for sales".
 

What are cool job titles?

Cool job titles often replace traditional roles with creative, descriptive terms like Chief Happiness Officer, Director of First Impressions, Data Wrangler, or Growth Hacker, adding personality and reflecting modern skills in areas like tech, marketing, and company culture to make roles sound more exciting, from Software Ninjaneer to Conversation Architect.
 

What looks unprofessional on a resume?

An unprofessional resume is marked by errors, irrelevant information, poor formatting, and a lack of focus on achievements, featuring things like typos, an unprofessional email, vague descriptions, too much personal data, or a cluttered design, signaling a lack of attention to detail and professionalism to recruiters. 

What are the three F's in a resume?

Having less than ten seconds to prove qualifications for a position enforces the idea that the focus point of drafting a resume, should be to stick to the Three Fs of Resume Writing: Function, Form, and e(F)fectiveness.

What are the 5 C's of interviewing?

The 5 C's of interviewing offer a framework for assessing candidates, commonly including Competence (skills), Character (integrity, work ethic), Communication (clarity, listening), Culture Fit (team alignment), and sometimes Confidence, Chemistry, or Curiosity, helping hiring managers identify well-rounded individuals who not only can do the job but also fit the organization's values and team dynamics. While specific lists vary, these core attributes help predict a candidate's potential value and long-term success.
 

What are the 5 golden rules of resume writing?

The five core principles of resume writing are Relevance/Targeting, Quantifiable Achievements, Clarity/Conciseness, Professional Presentation, and Accuracy/Proofreading, focusing on tailoring content with numbers and keywords to be easily scannable, demonstrating value, and being error-free to impress hiring managers quickly. 

What are the three C's of resume writing?

As you write and review your resume, remember the Three C's Rule — Clear, Consistent, Concise. You are likely forwarding this to someone who knows little about you. Your resume should answer questions, be aesthetically pleasing, follow the same format throughout, and succinct.

What are 5 good skills to put on a resume?

Some of the top skills to put on a resume depending on your field are:

  • Adaptability.
  • Communication.
  • Computer skills.
  • Critical thinking.
  • Customer service.
  • Data analysis.
  • Leadership.
  • Problem-solving.