What to Put on a Resume: Required Sections, Optional Sections and What to Leave Off

Updated September 27, 2026.

In short: every resume needs five things: contact information, a short summary or objective, work experience with results, education, and skills that match the job. Add optional sections — certifications, projects, volunteer work, awards, languages, publications — only when they support the job you are applying for. Leave off your photo (in the US), date of birth, marital status, full street address, references and "References available upon request". List experience newest first and keep everything relevant to the posting.

If you are starting from zero, read what a resume is first: what the document is for, how it differs from a CV, and the three resume formats.

What sections should a resume have?

What goes in the contact section?

Your full name (largest text on the page), phone number, a professional email address, city and state, and a LinkedIn URL. A portfolio or GitHub link is worth adding for creative and technical roles. You do not need a full street address; see address on resume.

Should you use a summary or an objective?

Use a summary if you have experience in the field: it leads with your strongest qualifications. Use an objective if you are a student, entry-level applicant or career changer: it explains where you are headed. See resume summary examples and resume objective examples for templates.

What should you put under work experience?

For each role: job title, employer, city and state, and start and end dates (month and year). Under each, write two to six bullet points that start with an action verb and show a result — what changed because you did the work. "Cut invoice processing time from 5 days to 2 by automating approvals" says more than "Responsible for invoices".

List roles in reverse chronological order, newest first, and go back roughly 10 to 15 years; our guide on how far back a resume should go covers the exceptions. For how many bullets to write, see bullet points per job.

What goes in the education section?

Degree, major, school, location and graduation year. Recent graduates can add GPA (if strong), honors, relevant coursework and study abroad. If you are still studying, write "Expected May 2027". Details are in how to list education on a resume.

Which skills should you list?

The hard skills, tools and certifications the job posting names, in the posting's own words, plus a small number of soft skills you can back up with an example in your bullets. Keep the list to skills you could discuss in an interview. See how to list skills on a resume, hard skills and soft skills.

Which optional sections are worth adding?

Add a section when it answers a question the employer will have:

• Certifications when the job requires or prefers a credential (certifications on a resume).
• Projects when your job titles do not show the skill the posting needs.
• Volunteer work when it fills a gap or shows relevant skills (volunteer work on a resume).
• Freelance or contract work when it is a real part of your experience (freelance work on a resume).
• Awards when they are competitive or recognizable (awards on a resume).
• Languages when the job serves customers or colleagues who speak them (languages on a resume).
• Publications in academic, research, medical, legal and technical roles (publications on a resume).
• Hobbies and interests only when they connect to the job or the company's culture (hobbies on a resume).

What order should resume sections go in?

For most people: contact → summary → experience → skills → education → optional sections. Move education above experience if you graduated in the last year or two, or if the job requires a specific degree. Move skills higher if you are changing careers and your titles do not show the match. Within each section, put the newest and most relevant items first.

What should you not put on a resume?

• A photo, date of birth, marital status or other personal details (in the US and Canada; some countries expect them — see picture on a resume and CV vs resume).
• Your full street address.
• References or "References available upon request" (references on a resume).
• Salary history.
• Jobs from more than 15 years ago that add nothing to this application.
• Reasons you left each job.
• Unprofessional email addresses, first-person pronouns and dense paragraphs.
• Anything you cannot back up in an interview.

Resume checklist before you send it

1.Name and contact details are correct and the email is one you check.

2.The summary names the target job and two of its requirements.

3.Every job has dates in the same format (resume date format).

4.Most bullets show a result, not a duty.

5.The skills section uses the job posting's own terms.

6.Fonts are 10–12 pt for body text (resume font size) and margins are consistent (resume margins).

7.The file is a PDF or Word document with a clear file name.

8.The length fits your experience: usually one page early in a career, up to two later (resume length).

To check the finished document against a specific posting, run it through the free resume checker, or start from scratch in the resume builder, which lays out these sections for you.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 5 main things to put on a resume?

Contact information, a summary or objective, work experience, education and skills.

What should I put on a resume if I have no experience?

Lead with education, then projects, volunteer work, part-time jobs, internships and skills. See how to write a resume with no experience.

Should I put my GPA on my resume?

A common career-center guideline is to include it if you graduated in the last two to three years and it is 3.0 or higher (3.5+ for the most competitive fields), and always if the employer asks for it. See GPA on a resume.

Do I need to include every job I've had?

No. Include the jobs that are relevant to the role and cover roughly the last 10 to 15 years. Short or unrelated jobs can be left off or grouped.