3 key takeaways
- Learn the key parts of a resume and how to make each one stand out
- Understand how optional resume parts (like projects and volunteering) can strengthen your qualifications
- Discover AI tools that help you fill and edit your resume parts more quickly.
Almost all employers ask for resumes, yet HR professionals—and the internet—can't seem to agree on what they should include. So, how do you know if you've hit all the key parts before you send your resume into the 2025 job market?
A simple list of essential and optional resume parts will help your experience and achievements shine through. Plus, knowing how to optimize their content to match job applications and ATS keyword scans can bring you closer to your dream role.
This guide breaks down the essential parts of a resume and how to optimize them for your target roles.
Why you need different parts of a resume
A resume is more than a list of experiences: each part serves a distinct strategic purpose. Contact details ensure employers can reach you, while a professional summary hooks their interest with relevant achievements. Other sections validate your expertise, prove your impact with concrete results, and help recruiters find you using ATS tools. Together, these carefully crafted elements guide hiring managers through your professional story—from first glance to interview decision.
Pro Tip: Follow this helpful reminder from Jan Tegze, director of technical recruiting at Tricentis: "Clarity trumps density. Don't cram information for the sake of it."
Parts of a resume
The essential parts you put on a resume work together to present your qualifications clearly and convincingly.
The seven parts of a resume are:
- Contact Information
- Target Title
- Professional Summary
- Work Experience
- Education
- Certifications
- Skills
Here’s what they look like together:
These components also work together differently for each application. While a software developer's details might emphasize technical skills and project outcomes, a sales manager's resume components highlight revenue growth and team leadership.
Skip the structure stress
Teal's Resume Builder has every part of a resume you need—plus optional ones—and lets you rename or customize each one to match your unique experience. Instead of wrestling with formatting and placement (and wondering if you have all relevant parts), focus on what matters: showcasing your achievements!
Now, let's explore how each element functions in today's job market, starting with the foundation of every application—your contact information.
Contact Information
Your contact information opens your resume. Place it prominently at the top. Include:
- Full name: Use your official name, not nicknames
- Professional email: [email protected] works best
- Location: City and state only
- LinkedIn URL: Full profile link, customized to remove number strings
- Portfolio or website link: Only if relevant to your target role
Make every detail easy to read and click. Skip outdated resume elements like your street address or multiple phone numbers. Recruiters need to reach you quickly—give them exactly what they need, and no more.
Pro Tip: Test every link and double-check digits and spelling before applying. Nothing kills momentum faster than a broken portfolio URL or mistyped email address.
Target Title
Position your target title directly below your contact information. This key resume component tells recruiters exactly what role you’re applying for. (It’s also one of the first things they’ll search for in Applicant Tracking Systems).
Match your target title to the job you want, not just titles you've held. You should also update it for each application to mirror their specific job posting language as closely as possible.
A target title should:
- Mirror the exact job posting title when possible
- Reflect your career level accurately
- Use industry-standard terminology
Examples:
Content Writer applying for a senior role → "Senior Content Strategist"
Marketing Manager seeking growth → "Marketing Director"
Sales Representative targeting new industry → "Technology Sales Executive"
Professional Summary
Your summary is your resume's TLDR, packing your value into two or three punchy sentences. As one of the key resume headings, it sets the tone for the rest of your resume.
As Carolyn Christie, a North Carolina-based Linkedin social media recruiter, puts it, "Powerful summary statement that tells exactly what you do > generic objective."
A strong professional summary briefly sells your top skills and achievements under your target title. It includes:
- Years of relevant experience
- Key skills that match the job
- Specific achievements with numbers
- Industry expertiseCareer progression
Need inspiration? Check out resume summary examples to see how others highlight their experience and impact effectively.
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Work Experience
Your Work Experience section spotlights your unique achievements, not just task lists. Organize your experience in reverse chronological order, placing your most recent role first. Alternatively, if you have a freelance or portfolio career, or you're switching industries, try a functional resume format, which groups experience by skill sets.
Include for each position:
- Company name (add brief description for lesser-known organizations)
- Job title
- Location or "Remote"
- Employment dates (month/year)
- 3-5 achievement-focused bullet points
Use the Teal-approved formula for Work Experience bullet points:
Formula: Success Verb + Noun + Metric + [Strategy–Optional] + Outcome
Example: Resolved recurring client complaints, improving retention from 30% to 55% by introducing a feedback and resolution process.
Each bullet should connect what you did to measurable business impact. Focus on numbers, percentages, revenue, savings, or user growth that demonstrate your value.
Pro tip: Draft and edit Work Experience achievements more quickly with Teal's Bullet Point Generator. Simply upload your current resume, prompt the AI generator, and customize your achievements and metrics.
Education
Keep education straightforward and relevant. This part of a resume typically stays consistent across applications (but may need adjustment if the role specifies certain educational requirements).
Place your Education after the Work Experience section, and lead with your most compelling qualifications. If you're a recent graduate or career changer, however, you can move it up and incorporate projects, coursework, and extracurriculars.
Starting with your highest level of education, include:
- Degree name and major
- University name
- Graduation date
Example:
Bachelor of Science in Marketing
University of Texas at Austin
May 2022
Certifications
Strengthen your resume with relevant credentials that align with your target role's requirements. Current certifications prove your commitment to professional growth and validate specific skill sets. Keep this section focused by removing outdated credentials.
List certifications with:
- Official certification name
- Issuing organization
- Date earned
- Expiration date (if applicable)
- License number (if relevant to your field)
Skills
In your Skills section, group skills strategically to show both breadth and depth of expertise. Present skills that appear in job descriptions near the top of their relevant category to show immediate alignment with role requirements.
Teal Founder David Fano recommends listing the following:
- Technologies and tools (e.g., Salesforce, Tableau, Figma)
- Industry specializations (e.g., healthcare compliance)
- Specific tactics and techniques (e.g., A/B testing, Agile methodology)
However, you should avoid:
- Soft skills (e.g., "team player")
- Basic-expectation software (e.g., "Microsoft Word")
- Keyword stuffing (as David says, "Don't list 50 skills hoping something sticks.")
Optional parts of a resume
The following optional resume sections can strengthen your value proposition when they clearly and directly back up your work experience and qualifications.
Projects
Projects on your resume add extra context (where required) and can set you apart from other candidates. You might add freelance work, entrepreneurial ventures, school projects, or in-depth work assignments. For example, a software engineer might add titles, short descriptions, and dates for 2-3 apps they’ve worked on.
This section suits:
- Career changers showcasing relevant work
- Recent graduates with limited experience
- Professionals highlighting specific achievements
Volunteering and Leadership
This section highlights your causes, community impact, and ability to enact change. It can set your resume apart when, for instance, job openings request experience with a certain customer group or non-profit area (say, young adults or community healthcare).
Include this experience when you:
- Apply for management roles
- Want to fill employment gaps
- Can refer to relevant transferable skills
- Have achieved results relevant to the job description
Awards and Scholarships
The Awards and Scholarships section adds external recognition to your resume achievements. Include these if you have them—they provide objective validation of your experience and help your resume stand out.
Both individual and team awards count—for instance, if your team won 1st place at a regional hackathon event, throw that in. College scholarships also count, especially for recent grads.
Ideally, awards should:
- Directly relate to your target role
- Show industry recognition
- Prove subject matter expertise
- Add success metrics to Work Experience achievements
Publications
The Publications section helps establish your authority and expertise, especially if you work in industries like academia, science, and publishing. You could list titles, dates, and additional authors (where relevant) for books, journal articles, research papers, and more.
Don't worry about your resume length—recruiters in academia and science expect resumes that are 3-5 pages long. Just include all publications that back up your expertise, as required by the job description.
Consider including publications when:
- Your work appears in industry publications
- You're quoted as a subject matter expert
- Your research advances your field
- Your content demonstrates thought leadership
Resume parts that get results
Including the right parts of a resume can transform your job search success. All of the components, from contact details to optional publications, work together to prove your value to employers. Focus on achievements, customize components for each role, and keep every element focused on your target position.
Ready to build a resume that showcases your best qualifications? Skip the formatting headaches and second-guessing, and instead focus on what matters. Teal's Resume Builder helps you organize and optimize every part of your resume for maximum impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the five P's of a resume?
The five P's of a resume are Presentation, Precision, Professionalism, Personalization, and Proof. Presentation ensures your resume looks polished and easy to read, while precision emphasizes concise, targeted language. Professionalism reflects your tone and format, personalization tailors the resume to the role, and proof showcases measurable achievements and skills to validate your value.
What are the seven crucial contents in a resume?
The seven essential parts of a resume are:
Contact Information: Your name, email, location, LinkedIn, and portfolio, if applicable
Target Title: The specific job title you’re applying for
Professional Summary: A brief highlight of skills, achievements, and experience
Work Experience: Roles, responsibilities, and measurable achievements
Education: Degrees, schools, and graduation dates
Certifications: Relevant credentials
Skills: Organized into categories like technical, software, or professional abilities
What are the three main parts of a resume?
The three main parts of a resume are:
Contact Information: Your name, email, location, and LinkedIn profile.
Professional Summary: A concise overview of your skills and achievements.
Work Experience: Your employment history with quantifiable achievements.
What are 10 resume writing guidelines?
Here are 10 strategic resume writing tips:
- Adjust your resume to each job application.
- Mirror keywords from job descriptions without over-stuffing.
- Focus your summary on experience, not objectives.
- Include 3-5 bullet points per job.
- Start with the most role-relevant accomplishments.
- Use success verbs such as "Led" and "Designed."
- Back up your skills with achievements and metrics.
- Spell out the hard skills (e.g., software such as Salesforce).
- Stay concise and allow some white space.
- Keep to 1-2 pages (unless project- or publication-heavy).
What are the most common resume mistakes?
The most common resume mistakes include:
- Sending the same resume to similar-sounding jobs without personalization
- Listing duties rather than achievements in your Work Experience section
- Using passive phrases such as "Responsible for"
- Stating skills or accomplishments without metrics or methods
- Including irrelevant qualifications or experience
- Adding vague or overused soft skills like "team player"
- Listing outdated or too-obvious technical skills (e.g., Microsoft Outlook)
- Not proofreading the resume for spelling, grammar, and formatting
