Resume writing can be tedious for the everyday job seeker. Here’s how to craft the perfect, attention-grabbing resume headline to get a recruiter’s attention.
How to Write Stand-Out Resume Headlines
Resume Headline
Writing a professional resume has several different components, including a header containing all your contact information, a resume summary or resume objective, a skills section, a work experience section, and an education section. Each section is essential to getting the hiring manager’s attention and presenting important information. So where does a resume headline come in and how can you write a great one to land a new job?
What Is a Resume Headline?
The resume headline, also called the resume title, is a phrase that goes at the top of your resume. This one-liner concisely showcases your skills, work experience, and who you are as an employee to recruiters.
It can be tough to condense your years of experience or accomplishments into just one sentence. However, being able to do so on your resume can also show off your great communication skills. Saying more with less is a skill that can help you stand out in a job search.
What To Include in the Resume Headline
The resume headline should focus on the most relevant aspects of the job description. Here’s a list of the elements you need to pay especially close attention to in the resume header:
- Job title
- Your years of experience
- Related qualifications
- Most notable work-related accomplishments
The job title is one of the most important elements. A sales associate is very different from a sales executive, for instance. If you don’t have the appropriate work experience to fit a senior or managerial role, then your resume might be thrown out.
That doesn’t mean that a junior staff member cannot move up in their career. An executive assistant can successfully apply to be a project manager within the same company if they have years of experience under their belt.
You can also talk about any certifications or awards you earned for your current position. These can make you seem far more credible in your field, and in some cases, more desirable to hiring managers. If you have more than one award, major accomplishment, or certification related to the role, then you need to pick either the most impressive or the most relevant one.
For instance, earning a Webby Award can be great to show off for a web designer position, but less so for an architectural job. You need to carefully select which accomplishments will seem the most impressive for the role you’re applying to.
What To Include in the Resume Headline
A good resume headline will tell recruiters all about who you are in just a few words. Here are a few resume headline examples to help you get started:
- Award-winning graphic designer with five design awards
- Multilingual ICU doctor with 20 years of experience in the healthcare field
- Sales manager with a proven track record of increasing quarterly revenue by 10%
- Head archivist with 5 years of archiving and curating experience
These examples are direct reflections of a candidate’s work experience and previous accomplishments on resume. A good resume headline avoids cliches and gets to the point. It doesn’t need to be especially elaborate, so long as it can precisely describe who you are as an employee.
