What to Put on a Resume (20+ Best Things to Include)
What to put on a resume? There are 5 must-have sections you need to include in a resume and some extra ones. Read on and learn what should be on your resume.
Christian Eilers
Career Expert
Writing a resume is an artistic process. It’s not just showcasing your experience and listing your skills. It’s also about how you organize your resume, what visual elements you use, how you play with colors, and bring other original ideas to fruition.
But what if your creative tank is empty, and you get enough of Pinterest ideas? Start with resume icons. They’re pretty simple to use and make resumes more personal and distinguishable.
Ready? Let’s get on with resume icons & symbols you’ll love.
In this guide:
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Seeking more tips and tricks to soup up your resume? Check these guides:
Where can you get your resume icons from? We’ve made a list of free resources:
Finding free resume icons will eventually cost you some effort. You’ll need to verify many pages to come across designs that match your individual taste and preferences. Plus, there’s no guarantee you’ll get them for free.
Therefore, we’ve gathered a bunch of websites with free icons for a resume. Here’s a brief list of top pages with complimentary resume icon designs in different styles, which you can download quickly & with no sweat:
First comes Icons8. This service hosts not only 8 but hundreds of resume icons accessible for free—from plain, black & white symbols and sketchy drawings to variegated, modern items.
What’s more, they provide renowned social media icons such as a LinkedIn icon for a resume, Instagram, or Twitter logo. A vast choice of icons for a resume to take it to the next level.
Freepik is another great source of colorful, imaginative resume icons. Choose from PNG and SVG formats and a vast assortment of styles for any kind of resume—conventional or quaint.
Flaticon gathers many talented icon designers who share their passion for creative commercial graphic design. You’ll find there a wide variety of eye-catching resume symbols fitting different resume sorts and styles.
Reshot has a broad library of free SVG images with instant downloads, helping you find your ideal resume logo. No commitments, just a pure celebration of innovative graphic concepts and ideas. Completely for free.
Iconpacks is another creative container with numerous business icons and symbols. If you feel overwhelmed by the wealth of the assets they propose, use filters such as monocolor or multicolor to narrow your search. A great source of free icons for a resume.
Resume icons don’t have to be a showpiece of fanciness, though. You can go for simpler resume symbols and still keep your resume visually appealing and engaging. They work well specifically for professions requiring a more deliberate approach (such as lawyers, political consultants, principals, etc.).
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Who wouldn’t want to have an eye-catching, dashing resume? Not to suppress your enthusiasm, but resume symbols won’t cut it solely. You’ll need to rethink your resume design as a whole.
Plus, it’s easy to overdo your resume by having the lure of stuffing it with all the fancy, attention-grabbing elements. It’s much better if you stick to a limited number of items, and stay devoted to a consistent style and a well-thought color palette.
If you choose to create your document in a resume builder, you’ll get ready-made resume templates coherent in style and formatting.
Stylish items don’t make a beautiful room. It’s also how you use them to arrange and decorate the space. Sometimes, it takes a couple of rearrangements to find the perfect setup, moderation, and harmony.
Resume icons are great tools, too, but if they’re used wrongly, they can break your resume instead of making it more appealing. So how to make sure you’re using them the right way?
Check the ready-made templates that professional resume builders offer. They’re well-structured and have the right sense of style, making your resume professional and good-looking.
Here are the exemplary icons for a resume you can find in the ResumeLab builder:
The most popular ones are: phone icon for a resume, email icon, location symbol, work experience resume icon, skills icon, and education emblem.
Additionally, when using a resume builder, you can easily switch between diverse resume templates, colors, and professional fonts, adjusting your resume accordingly. Plus, you can always restore default resume settings if you come too far playing and experimenting.
Now, see a bunch of layouts with resume icons that don’t overwhelm the document but give it a creative twist:
Primo uses distinctive resume icons for all sections, making them easier to scan in search of particular information. Moreover, it has a showy, oval item next to the name, adding individuality to this sample resume.
Cubic template doesn’t use distinguishable resume icons, but it weaves in some small resume symbols, such as stars, to picture the level of language proficiency. Additionally, it combines three colorful fields that add some geometric accent to this resume layout.
Squares template incorporates tiny square symbols that are used to enlist resume skills and languages. The square motive is also applied at the top of this resume template, together with the candidate’s initials.
Besides star elements, this template encompasses some other discernible icons, such as overlaps placed next to the work history and education section names. The division line helps to keep this resume layout clear, separating the most important information from other lines.
As befits the Iconic template, it features a few distinguishable icons that make the whole more interesting and modern. Blue symbols represent particular resume sections, which are displayed one under another. Two symbols are also used in the personal information section to make the key contact data easy to sight.
Sprinkling a bit of visual magic into your resume with carefully chosen icons can add some flair to your professional story. Beyond the cool factor, icons play a practical role in making crucial details pop, ensuring recruiters don't miss a beat. However, there are a few potential drawbacks to consider when incorporating icons into your resume. Let’s break them down together:
Pros:
Cons:
It’s essential to maintain the right balance when using icons in your resume. Once your document is all ready, make sure that the icons complement rather than overshadow your content.
Unless you create your resume in a professional resume builder, you’ll need to upload your resume icons directly to the document or design you make.
Here are the key rules when adding icons to a resume:
Resume icons can also indicate proficiency in languages or skills, as well as other qualifications. They perfectly illustrate the level of advancement and can draw a recruiter’s attention.
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Here’s to recap what we’ve discussed earlier:
Questions regarding icons for a resume? Any other ideas on how to use a resume logo effectively? Or maybe you know alternative valuable resources with free icons for a resume? Share your thoughts in the comments. We’ll be happy to talk!
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Career Expert
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