Including awards on a resume can effectively showcase your accomplishments and provide tangible evidence of your skills. These accolades validate the qualifications listed elsewhere in your application, help you distinguish yourself from other candidates, and add a layer of credibility to your professional profile.
Deciding Which Awards to Include
When deciding which honors to feature on your resume, the primary consideration should be relevance. An award should directly relate to the skills and responsibilities of the job you are pursuing. It should serve as proof that you excel in an area that is important for the role. If an award showcases a specific competency mentioned in the job description, it becomes a powerful testament to your qualifications.
Another factor is the prestige of the award. Well-known or highly competitive awards, such as those recognized on a national or industry-wide level, carry more weight than internal company acknowledgments. While a company-specific award like “Employee of the Month” can be valuable, especially if the achievement is quantified, a prestigious industry award like the Forbes “30 Under 30” will likely have a greater impact on a hiring manager.
Finally, consider the recency of the award. Prioritizing recent accomplishments is advisable, as they reflect your current capabilities. For seasoned professionals, awards from a decade ago may be less impactful unless they are exceptionally prestigious. Recent graduates, however, can include notable academic awards to supplement a shorter work history, as these demonstrate a strong work ethic.
Where to Place Awards on Your Resume
For individuals with several significant and relevant honors, creating a dedicated “Awards” or “Honors & Awards” section is an effective strategy. This section is typically placed toward the end of the resume unless the awards are exceptionally noteworthy.
Alternatively, integrating an award directly into the “Work Experience” section is ideal when the recognition is tied to a specific role. For instance, an award like “Salesperson of the Year” should be listed as a bullet point under the job where it was earned. This placement provides immediate context and quantifies your success within that role.
For academic achievements, the “Education” section is the most appropriate location. Honors such as making the Dean’s List, graduating with Latin honors like summa cum laude, or receiving academic scholarships should be listed directly under the relevant degree information. This is particularly useful for recent graduates whose academic performance is a primary qualification.
How to Format Your Award Entries
Your award entries should follow a consistent and professional format. Start with the name of the award, often presented in bold or italics to make it stand out.
Follow the award name with the name of the organization that issued it. Next, include the date the award was received, using at least the year, or month and year for more recent or recurring awards.
While optional, it is highly recommended to include a brief, one-line description of the award, especially if the title isn’t self-explanatory. For example, for an award titled “Rockstar of the Year,” you might add, “Recognized for achieving 150% of sales quota for three consecutive quarters.” This clarifies the significance of the achievement.
Examples of Awards on a Resume
To see how these formatting rules work in practice, consider a few examples across different categories. A professional award in a dedicated section might appear as:
Apex Award for Innovation, National Tech Innovators, 2023
Awarded for developing a new software process that increased departmental efficiency by 25%.
An academic honor listed under the education section would be more concise. It could be formatted as a bullet point directly under the degree information, like this:
University of Exampletown, Exampletown, USA
Bachelor of Arts in Communication, May 2022
Summa Cum Laude (3.9 GPA)
Recipient of the Thompson Merit Scholarship, 2020-2022
A performance-based award integrated into your work experience section provides direct evidence of your contributions in a specific role. It would look like this:
Regional Sales Manager, ABC Corporation, Sometown, USA (2019 – Present)
Generated over $2 million in new business revenue in 2022.
President’s Club, 2021: Recognized as one of the top 5% of sales managers nationwide.
What to Do If You Don’t Have Awards
Lacking formal awards does not diminish your professional value. If you do not have awards to list, you should not include an awards section. Instead, you can highlight your achievements in other ways that demonstrate your skills and impact.
Consider creating a section with a different title, such as “Accomplishments” or “Key Projects.” Here, you can describe significant projects you led, specific key performance indicators (KPIs) you exceeded, or internal recognitions that may not be formal “awards.” You can also feature relevant professional certifications, which serve as another form of validation for your skills. This reframes the focus from formal accolades to tangible, results-driven contributions.