Directly under your name on a resume, you should include a professional headline (a short branding statement combining your job title, experience, and a key skill or achievement) followed by your contact information: email, phone number, city and state, and your LinkedIn URL. This section takes up just a few lines but sets the tone for everything below it.
The Professional Headline
The first thing under your name should be a concise headline that tells the reader exactly who you are professionally. Think of it as a one-line pitch. A strong headline follows a simple formula: your job title, years of experience, a specialty or key skill, and ideally a standout achievement. Keep it to 10 to 15 words and work in keywords from the job posting so applicant tracking systems (the software that scans resumes before a human sees them) can pick them up.
Here’s what this looks like across different fields:
- Tech: Senior Software Developer | Java and Python Specialist with 6 Years Building Enterprise Applications
- Healthcare: Registered Nurse | 4 Years in Long-Term Care with Wound Care Certification
- Marketing: Content Strategist with 7 Years | Built Editorial Programs Generating 2M+ Annual Page Views
- Finance: Staff Accountant | CPA Candidate with 3 Years in Accounts Payable and Month-End Close
- Education: Instructional Designer | 5 Years Creating E-Learning Modules for Corporate Training Programs
Notice the pattern. Each one names the role, quantifies experience, and adds something specific that separates the candidate from others with the same title. “Project Manager” alone is forgettable. “Project Manager with 10 Years in Agile Software Development | Delivered 25+ Products Under Budget” gives a hiring manager a reason to keep reading.
If you’re early in your career or switching fields, you can adjust the formula. Replace years of experience with a degree, certification, or relevant skill area. A recent graduate might write: “Marketing Graduate | SEO and Social Media Analytics | Google Ads Certified.” The goal is the same: tell the reader what you do and why you’re worth a closer look.
Contact Information
Below the headline, list your contact details. The standard set is:
- Email address: Use a professional one. A firstname.lastname format is ideal.
- Phone number: Your cell number is fine. One number is enough.
- City and state: Not your full street address. Listing just the city and state tells employers your general location without exposing private information.
- LinkedIn URL: Include this if your profile is filled out and adds context beyond your resume, like recommendations or project details.
Most people arrange these on a single line or two lines, separated by a pipe character (|) or a simple dot. Keep it compact so it doesn’t eat into the space you need for your experience and skills.
Portfolio and Professional Links
Depending on your field, a link to a portfolio or project repository can be just as important as your phone number. If you’re in engineering, design, marketing, editorial, production, or PR, employers expect to see your work. A GitHub profile, a personal website, or a portfolio link gives them instant access to it.
A few rules make links work better. Hyperlink the text rather than pasting a raw URL, so the reader sees “Portfolio” or “GitHub” instead of a long string of characters. If you have multiple links (a portfolio, a GitHub, a personal blog), consider consolidating them under a single personal website. Scattering five or six links across the page won’t help because most recruiters won’t click them all. Place the most important link in the header next to your contact info. If a link relates to a specific job you held, you can place it under that role’s heading in the experience section instead.
What to Leave Off
Your resume header should not include your full home address, date of birth, age, marital status, religion, gender, passport or ID numbers, or a headshot. None of these help you get an interview, and some of them open the door to unconscious bias or identity theft. Listing your city and state gives employers enough geographic context without putting your home address on a document that may circulate to dozens of people.
Formatting for ATS Compatibility
The way you format your header matters as much as what you put in it. Many applicant tracking systems struggle to read text placed inside headers or footers in a Word document, so put your name, headline, and contact info in the main body of the page. Avoid multi-column layouts, tables, icons, and graphic design elements in this section. Stick to plain text. When you save the file, a text-based PDF with no images is the safest format for getting through automated screening. A clean, simple layout won’t win design awards, but it ensures your information actually reaches the person reviewing applications.