Resumes look different depending on the role, industry, and intent, but the essential elements stay the same no matter what. Candidates must provide their top qualifications, like work experience and education, and primary contact details.

What about other details, like known languages or certificates? Some elements are optional, and it helps job seekers and recruiters alike to know which is which.

This guide discusses the optional and non-optional sections in a resume so you can focus on what matters and make better decisions.

Essential sections in resumes

First, let’s take a look at the essential resume elements, like work experience and skills. These details provide you with vital information that helps you shortlist candidates and hire better employees.

Use a resume checklist to keep track of these crucial details. This list can include all the non-negotiable sections, but highlight optional elements as “nice-to-have.”

1. Resume summary

Every resume should start with a concise description of the candidate. This should be two to four sentences long and provide years of experience, top skills, and powerful, relevant achievements. 

Candidates without extensive work history should use a resume objective instead, which describes a person’s aspirations and skills.

2. Work experience

This is the most important element in a resume. Read through a candidate’s work experience to find impactful outcomes, relevant work tasks, and keen use of skills. It’s essential to focus on their abilities and impact – job titles may be unique in different companies, but you can tell if applicants are relevant through their capabilities.

3. Skills

Candidate skills are a quick way to judge their relevance to your open role. Look for your top technical skills, but also look for attractive soft skills, like empathy and leadership. 

To ensure job seekers know which skills you’re looking for, make sure you write effective job descriptions that accurately convey your needs.

4. Education

Many roles require a certain level of education, so it’s important to scan resumes for the appropriate degrees. This section shouldn’t be extensive – all it needs is the name of the degree, the institution where the candidate earned it, and the graduation date.

A GPA above 3.5 isn’t necessary, but it’s a nice bonus to show a job seeker’s dedication and hard work.

5. Contact details

How will you connect with stellar candidates if they don’t provide contact details? A solid resume needs a clear header with accurate personal details, including phone number, email address, location, and job title. It’s an added bonus if candidates include their LinkedIn URL, allowing you to learn more about their professional background and skills.

Note: Required contact details change depending on the type of employee you’re hiring. For example, location isn’t strictly necessary unless you’re hiring an in-office role, and you must make sure they live in your area.

Optional sections in resumes

Now let’s touch on the main optional sections in resumes. These elements aren’t required, but they provide insights into a job seeker’s qualifications, additional skills, and background, helping you make a tough decision between great candidates.

Volunteer experience

Volunteer work tells you more about someone’s qualifications and industry experience. For example, volunteering at a blood drive shows you a candidate has empathy, interpersonal skills, and experience in the healthcare sector.

This section also showcases the work ethic and dedication a candidate has even when they aren’t being paid.

Volunteer experience on a resume is especially helpful when hiring employees with little work experience, like students.

Hobbies and interests

Learning about candidates’ hobbies and interests certainly isn’t a requirement for any position, but it’s a great opportunity to get to know them and see if they align with your company culture.

Let’s say your top candidate lists “Travel” and “Swiss culture” in their hobbies section – this gives you a great icebreaker for the interview and allows you to start the discussion off friendly.

This section also helps reinforce a person’s abilities and qualifications. For example, a salesperson whose hobby is public speaking must have solid charisma and negotiation skills.

Languages

Multilingual candidates are always beneficial to a company. A customer success representative who can understand English-speaking and Spanish-speaking clients enhances your business and provides top-notch customer service.

Keep in mind that the Languages section isn’t always optional, and it depends on the role you’re hiring for. If you’re recruiting a bilingual project manager who must speak English and Mandarin Chinese to properly liaise with internal and external stakeholders, this section is essential.

Certificates

Certificates aren’t necessary, but they’re excellent to spot at the bottom of a resume. These certifications typically showcase that a candidate completed a professional course, showing commitment to continuous improvement. 

The Certificates section is similar to the Languages section in that it may occasionally be non-optional. For example, all nurses should have a first aid and CPR certificate, and restaurant staff should have food safety certifications.

Additional personal details

Above, we discussed the necessary personal details – these details are a bit different, as they’re either optional, undesirable, or specific to certain roles. Here are the top additional personal details to look out for:

  • Driver’s license: Not recommended for most resumes but essential for driving positions, such as commercial truck drivers
  • Address: Not recommended and a privacy risk but may be necessary for government roles
  • Photo: Not recommended and may put candidates at risk of hiring bias, but necessary for acting and modeling roles
  • Nationality: Not recommended and may put candidates at risk of hiring bias 

Recognize the perfect resume

Mandatory resume sections showcase a job seeker’s relevant qualifications and help recruiters identify quality candidates faster. Elements like work experience, education, and skills are essential and make a firm foundation for the rest of the hiring process.

Optional sections, like volunteer experience and hobbies, aren’t necessary for a perfect resume but offer valuable insights into a candidate’s skills, cultural fit, and experience. They also display work ethic and continuous learning through unpaid work and professional certificates.

Make sure to build a handy resume checklist to keep track of mandatory and optional resume sections so you can check for the essentials at a glance.

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