How To Write a Resume Title (With Tips and Examples)
Updated 11 July 2023
A CV is a document where you highlight your professional experiences and skills to reflect your job fit to the potential employer. The resume title is an important aspect of your CV because an efficient resume title helps you get recognised by potential employers who come across your resume. Before you write a resume title, it may be helpful to go through a few guidelines on how to do so.
In this article, we discuss what is a resume title, why the title for a resume is important, how to write an effective resume title, tips to write an effective resume title and a comprehensive list of resume title examples.
What Is A Resume Title?
A resume title is a one-line sentence that outlines your work experience and skills. Freshers can use a resume title to highlight their attributes and skill set. A resume title helps the recruiter to analyse what you can offer to the organisation if hired. It is a powerful way to capture the recruiter or hiring manager's interest and make them go through your resume completely.
Why Is The Resume Title Important?
The title for a resume is important as it gives your brief introduction to the recruiter and helps grab their attention. Recruiters and hiring managers review many resumes during the hiring process; hence, they quickly glance through the resumes. This makes it very important to have an efficient title to prompt the recruiter to read more about you. Strong titles are important because they can:
Highlight your key strengths and skills
Position you as a potential candidate
Showcase your relevant experience
Communicate your achievements
Get you an interview call
How To Write An Effective Resume Title
It is important to have a resume that stands out from the competition as many candidates apply for a single job position. Having a properly curated resume title will make the recruiter notice your resume and help them understand your fitness for the job. Below are a few steps you should follow while writing a title for your resume:
Related: How to Write a Resume Headline
1. Research job titles
Before writing your title, review some job titles for positions you are interested in identifying what potential employers are looking for. Adapt these titles to reflect your own unique selling points and accordingly create your resume title. Make sure the rest of your resume reflects you are qualified to have that title. If possible, try using the job title in your resume title.
For example, you may be looking for a business analyst position and in your research, you find out that recruiters are looking for hands-on experience in "R" technology. If you have the relevant experience, your resume title can be "Business Analyst with 2 year's experience in R".
2. Consider your most relevant experience
You may have multiple work experiences in different industries. First, decide in which industry you want to look for a job and what job positions will be relevant for you. Your resume's title should reflect the skills from the most relevant experience for the job position you are applying for.
For example, you may have work experience in the information technology and e-commerce industry. Now, you are applying for jobs in e-commerce companies. You can highlight your skills and experience in this industry in your resume title as "Sales Executive with 2 year's experience at XYZ e-commerce company".
3. Capitalise the resume title
A resume title is the first thing a recruiter sees after your name and contact details in your CV. Thus, you need to make the hiring manager aware that it is your resume title and the correct way to highlight it is by using capital letters for each word in your title.
Example:
[Name]
[Contact Details]
Java Developer with 3 Year's Experience
4. Use keywords
Nowadays, resumes are shortlisted using automated application scanning systems, which look for keywords in your resume that are part of the job description. Thus, it is advisable to go through the job description before writing a resume title and carefully craft the title using those keywords that best describe your skills.
For example, if the job description talks about expertise in Java, create your resume title as "Java Developer with 3 years of experience."
5. Create targeted headlines
The resume title used for one job application may not be relevant for the other. Every time you apply for a new job role, change your resume title according to the job description. It will increase the chances of your resume getting noticed and shortlisted for the interview.
For example, if for a Tech Lead role, job description gives importance to relevant experience, then resume title can be "Tech Lead with 3 years of experience" and if for the same job title, job description gives importance to certain skills, then resume title can be "Tech Lead with 3 year's experience of working on Power BI tool".
6. Make the title stand out
The resume title should stand out and should be able to catch the attention of the reader. Thus, be careful with your formatting to make sure your title does not blend in with the rest of your text. Consider making the title and headline bold; change the font or make it of different sizes and colours.
Example:
"Certified Salesforce Practitioner with 5 Year's Experience"
Related: How to Write a Resume Headline for Fresher (With Examples)
Tips For Writing An Effective Resume Title
Here are some tips for you which will be helpful in writing an effective resume title:
1. Position it at the top
The resume title is the first thing that a recruiter should read when they look at your resume. Hence, it should be placed at the top after your name and contact details.
2. Keep it concise
You should always keep your resume title short and concise. A resume headline should be a brief sentence highlighting your core strengths and experiences. Making it wordy will make it difficult to read for the reader and may not fulfil its purpose.
3. Include certifications
If a job requirement lists certain certifications as mandatory qualification criteria, mention those certifications in your resume title if you have those. Having certifications always add credibility to your CV. It will increase the chances of getting your resume shortlisted and you may move up in the interview list.
4. Include quantifiable data
Quantifiable data showcases the exact details of your achievements and imparts a good impression on the recruiter. Data can be in terms of awards you have achieved, sales you have done, savings you have brought to the organisation, projects you have successfully completed or new projects you have brought to your company.
5. Avoid fabricating
You would want to make your resume title stand out from your competitors, but do not mention what you have not achieved. Your CV and resume title details should always be true to your experience level, skills and achievements. Highlighting false details may get you an interview call, but you may get caught during the interview process.
6. Write multiple resume titles
You may not be able to write a powerful resume title in one go. Write four to five resume titles and choose the best fit for the job position you are applying for. It is also advisable to review the job description carefully and tailor the titles accordingly.
7. Watch out for cliches
Some commonly used words to describe your qualities in resumes are excellent communications skills, hard-working, focused, goal-oriented. Such qualities are very generic. They neither highlight your skills or core strengths nor grab the attention of the recruiter. Try to describe your qualities in a better way by mentioning specific skills or achievements.
Related: 10 Best Skills to Include on a Resume (with Examples)
Examples Of Resume Titles
Here are a few sample resume titles you can use:
"Certified AWS Practitioner with 5 years of experience"
"Business Analyst with 2 year's experience"
"Sales Executive who has increased revenue by 35%"
"State-Level Volleyball Player with two years of coaching experience"
"Award-Winning Videographer"
"Event Planner, over 80 events planned"
"Head Chef with 4 year's experience at a five-star restaurant"
"Goal-Oriented MBA fresher with two months internship experience in a Mobile Advertisement Firm"
"Article writer with 3 years of writing experience, looking for remote projects"
"Strategy and Operations Consultant"
"Data Scientist with expertise in Python and R"
"3 Time Top Performer Regional Manager"
"Senior Project Manager with Leadership Qualities"
"Electrical Engineer with experience in Government Projects"
"Accountant with 3 year's experience with Law Firm"
"Experienced IT Procurement Analyst"
"Ph.D. in Computer Science having 4 years of Teaching Experience"
"Computer Science Graduate with 8.5 CGPA having C++ and Java knowledge"
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