ATS Resume Sections: What to Include and What to Skip

Your Resume Sections Determine Whether ATS Can Read Your Resume

When an ATS parses your resume, it doesn't read your document the way a human does. It scans for recognizable resume sections, maps content to structured database fields, and indexes keywords for recruiter search. If your sections are labeled in ways the parser doesn't recognize -- or if you include sections that create parsing confusion -- your carefully written content might end up in the wrong fields or get lost entirely.

This guide breaks down every common resume section, explains how ATS platforms handle each one, and gives you a clear framework for what to include and what to skip. Understanding how applicant tracking systems work starts with getting your sections right.

Sections Every Resume Must Have

These are non-negotiable. Every ATS expects them, every recruiter looks for them, and missing any of them will hurt your application.

Contact Information

Your name, phone number, email address, and location (city, state). Optionally include your LinkedIn profile URL. This information should appear at the very top of the document.

ATS parsing note: Most parsers extract contact information from the first few lines of the document. Do not put your contact details in headers or footers -- many ATS platforms skip header/footer content during parsing. Keep it in the main body of the document, plain text, no tables or text boxes.

What to include:

• Full name (not just first name or a nickname)
• Phone number with area code
• Professional email address
• City and state (full street address is no longer standard)
• LinkedIn URL (optional but recommended)

What to skip: physical mailing address, multiple phone numbers, personal social media links (unless relevant to the role).

Professional Experience (or Work Experience)

This is the section that carries the most weight with both ATS algorithms and human reviewers. List your work history in reverse chronological order with company name, job title, location, and dates for each position.

ATS parsing note: Use one of these standard headings: "Professional Experience," "Work Experience," or "Experience." The parser maps this section to employment history fields in the database. Non-standard headings like "Career Journey," "Where I've Worked," or "Professional Background" may not be recognized.

For each role, include:

• Job title on its own line (parsers look for title/company pairs)
• Company name
• City, State
• Date range (Month Year -- Month Year format)
• 3-6 bullet points with strong action verbs and quantified results

Education

List your degrees in reverse chronological order. Include the degree type, field of study, institution name, and graduation date.

ATS parsing note: Use the heading "Education." Parsers extract degree level, field of study, institution, and date. This data is used for automated screening -- many applications have minimum education requirements that are checked against this parsed data.

Include: degree name, major/field, university name, graduation year. Honors (cum laude, Dean's List) and relevant coursework only if you graduated within the last 5 years or if the coursework is directly relevant.

Skills

A dedicated skills section gives the ATS a concentrated block of keywords to index. This section directly impacts whether your resume appears in keyword searches.

ATS parsing note: Use the heading "Skills," "Technical Skills," or "Core Competencies." List skills as comma-separated text or a simple bulleted list. Avoid rating systems (skill bars, star ratings, percentage indicators) -- ATS platforms cannot interpret graphical skill ratings, and they take up space without adding searchable content.

Our skills section guide covers how to organize and prioritize this section in detail.

Sections That Are Recommended (But Not Required)

These sections add value when relevant to your background and target role. ATS platforms can parse them, though not all platforms handle them with equal reliability.

Professional Summary

A 3-4 sentence overview at the top of your resume that positions your experience for the target role. This isn't the same as the outdated "Objective" statement -- it's a concise pitch that includes your specialization, years of experience, and key qualifications.

ATS parsing note: Most modern parsers recognize "Professional Summary," "Summary," or "Profile" as section headings. The content is indexed for keyword matching. This is a strategic place to include key terms from the job description that might not fit naturally in your experience bullets.

Certifications

Professional certifications (PMP, AWS, CPA, RN, PE, CISSP, etc.) should have their own section if you hold them. Many ATS platforms have dedicated certification fields, and many job postings have certification requirements that are checked during automated screening.

ATS parsing note: Use the heading "Certifications," "Licenses & Certifications," or "Professional Certifications." Include the full certification name, the abbreviation, and the issuing organization. Some parsers also extract expiration dates if included.

Projects

A projects section can be valuable for engineers, developers, designers, and other roles where portfolio work demonstrates capabilities. List project name, your role, and key outcomes.

ATS parsing note: Not all parsers have a dedicated projects field. Content in this section is typically indexed as general text, which means keywords will still be searchable. Use the heading "Projects," "Key Projects," or "Selected Projects."

Volunteer Experience

Relevant volunteer work can fill gaps, demonstrate leadership, or show community engagement. List it the same way you list professional experience: organization, role, dates, and bullets.

ATS parsing note: Use "Volunteer Experience" or "Community Involvement" as the heading. Some parsers map this to a separate volunteer section; others treat it as additional work experience. Either way, keywords are indexed.

Sections That Are Optional (Include If Relevant)

These sections serve specific situations. Include them when they add value; skip them when they don't.

Awards and Honors

Industry awards, company recognition, or academic honors. Worth including if they're recognizable and relevant. A "Top 30 Under 30" or "Patent of the Year" award carries weight. A company-internal "Employee of the Month" less so.

Publications and Patents

Relevant for academic, research, scientific, and senior engineering roles. List in a standard citation format. If you have many, include the most relevant and note the total count.

Professional Affiliations

Membership in professional organizations (ASME, AMA, IEEE, etc.) demonstrates ongoing engagement with your field. Leadership roles within these organizations (board member, committee chair) are particularly valuable.

Languages

If you speak languages beyond English, include them with proficiency levels (native, fluent, conversational, basic). This is especially valuable for roles at international companies or in multilingual markets.

Sections to Skip Entirely

These sections either create ATS parsing problems, waste space, or actively hurt your candidacy.

Objective Statement

The objective statement ("Seeking a challenging position where I can utilize my skills...") is outdated and wastes prime resume real estate. Replace it with a professional summary that positions your experience, not your desires.

The only exception: if you're making a significant career change and need to explicitly state your target role because your experience doesn't make it obvious. Even then, a professional summary handles this better.

References

"References available upon request" wastes a line. Employers know they can ask for references. Listing actual references on your resume risks sharing people's contact information without their explicit consent for each specific application.

Photo or Headshot

In the US, including a photo on your resume is not standard practice and can introduce bias into the screening process. More practically, photos and images can cause ATS parsing failures. Some parsers skip image content entirely; others misinterpret the image file as corrupted content.

The exception: some international job markets (Germany, parts of Asia) expect photos on CVs. Know your market.

Personal Information

Date of birth, marital status, nationality, gender, and Social Security numbers have no place on a US resume. Some of this information is protected under anti-discrimination laws, and including it can create legal complications for employers.

Hobbies and Interests

Unless your hobbies are directly relevant to the role (competitive coding for a developer role, for example) or demonstrate leadership (captain of a competitive sports team), they don't add value at the professional level. The space is better used for relevant experience or skills.

Graphics, Charts, or Infographic Elements

Skill bars, word clouds, pie charts showing skill distribution, timeline graphics -- these look creative but cause significant ATS parsing problems. The parser cannot interpret graphical elements and may skip the content entirely. If the information is important enough to include, present it as text.

Section Ordering: What Goes Where

The order of your resume sections affects both ATS parsing and how quickly a human reviewer finds what they need. Here's the recommended order for most professionals:

1. Contact Information
2. Professional Summary
3. Professional Experience
4. Education
5. Skills
6. Certifications (if applicable)
7. Additional sections (projects, volunteer work, publications, etc.)

The main exception is for recent graduates or career changers. If your education is your strongest qualification (new degree, prestigious program, relevant coursework), move it above experience. For everyone else, experience comes first.

For a more detailed treatment of resume structure, see our ATS-friendly formatting guide.

Section Headings: Standard Names Matter

ATS parsers use section headings to categorize content. Using creative or non-standard headings can cause content to be miscategorized or skipped. Here's a quick reference:

• Use: "Professional Experience" -- Not: "Career History," "Where I've Made an Impact," "My Journey"
• Use: "Education" -- Not: "Academic Background," "Learning & Development"
• Use: "Skills" -- Not: "What I Bring," "Toolkit," "Arsenal"
• Use: "Certifications" -- Not: "Badges," "Credentials I've Earned"
• Use: "Professional Summary" -- Not: "About Me," "Who I Am," "Introduction"

Boring wins. Standard headings ensure reliable parsing across every ATS platform from Workday to Greenhouse to Taleo and beyond.

How Many Sections Is Too Many?

A resume with 10 different sections looks fragmented and dilutes focus. For most professionals, 5-6 sections is the sweet spot: contact info, summary, experience, education, skills, and one additional relevant section.

If you find yourself adding more than 7 sections, ask whether each one contributes materially to your candidacy for the specific role you're targeting. A section with one or two items can often be consolidated into another section or removed entirely.

The goal is clarity, not comprehensiveness. A recruiter spending 6-7 seconds on initial review needs to find the relevant information immediately. Well-organized sections with clear headings make that possible. Cluttered resumes with too many sections make it harder.

Final Checklist

Before submitting your resume, verify your sections against this list:

• Contact information is in the main body (not header/footer), includes name, phone, email, and location
• Professional summary is tailored to the target role and includes primary keywords
• Experience section uses a standard heading and lists roles in reverse chronological order
• Each role includes title, company, dates, and achievement-focused bullets
• Education section includes degree, institution, and date
• Skills section contains keywords from the job description as described in our keyword guide
• No photos, graphics, tables, or skill rating systems
• No objective statement, references line, or personal information
• Total sections: 5-7, each with a standard heading
• Format follows ATS formatting rules

Get the sections right, and you've eliminated one of the most common reasons resumes fail ATS screening. The rest is about keywords, achievements, and tailoring -- all of which work better when they're organized in sections the system can actually read.