Supplemental Sections

The supplemental sections of your resume – education, training, memberships, licenses – are critical to further showcase what you have to offer over other candidates. Generally "the extras" belong at the end of the resume, however not all of these sections will apply to you and where you place them depends on many factors. For example, if you are a recent graduate, you'll want to get your education onto the top half of the first page. If you have impressive credentials that most of your competition cannot offer, such as a dual certification, this section belongs on page one.

Here are some of the common supplemental sections and tips on what to include in them:

Education

• Include your degree, major, and college/university name and location. Only include your graduation year if you graduated recently.
• Include your GPA if it was 3.8 or higher.
• Highlight honors, awards, scholarships, leadership activities, and/or community involvement.
• List your thesis/dissertation or special research projects.
• Mention courses completed (not all, just a sampling) if applicable to your current objective.
• Didn't graduate or currently working towards your degree? You can still mention the degree (which helps with getting past the ATS) by adding "Coursework" or "Candidate" with an expected graduation date.

Professional Memberships

• Include organization name and your title (if something other than "Member").
• If you are not currently a member but still want to include the membership on your resume, give the start/end years or list "Former Member."
• Mention specific contributions, such as fundraising, event planning, etc.

Training and Professional Development

• This section can be combined with Education, however don't let the section become too lengthy.
• Include the course/seminar/workshop title, instructor and/or sponsoring organization, and year.

Certifications, Licensure, and other Professional Credentials

• Only list active/current credentials. If you want to include a past certification or licensure, make sure you designate "inactive" or "not current."
• Order your credentials by significance – for example, a national board certification in nursing would go above CPR or First Aid.

Computer/Technical Skills

• List each computer program separately (for example, if you have experience with all Office programs, list each – an ATS may search for Word, but not MS Office).
• This section can also include equipment and instruments and their related techniques.
• If your list gets lengthy, separate by category – operating systems, applications, servers, workstations, software, hardware, etc.

Below are a few extra section examples to give you an idea of how to strategically present your unique credentials.