For most early-career resumes, and for many career changers, use contact, a short summary or one-line headline, then experience or education (the stronger proof for this job), then skills. Put education above experience when a degree or recent coursework is closer to the posting than your jobs are. Leave off a block that repeats the page or that you cannot explain.
The outline below is a fictional writing model. This page does not claim that hiring software ranks section order.
A default order
Use one page and a single column. This order is a reading habit, not a score.
- Contact. Name, phone, email, and city or time zone. Add a link only if it opens.
- Summary, objective, or headline. Two to four lines naming the role and the proof, or a one-line target role under your name. Skip it if you only have adjectives such as hardworking. Resume summary examples compares the two forms. Those samples are fictional.
- Experience or education, whichever is stronger for this posting. Inside that section, put the closest role, project, or school first.
- The other of those two. If experience leads, education follows. If education leads, experience or projects follow.
- Skills. Tools and tasks you can talk through. Do not add a tool only because the posting names it.
- Optional sections. Projects, volunteering, a certification, or a language, and only when the block adds a fact the earlier sections do not.
When school is the main evidence, how to write a resume with no experience puts education, or a closer project, before a thin job list. Keep dates as month and year, and use plain headings such as Experience, Education, and Skills. Layout notes are in ATS-friendly resume tips. What a public website score counts is in what an online ATS score measures.
When to put education above experience
Put education first when the school record is the closer proof.
- You are a student or new graduate, and the posting is a first role your program trains for.
- Paid work is in another field, and a recent degree, certificate, or finished program is why you can do this job.
- A class project is closer than any job title. It can sit above education. The no-experience guide describes that move.
Keep experience first when a job, internship, or informal work already shows the tasks. Do not rename the title.
Career changers
Keep the title you held. Put experience above education when the earlier work contains tasks the new role uses, and let the summary name the shift. Put education or a finished project above experience when the new field shows up there and the old jobs do not.
Fictional order, not a real applicant. A retail supervisor moving into project coordination, with schedules and a shared task list as the proof, keeps that title in the summary, then lists experience, skills, and education. Move education up only if a recent course is the closer proof. That summary shape is on resume summary examples.
What to leave off
Leave these off unless a form asks for one of them.
- A photo, date of birth, marital status, or a full street address.
- References, including “available upon request.” See how to list references.
- High school, once a later program is listed, unless the posting asks.
- A hobby with no task, or a skill you only watched someone else use.
- An objective that names no real work, a pay figure the form did not request, or older jobs once recent work is enough.
- A second column, a text box, or an icon in place of a word.
Fictional outline
Fictional writing model. Jordan Hale is invented. Education leads because the program is the closer proof for a library assistant role.
Jordan Hale Portland, OR jordan.hale@example.com Objective: Seeking a library assistant role. Proof I can describe: a cataloging exercise, and a pantry shift that logged donations. Education City College, library technician program, 2024-2026 Coursework: recorded item locations in a spreadsheet. Experience Campus pantry volunteer, 2025-2026 Sorted weekly food donations and logged items in a shared sheet. Skills Spreadsheets, shared logs, shelf order.
Swap Education and Experience if the pantry shift is the closer proof. A headline such as “Library assistant candidate” can replace the objective. Bullet shape is in resume bullet point examples. The same activities are the fictional letter in how to write a cover letter with no experience.
Checklist before you send the page
- The section under the summary is the proof this posting can use.
- The summary, objective, or headline names that proof, or the block is gone.
- Skills are tools or tasks you can explain.
- Headings are plain words: Experience, Education, Skills, or Projects.
The resume checker looks for experience, education, and skills headings, plus a few wording rules. It does not score an interview. The job description keyword extractor lists phrases in a posting, and the resume keyword matcher counts how many also appear in the resume. That count is overlap on this site, not an employer result.
Frequently asked questions
What order should resume sections be in?
Contact, then a short summary or a one-line headline, then experience or education with the stronger proof first, then skills. Add another section only when it adds a fact.
Should education go above experience?
Yes, when the degree, a recent program, or coursework is closer to the job than your paid work. Keep experience first when a job or project already shows the tasks. A class project can sit above education when it is the closer proof.
Do I need both a summary and a skills section?
List skills you can explain. Use a summary when it names the role and the proof. Skip it if you can only think of adjectives, and put a one-line target role under your name instead.
What should I leave off a beginner resume?
References, a photo, high school once later schooling is listed, and a skill you cannot explain. The outline is fictional.