Certifications
Credentials awarded by professional bodies, technology vendors, or educational institutions that verify a specific set of skills or knowledge. Certifications are high-value resume signals in technical, financial, healthcare, and project management fields.
A certification is a formal credential — typically requiring a course of study or exam — that demonstrates proficiency in a specific skill or domain. They're issued by professional associations, technology vendors, and accredited educational institutions. **High-value certifications by field:** - Project management: PMP, CAPM, CSM - Cloud/tech: AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Google Professional Cloud Architect, Microsoft Azure - Data: Google Analytics, Tableau, SAS Certified Data Analyst - Finance: CPA, CFA, CMA - Healthcare: BCLS, ACLS, various state licensures - Marketing: HubSpot Content Certification, Google Ads, Meta Blueprint - Cybersecurity: CISSP, CompTIA Security+, CEH **Where to list on your resume:** Dedicated 'Certifications' section (preferred for technical or credentialed fields) or under the education section. **What to include per entry:** Certification name, issuing organization, year obtained, expiration date if applicable (especially for CPE-based certs). **What not to include:** Certifications in progress that don't have a completion date yet — these dilute the signal. Wait until completed, or note 'Expected completion: Month Year.' Online course completions (Udemy, Coursera without a grade) are generally not certifications — don't list them as such. Some Coursera courses do offer accredited certificates; those are worth including.
Why it matters
In fields where certifications are standard, their absence is noticed. For career changers, a relevant certification is often the most credible signal that you've gained the technical foundation needed to enter a new field.
Candidate tip
If a job description lists a certification as 'preferred,' getting that cert before applying transforms you from a borderline to a strong candidate — especially if you can complete it in 2-4 weeks as many vendor certs allow.
Put this into practice with the candidate.so Resume Builder.
Learn more →Related terms
Education Section
Resume & CVThe section of your resume listing your academic credentials — degrees, institutions, graduation dates, and relevant coursework or honors. Placement and detail level change significantly based on where you are in your career.
Hard Skills
Resume & CVSpecific, teachable, and measurable abilities — technical tools, software, languages, certifications, and domain knowledge. Hard skills are what you learned; soft skills are how you work. ATS systems primarily filter on hard skills.
Resume Keywords
Resume & CVSpecific words and phrases from job descriptions that ATS systems and recruiters search for. Including the right keywords in your resume is the primary way to pass automated screening and signal relevance to human reviewers.
Skills Section
Resume & CVA section of your resume that lists your professional skills, typically grouped into hard skills (technical tools, software, languages) and soft skills. It's a key ATS keyword target and a fast-scan section for recruiters.