Name, title and contact header design – Page 2

Black or a dark accent colour, such as navy, dark teal or charcoal, works best. Your name needs strong contrast with the background so it reads clearly on screen and in print.

Tips:

• Use the same accent colour for your name and section headings to tie the design together.
• Avoid light colours such as yellow, pastel pink or light grey on white.
• Check how the colour looks when printed in black and white; it should turn into a dark grey, not disappear.

For conservative fields, black or navy is safest. For creative roles, a bolder colour can work if it remains easy to read.

Use your own name as the main heading, because you are applying as a person. You can add your business name in the title line or in your experience section.

Examples:

• "Nadia Karim

Freelance Copywriter | Nadia Karim Content"

• In experience: "Founder and Copywriter, Brightline Content (freelance), 2021–present"

Tips:

• Use a professional email address, ideally your own name or your business domain.
• Add your portfolio or business website to the contact line.
• Make sure the business name does not overshadow your name.

An academic CV header is usually simple and formal: your name, current position and institution, and contact details. Design is kept minimal so the focus stays on research, teaching and publications.

Example:
"Dr Elena Rossi
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Example
elena.rossi@email.com | +44 7700 900123 | orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000"

Tips:

• Include research profile links such as ORCID or Google Scholar where relevant.
• Use a classic font and black or dark text.
• Avoid photos, colour bands and icons unless the local academic norm differs.

Keep the header short, as academic CVs are often long and need space for content.

It is useful when the employer is likely to care about start dates, which is common in the Gulf, contract roles and urgent hiring. In other cases, it can go in your cover letter instead.

Examples:

• "Notice period: 30 days"
• "Available immediately"
• "Available from 1 March 2027"

Tips:

• Keep it short and place it on the same line as other optional details, such as visa status.
• Make sure it is accurate; if your notice period changes, update the resume.
• Do not let it crowd your contact details.

If you are not sure whether to include it, put it in your cover letter, where it is easier to explain.

Not usually. A tagline next to your name makes the header crowded and competes with your name. Keep the name on its own line and put the title line or tagline beneath it.

Good structure:

• Line 1: name.
• Line 2: professional title or one-line tagline.
• Line 3: contact details.

A tagline works best when it is short and specific.

Example: "Customer Service Team Leader | Telecoms and Contact Centres"

If you want a longer statement, put it in the summary section below the header, where it has room to breathe and does not affect the visual balance of the header.

On an Arabic resume, the header follows a right-to-left layout: your name at the top right (or centred), then your title and contact details, all aligned to the right. The design principles are the same as in English.

Tips:

• Use a clear Arabic font with good readability at small sizes.
• Write phone numbers and email addresses so they display in the correct order; check the final PDF carefully.
• Keep the same information and order as your English version, if you have one.

ResumeBuilder.ae supports Arabic resumes laid out right to left; choose the language on the Design tab and preview the header before exporting.

It can be, but using a different weight or colour usually creates a clearer hierarchy. A common approach is a dark name with the title in your accent colour, or a coloured name with the title in dark grey.

Options:

• Name in navy bold, title in dark grey regular.
• Name in black bold, title in accent colour.
• Both in black, with the title smaller and lighter in weight.

Whichever you choose, keep contact details in a neutral dark colour so they are easy to read. Avoid using three or more colours in the header.

The most common mistakes are clutter, missing or wrong contact details and poor hierarchy. They are easy to fix.

Watch for:

• An unprofessional email address or one you no longer check.
• A phone number without the country code when applying abroad.
• Broken or long, messy links.
• "Resume" or "CV" written as a title instead of your name.
• Name too small, or several elements competing in size.
• Too many personal details, such as marital status or religion, where they are not expected.
• Contact details only in icons or images.

Read your header slowly once, then test every link and send yourself a test email or call. A small error here can stop an employer reaching you.

Give each element in the header a different level of emphasis, so the reader's eye moves from your name to your title to your contact details without effort. Use size, weight and colour, but only a little of each.

A simple three-level hierarchy:

• Level 1, name: largest size, bold.
• Level 2, title line: medium size, regular or semi-bold, optionally in your accent colour.
• Level 3, contact details: body-text size, regular weight, dark grey or black.

Tips:

• Change one or two properties between levels, not all of them at once.
• Keep spacing tighter within the header than between the header and the first section, so it reads as one block.

If two elements look equally important, the hierarchy is not working; make one of them smaller or lighter.

It can, but it does not need to. Using the same font family for the whole resume, with a larger bold name, is the simplest and safest choice. A second font for the name and headings only can add character if it pairs well with the body font.

If you use two fonts:

• Pair a serif with a sans serif, for example a classic serif for your name and a clean sans serif for the body.
• Use the heading font only for your name and section headings.
• Never use more than two font families on the page.

Avoid decorative or very thin fonts in the header. The name must still be immediately readable, on screen and in print.

It can look stylish on a creative or modern resume, but for most applications a single line is clearer and saves space. Stacked names make the header taller and can make it less obvious which part is the family name.

When stacking can work:

• Short names in a bold, modern template.
• A designed resume sent directly to a person.

When to avoid it:

• Long names, where two lines become very wide or uneven.
• Conservative fields such as finance or law.
• One-page resumes where space is tight.

If you stack your name, keep the title line and contact details compact underneath so the header does not grow too tall.

A little extra letter spacing can make a name in capitals look more elegant, but it is optional. Use it lightly and only on your name or section headings, never on body text.

Tips:

• Letter spacing works best with all-capital names in a sans serif font.
• Keep it subtle; very wide spacing makes the name harder to read as a word.
• Do not add spacing by typing spaces between letters. Software may then read your name as separate letters, for example "J O H N".

If your template does not offer letter spacing, do not worry. A bold name at a good size already does the job.

The two page sizes have slightly different widths, so a contact line that just fits on one can wrap on the other. Design the header so it has a little room to spare.

Fixes:

• Shorten long items, for example remove the "https" and "www" parts from links.
• Split the contact line into two deliberate lines rather than letting it wrap at random.
• Reduce the number of items, such as a second link.
• Check that your separators do not end up at the start of a new line.

Preview your resume in the page size the employer is likely to use: A4 in most countries, US Letter in the US and Canada. Then check the header once more before exporting.

Yes, the header and section headings should feel like parts of the same design. Repeating the same font, colour or line style ties the page together and makes it look deliberate.

Ways to connect them:

• Use the same accent colour for your name and section headings.
• Use the same font family for your name and headings.
• If you place a thin line under the header, use a similar line under headings, or none at all.

Avoid mixing styles, for example a centred header with a coloured band, plus underlined headings in a different colour and boxed sections. Pick a few elements and repeat them consistently.

A healthcare header should be clean and professional, with your clinical specialism in the title line. Licence or registration details usually belong in a Certifications or Licences section, though a short mention can go in the title line if it is a key requirement in the advert.

Example:
"Maria Santos
Registered Nurse | Emergency and Trauma Care
Al Ain, UAE | +971 52 123 4567 | maria.santos@email.com"

Tips:

• Use dark, calm colours such as navy or teal.
• Keep the header short so your clinical experience starts high on the page.
• List full licence details as the regulator requires in a dedicated section, not crowded into the header.

A developer header should be simple and link to evidence of your work, such as GitHub or a portfolio. The title line should name your main stack or specialism.

Example:
"Rahul Verma
Backend Developer | Java, Spring Boot, AWS
Bengaluru, India | +91 98450 12345 | rahul.verma@email.com | github.com/rahulverma"

Tips:

• Keep links short and make sure the repositories you link are tidy and active.
• Avoid long lists of technologies in the title line; two to four is enough, and the Skills section covers the rest.
• Use a plain, modern font. Developers' resumes are judged on content, so a clean header is ideal.

A simple header with your name, job title, phone, email and location is all you need. Many employers in retail, hospitality, driving and warehouse work never expect online links.

Example:
"Grace Okafor
Retail Sales Assistant | Fashion and Footwear
Lagos, Nigeria | +234 803 123 4567 | grace.okafor@email.com"

Tips:

• Add languages to the title line if they matter for the role, such as "English, Yoruba".
• Make sure your phone number is one you answer, as many employers call rather than email.
• Keep the header compact so your experience and availability are easy to see.

Usually not. Borders around the header or page tend to look dated and reduce the usable space. They can also be cut off or misaligned when printed.

Cleaner alternatives:

• A thin line under the header.
• A light background tint behind the header only.
• Simply more white space between the header and the first section.

If you really like a framed look for a creative role, keep the border thin and well inside the printable margins, and check the printed result. For most resumes, white space does the job of a border without adding visual weight.

You can add a short line of three to five core skills, but keep it brief and make sure the same skills appear in your Skills section and experience. Used well, it tells the reader your focus at a glance.

Example:
"Financial Analyst
Budgeting | Forecasting | Power BI | Variance Analysis"

Tips:

• Choose skills that match the advert and that you can prove.
• Keep it to one line, in body-text size.
• Do not use it as a place to stuff keywords; long lists look cluttered and lose impact.

If your title line already contains your specialisms, a separate skills line is usually unnecessary.

Normal capitalisation (title case) is the clearest choice, for example "Project Manager | Oil and Gas". Capitals and italics can work as design choices, but use them carefully.

Options:

• Title case: clear and professional, works everywhere.
• All capitals with slight spacing: modern look, but harder to read if long.
• Italics: can look elegant, but thin italic text may be hard to read on screen.

Whichever you choose, keep the style different from your name (for example, smaller and not bold) so the hierarchy remains clear. Avoid using capitals for both name and title, which makes the header feel loud.

Make the header follow the same left margin (or centre line) as the rest of your resume. Misalignment is one of the most common reasons a header looks slightly "off".

Checks:

• If the header is left-aligned, your name, title and contact line should start exactly where your section headings start.
• If it is centred, every header line should be centred on the same axis.
• Coloured bands should run edge to edge or align with the margins, not somewhere in between.

Zoom in on your PDF and look at the left edge from top to bottom. A straight, clean edge makes the whole page look more professional.

On a two-column template, the safest design places the header across the full width at the top, above both columns. This keeps your name and contact details first in the reading order.

Why it matters:

• If your name and contact details sit inside a sidebar, some software may read them after other content, or mix them with sidebar text.
• A full-width header also looks balanced and gives a clear starting point.

Tips:

• Keep the header short so both columns start high on the page.
• Copy the text from your PDF into a plain text editor to check that your name appears first.

For online applications, consider a single-column template, which handles this automatically.

A teacher's header should state your subject or phase and, where useful, the curriculum you teach. This lets school leaders see your fit at once.

Example:
"Hannah Clarke
Secondary Science Teacher | IGCSE and A Level Chemistry
Doha, Qatar | +974 5512 3456 | hannah.clarke@email.com"

Tips:

• Mention the curriculum (British, IB, American, CBSE) if the school's advert does.
• Keep the design calm and professional, with one soft accent colour.
• Teaching qualifications and any licences go in a dedicated section below, not the header.

If you teach several subjects, name the main one in the title and list the rest in your summary.

No, in almost all cases. Images and patterns behind text reduce readability, increase file size, print badly and can confuse software that reads the text.

Better ways to give the header presence:

• A solid colour band with good contrast.
• A slightly larger, bold name.
• An accent-coloured title line.
• A thin line separating the header from the body.

Even designers rarely use patterned headers; a portfolio is a better place to show visual style. If you want texture, keep it extremely subtle and test it on screen, in print and in black and white.