Section order and page structure – Page 3

On an academic CV, publications usually come early, often after education and academic appointments, because they are central evidence for research roles. For teaching-focused roles, teaching experience may come before publications.

Order publications by type and date:

• Peer-reviewed journal articles.
• Books and book chapters.
• Conference papers.
• Other publications.

Within each type, list the most recent first, using a consistent citation style.

Directly under your header, in place of a summary. An objective is most useful for students, graduates and career changers; experienced professionals usually do better with a summary.

Keep it to one or two lines and focus on what you offer, not only what you want.

Example: "Business graduate seeking an entry-level logistics role, bringing internship experience in inventory control and strong Excel skills."

Do not include both an objective and a summary; choose one.

Put the strongest, most relevant information at the top for a quick read. A good order is: header, short summary, key skills, then the most relevant experience or education.

At job fairs, readers may only scan for a moment while talking to you, so:

• Keep the summary to two lines.
• Put your degree and graduation date near the top if you are a student.
• Leave optional sections at the end or remove them.

The order can stay standard, but put your achievements in your current role first and in detail. Your manager and HR know your background, so focus on what you have done and how it prepares you for the new role.

Suggested order:

• Summary tailored to the new role.
• Current role with achievements related to the new job.
• Earlier roles, briefly.
• Training and certifications completed while at the company.
• Education.

Read your resume as if you were the employer and ask a few questions:

• Does the top half of page one show why I fit this job?
• Are the sections in a familiar order with standard headings?
• Are items in reverse chronological order within each section?
• Is anything required for the job, such as a licence or degree, hard to find?
• Are there tiny sections that could be merged?

You can also ask someone to look at your resume briefly and tell you what they remember. If they recall your most relevant strengths, your structure is working.

Often yes, if your certifications are more relevant to the job than your degree. In IT, cloud, networking and cybersecurity roles, employers frequently screen for certifications such as AWS, Azure, CCNA, CompTIA Security+ or CISSP, so placing them above education makes them easy to find.

A common order for experienced IT professionals:

• Summary and technical skills.
• Experience.
• Certifications.
• Education.

For graduates, education may still come first, with certifications right after it. Mention your most important certification in your summary as well, so it is visible at the top of page one.

After experience, or inside your experience section if the research was part of a job. On a non-academic resume, research is supporting evidence, so present it in terms of skills and results the employer cares about.

Example:
"Research
Research Assistant, Department of Economics, University of Calicut, 2022 to 2023

• Cleaned and analysed survey data for 1,200 households using Stata."

If research is your main experience, for example after a master's or PhD, it can be listed as a role under Experience with clear, practical results.

In your experience section, in reverse chronological order with your other jobs. Military service is work experience and should be described the same way, with a title, unit or organisation, dates and achievement bullets in civilian language.

Example:
"Logistics Supervisor, National Service, 2019 to 2021

• Managed stores and equipment records for a unit of 120 personnel."

If service was short or compulsory and not relevant to the role, a one-line entry is enough. Relevant training or clearances can go in certifications or additional information.

The order of sections is generally the same as on an English resume: header, summary, experience, education, skills and other sections. The main difference is the layout direction: the page reads from right to left, so headings, bullets and dates are mirrored.

Tips:

• Use standard Arabic section headings consistently.
• Keep English terms, such as software names, clearly readable within Arabic text.
• Check dates and numbers display in the right order.

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

If you are applying outside academia, put them in your main experience section if they are your most relevant work, or in a separate "Academic Experience" section after your main experience if you also have industry roles.

Describe them with transferable results:
"Teaching Assistant, Data Structures, 2023 to 2024

• Led weekly lab sessions for 40 students and created practice exercises that were reused the next term."

For academic jobs, academic appointments and teaching usually go near the top. ResumeBuilder.ae includes an Academic Experience section that can be reordered like the others.

Put your summary, key skills and most recent, relevant experience on page one, and let earlier experience, education, certifications and optional sections follow on page two.

A typical split:

• Page one: header, summary, key skills, current role and the previous one or two roles.
• Page two: earlier roles, education, certifications and training, languages, then extra sections.

Adjust the split if something essential would otherwise land on page two. A required licence, degree or certification can be moved up, or mentioned in the summary. Avoid ending page one with a lone heading, and make sure page two is at least half full.

If it is recent or explains a gap, list it in your experience section in reverse chronological order, as a one-line entry with dates. If it included work, volunteering or study, describe what you did.

Example:
"Gap year, 2023 to 2024: volunteered with a teaching programme in Nepal and completed an online course in digital marketing."

Keep it brief and positive. If the gap was long ago and is no longer relevant, you can leave it out once you have steady experience since then.

Often yes. Graduate schemes are designed for people at the start of their careers and usually screen on degree subject, grades and graduation date, so placing education near the top makes the key information easy to find.

A good order:

• Summary.
• Education, with your degree, institution, dates and notable achievements.
• Relevant experience, including internships and part-time jobs.
• Projects and activities.
• Skills and languages.

If your work experience is more impressive and directly relevant, you can put it first and still keep education high on page one.

A practical order is: header, summary, key skills, experience, education, training and certifications, and languages.

Why it works:

• Key skills near the top show software, communication and organisational strengths at a glance.
• Experience shows how you used them, with results such as response times or volumes handled.
• Languages are valuable in customer-facing roles, so keep them easy to find.

Example skills line: "Tools: Microsoft 365, Zendesk, SAP basics | Typing: fast and accurate | Languages: English, Arabic, Urdu"

A common order is: header, summary, professional qualifications, experience, technical skills, education, and memberships.

Why qualifications go high:

• Finance employers often screen for ACCA, CPA, CMA, CFA or similar, so placing them near the top saves the reader time.
• You can also add them to your title line, such as "Financial Analyst | CFA Level II".

Experience should show results, such as faster closing, improved controls or savings found. Technical skills, such as ERP systems and Excel modelling, can sit in a short section after experience or under the summary.

A useful order is: header with portfolio or LinkedIn link, summary, key skills or channels, experience with results, selected campaigns or projects, tools, education and certifications.

Tips:

• Lead experience bullets with measurable results, such as leads, engagement or sales influenced.
• A "Selected campaigns" section can highlight your best work across roles.
• List tools such as Google Analytics, HubSpot or Meta Ads Manager in a compact line.

Example: "Launched a Ramadan email campaign that doubled click-through compared with the previous year."

A common order is: header, summary, certifications (such as PMP or PRINCE2), core skills, experience with key projects, education, and tools.

Tips:

• In each role, highlight two to four key projects with scope and outcome.
• Put certifications near the top, as many employers screen for them.
• List tools such as MS Project, Primavera P6 or Jira in a short line.

Example: "Delivered a warehouse automation project on schedule, coordinating IT, operations and three vendors."

A common order is: header with LinkedIn or portfolio link, summary, technical skills, experience, projects, education and certifications.

Tips:

• Put tools and languages, such as SQL, Python, Excel and Power BI, in a short skills section near the top.
• In experience, show the business impact of your analysis, not just the tools.
• Use a projects section for dashboards or analyses you can link to.

Example: "Built a Power BI sales dashboard used by regional managers in weekly reviews, replacing manual Excel reports."

Graduates can move projects and education above experience.

A practical order is: header, summary, key skills, experience, certifications, systems and tools, and education.

Tips:

• Key skills can include inventory control, procurement, freight forwarding and warehouse operations.
• Experience bullets should show results such as accuracy, cost savings or delivery times.
• Certifications such as CSCP or CIPS can move higher if the job asks for them.
• Systems such as SAP, Oracle or warehouse management software can sit in a short line.

Example: "Reduced stock-outs at three Dubai warehouses by introducing weekly demand reviews with sales."

For most professional resumes, put relevant ones in a "Professional Training" or "Professional Development" section after education. For academic CVs, conference presentations get their own section, usually after publications.

Tips:

• Include only events that are relevant and add value, such as ones where you presented or earned a certificate.
• One line each: event name, organiser, year, and your role if you spoke.
• Leave out events you simply attended long ago.

Example: "Speaker, Gulf HR Innovation Forum, Dubai, 2024: talk on onboarding remote staff."

Often yes. Once you have several years of experience, a short skills section near the top, under your summary, helps readers see your strengths quickly, while education moves lower and becomes brief.

A common experienced order:

• Summary.
• Key skills.
• Experience.
• Education.
• Certifications and other sections.

If your skills are already clear from your experience and the job is not skills-focused, you can place skills after experience instead. Education rarely needs to sit above skills once you are established in your career.