Resume Header: What to Include in Your Contact Section

Your resume header is the block at the top of the page with your name and contact details. It seems like the easiest part of the resume to get right, which is why so many people get it wrong: a full street address that leaks personal data, an old email from college, a LinkedIn link full of random characters, or contact details hidden in a Word header that the hiring software never reads.

A strong header does three jobs. It tells the reader who you are, it makes you easy to reach, and it gets out of the way so your best content starts high on the page. It should take two or three lines, not a quarter of the page.

This guide covers exactly what to include, what to leave out, how much of your address to show, how to format the block so applicant tracking systems read it, and a dozen examples for different situations.

What a resume header is (and what it isn't)#

A resume header is the top section of your resume that contains your identifying and contact information. At minimum, that's your name, phone number, email, and general location. Most modern headers also include a LinkedIn or portfolio link and sometimes a short headline.

The word "header" causes confusion because it gets used for several different things. This table separates them.

This article covers the first one. For the one-line label underneath, see our guide to resume headline examples. And as you'll see below, the software header area is usually the wrong place for your contact details.

Three ways a header quietly costs you interviews#

A weak header rarely gets a resume rejected on its own. Instead, it creates friction at exactly the moment a recruiter wants to move forward. Watch for these three failure modes:

• You're unreachable. A typo in your email, an old phone number, or a full voicemail box means the interview invitation never lands. Recruiters with dozens of candidates rarely try twice.
• You're unfindable. If the name on your resume doesn't match your LinkedIn profile or your application form, a recruiter searching for you later may not connect the records. The same applies when your header sits in a part of the file the ATS skips.
• You're filtered out. If you leave location off entirely, you may not appear when a recruiter filters for candidates near the office. If you list a distant city without a relocation note, you may be passed over for someone local.

Every recommendation below is designed to prevent one of these three problems.

What to include in your resume header#

Here's the complete list of what belongs in a resume header, with how to format each item.

The minimum viable header#

If you only do five things, do these:

• Name in larger, bold type
• One phone number you answer, with a professional voicemail greeting
• One email address that's simple and based on your name
• City and state, or "Remote" plus your time zone for remote roles
• A LinkedIn link if your profile is current

Everything else is optional and should earn its place.

How to write your name on a resume#

Your name is the largest text on the page and the anchor for everything else. Recruiters will type it into LinkedIn, an ATS search, and email, so it needs to be consistent everywhere.

Use the name you go by#

Use your first and last name as you want to be addressed at work. If you go by a middle name or a shortened first name, use that: "Kate Morrison" rather than "Katherine A. Morrison." If you use a preferred name that differs from your legal name, the resume is the right place for the preferred name. Your legal name will be collected later for payroll and background checks.

Make sure the name matches your LinkedIn profile and your email signature. Mismatches make you harder to find and can look like an error.

Credentials after your name#

Add letters after your name only when they matter for the target job:

• Licenses that the job requires: RN, CPA, PE, LCSW
• Degrees that signal expertise for the role: PhD, MD, PharmD, MBA (for some business roles)
• Certifications that the posting names as required or preferred: PMP, CFA, SHRM-CP

Limit it to two or three, separated by commas, in the order your field expects (usually highest degree first, then licenses, then certifications). List every credential in full with dates in your certifications section.

Names from other languages and naming orders#

If your name follows a family-name-first order, decide how you want U.S. readers to address you and write it that way. Many candidates put the given name first on U.S. resumes. Others keep their original order and set the family name in capitals, such as "ZHANG Wei," so readers can tell which part is which. Either works; what matters is that it matches your LinkedIn profile and email.

If your name is often mispronounced, you can add a short phonetic guide in smaller text, such as "Siobhan Kelly (shi-VAWN)." It's optional, but it can make the first phone call easier for both sides. LinkedIn also lets you record name pronunciation on your profile.

Pronouns#

Adding pronouns is optional. If you choose to include them, put them in smaller text next to or under your name, for example "Alex Rivera (they/them)." Some candidates prefer to include them only in their email signature or LinkedIn profile instead. Either approach is fine.

Phone number and email address#

These two lines are how you get the interview call, so they need to work and look professional.

Phone number#

List one number that you'll actually answer during business hours, almost always your cell phone. Set up a short voicemail greeting with your name. Don't list a current work number; it's risky and unprofessional to take recruiter calls on an employer's line.

Use a standard U.S. format like (555) 555-0123 or 555-555-0123. If you're applying from another country, add the country code: +1 555 555 0123 for U.S. numbers, or the appropriate code for your country.

During an active search, expect calls from unfamiliar numbers. Recruiters and scheduling coordinators often call from blocked or main-line numbers, and some phones send those straight to voicemail. Check your spam-call filter settings and your voicemail daily so a screening call doesn't slip past you. If you can't take a call, return it within one business day.

Email address#

Your email should be boring in the best way: your name at a mainstream provider. Avoid nicknames, birth years, and current work addresses. Here are some patterns that work and some that don't.

If your current email is from a provider that some readers might see as dated, that's rarely a real problem. A clean, name-based address matters far more than the domain.

Should you use a dedicated job search email?#

A separate address for your search has real benefits. Recruiter messages don't get buried under newsletters, you can filter and track replies more easily, and you can retire the address when you're hired. It also limits how widely your main personal address spreads.

If you own a personal domain, an address like hello@yourname.com looks polished, especially for freelancers and creative roles. Just make sure it forwards reliably and that you check it daily. A missed interview invitation costs far more than any branding gain.

Location: how much of your address to include#

Location is the header element with the most outdated advice. You don't need a street address. In almost every case, city and state are enough.

Recruiters do care about location. In Jobscan's 2025 recruiter survey, 43.4% of recruiters said they filter candidates by location in their ATS. If you leave location off entirely, you might drop out of those filtered searches. But a filter needs a city, not a house number.

There's also a privacy reason. Your resume goes to people and systems you don't know, and fake job postings exist precisely to collect personal information. The Federal Trade Commission warns that job scams are designed to get your money and your personal information. Sharing less is the safer default.

Location decision table#

Use this table to choose the right location line for your situation.

For remote-only searches, see our guide on how to find remote jobs, which covers how to signal time zone and availability throughout your application.

Links: LinkedIn, portfolio, and GitHub#

Links are now a standard part of the resume header, and for good reason. Recruiters look you up. In the same Jobscan survey, 73.3% of recruiters said they always or often evaluate a candidate's LinkedIn profile, and about 47% check whether the profile aligns with the resume.

If recruiters are going to look anyway, a link saves them a search and makes sure they find the right person.

LinkedIn#

Customize your LinkedIn URL before you put it on your resume. The default version ends in random numbers and letters. LinkedIn lets you set a custom URL of 3 to 100 characters without spaces or symbols, and you can change it up to five times in six months, so pick one you'll keep.

Write it without the prefix: linkedin.com/in/katemorrison, not https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemorrison. In a PDF, make it a clickable hyperlink. Before you add it, make sure the profile matches your resume. Our LinkedIn profile optimization guide and the free LinkedIn profile review help you close any gaps.

Portfolio, GitHub, and other links#

Add a second link only when it shows work the employer will want to see:

• Designers, writers, photographers, and marketers: a portfolio site or a curated portfolio page
• Software engineers and data scientists: a GitHub profile with pinned, documented repositories
• Researchers and academics: a Google Scholar or ORCID profile
• Content creators and social media roles: the one professional channel that matches the job

Don't add personal social media accounts. If a link leads to anything you wouldn't want a hiring manager to scroll through, leave it off. Two links is a sensible maximum.

Header extras by field#

Different fields reward different extras in the header. Use this table to decide what, beyond the basics, is worth adding for your target role.

The pattern is simple. Add the one or two items that answer the first screening question for that field, and leave the rest for later sections.

What to leave out of your resume header#

Some details that used to be common on resumes now create risk or waste space. Leave these out of U.S. applications:

• Photos. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission advises employers not to ask applicants for a photograph and to collect one, if needed, only after an offer is accepted. Some employers set aside resumes with photos to avoid any appearance of bias.
• Date of birth or age. It invites age bias and isn't relevant to qualifications.
• Marital status, number of children, religion, or nationality. The EEOC says pre-employment inquiries should generally be limited to what's essential for judging qualifications.
• Social Security number, driver's license number, or passport number. No legitimate employer needs these on a resume.
• Full street address. City and state are enough, as covered above.
• A "Resume" or "Curriculum Vitae" title. The reader knows what they're looking at.
• Labels like "Phone:" or "Email:" They take up space without adding information.
• Multiple phone numbers or email addresses. One of each, so the recruiter never has to guess.

When the rules change abroad#

Resume conventions vary by country. In parts of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, a photo, date of birth, or nationality is common or even expected. If you're applying abroad, follow local norms. Our guide to international resume formats covers the major differences.

How to format your resume header#

Good header formatting is quiet. The name stands out, the contact line is easy to scan, and the whole block takes up as little vertical space as possible.

Size and weight#

Make your name the largest text on the page, typically 18 to 24 points, in bold. Set the contact line in your body font at 10 to 11 points. If you use a headline, make it bold at a size between the two. Our guide to the best resume fonts covers typeface choices.

Layout options#

There are three common header layouts. All of them work if you keep the block compact.

Space budget#

On a one-page resume, the header should be the smallest content block. The chart below shows a sensible allocation of vertical space.

If your header takes up more than about a tenth of the page, tighten it. The Ladders eye-tracking research reported by HR Dive found that recruiters spent about 7.4 seconds on an initial screen, and resumes with simple layouts and plenty of white space held attention best. A bloated header pushes your strongest evidence below the first glance.

Separators and icons#

Separate contact items with a vertical bar ( | ), a bullet ( • ), or generous spacing. Small icons for phone and email are fine visually, but always include the text next to them; an icon alone carries no information for software.

How to make your resume header ATS-friendly#

Applicant tracking systems need to extract your name, email, and phone to create your candidate record. If the header doesn't parse, a recruiter may not be able to contact you even if your resume ranks well. Follow these steps:

1. Put the header in the document body. Don't use the built-in header area in Word or Google Docs for page one. Some systems read that area inconsistently.
2. Avoid text boxes, tables, and columns for contact details. Keep each item as plain text on a line.
3. Write the email and phone in full. Don't rely on icons or embedded links alone.
4. Use a standard font and avoid special characters in your name line.
5. Save in the format the employer asks for. Our guide on whether to send a PDF or Word resume explains when each works best.
6. Test it. Upload your file to the free resume parser and check that your name, email, phone, and location land in the right fields. The ATS resume checker flags other formatting problems.

If your name or email comes back blank or garbled, rebuild the header as plain text in the body. Our guide to resume parsing errors covers the most common causes and fixes.

Your header in application forms and emails#

Your header doesn't only live in the resume file. Online applications ask you to retype the same details into form fields, and many people email their resume directly to a recruiter. Keep every version identical: same name spelling, same email, same phone, same LinkedIn URL.

Two small habits help here. First, keep a plain-text copy of your header in a notes file so you can paste it into forms without typos. Second, mirror it in your email signature when you send applications: name, phone, and LinkedIn on two short lines. When a recruiter moves between your email, your resume, and your profile, everything should match.

Check how it looks on a phone#

Many recruiters open resumes on a phone between meetings. Open your PDF on your own phone and check that the name is readable without zooming, the contact line doesn't break mid-email-address, and the links open when tapped. If the contact line wraps awkwardly, split it into two deliberate lines instead of letting it break wherever it falls.

Resume header examples#

These examples use made-up names and reserved 555 phone numbers. Adapt the layout and the choices to your situation.

Standard professional header#

Student or recent graduate#

Students can add the degree line under the contact details to make the target field obvious. For more, see our college student resume guide.

Relocating candidate#

Remote candidate#

Healthcare professional with credentials#

Software engineer#

Designer or writer with a portfolio#

Executive#

Career changer#

The headline line does the bridging work for career changers. Pair it with a short objective or summary, as covered in our guide to resume objective examples.

Hourly or service job#

For hourly roles in retail, food service, and hospitality, availability is often the first screening question. Stating it in the header saves a step. A LinkedIn link is optional here; leave it off if you don't maintain a profile.

Academic or research role#

Academic headers often include a current institution and research profile links. For the full format, see our guide to the academic CV.

Special situations#

A few situations need a little more thought than the standard template.

Name changes#

If you've changed your name and your past employers or degrees are under a former name, use your current name in the header. Background checks collect former names separately. If a credential that matters for the job is listed under a former name, you can add "(formerly Jane Smith)" in small text under your name, but most candidates don't need to.

Privacy and safety concerns#

If you have a specific safety reason to limit what you share, you can list only a metro area or state, use a dedicated email address for your search, and use a free call-forwarding number instead of your personal phone. These are all normal choices that won't hurt your application.

Multi-page resumes#

If your resume runs to two pages, put a small header on page two with your name and the page number, for example "Kate Morrison | Page 2." This is the one place where using the software header area is fine, because page one already has your full contact block in the body. See our guide on how long a resume should be to decide whether you need page two.

Work authorization and clearances#

If you're applying from outside the country or your name might lead someone to assume you need sponsorship, a short note can help when it's accurate: "U.S. citizen" or "Authorized to work in the U.S." For defense and government contractor roles, an active security clearance often goes in the header or headline because it's a screening requirement: "Active Secret Clearance."

Internal applications#

When you apply for a role inside your current company, your work email and desk phone are acceptable in the header because the hiring team already has them. Many internal candidates still use a personal email so the application thread stays private until they're ready to tell their manager. Add your current department and title in the headline so the reader can place you on the org chart at a glance, and see our guide to an internal position cover letter for the note that goes with it.

Federal applications#

Federal resumes follow different rules and can ask for more personal and employment detail than a private-sector resume. Read the job announcement closely, include exactly what it requests, and see our federal resume guide for the full format.

Common resume header mistakes#

Most header mistakes take seconds to fix. Here's a before-and-after showing several at once.

The fixed version drops the redundant title, the street address, the second phone number, the labels, and the unprofessional email. It also customizes the LinkedIn URL and shrinks six lines to two.

Quick fixes for the most common problems#

• Name too small or too decorative: make it bold, 18–24 points, in the same family as your body font.
• Contact details in the software header area: move them into the body of page one.
• Hyperlinks showing as long blue URLs: shorten the visible text and keep the link clickable.
• Outdated email or phone: update both, then test them by sending yourself a message.
• LinkedIn that doesn't match: update titles and dates so the two documents tell the same story.

Your next steps#

Your header is the fastest section to perfect. Run through this checklist before your next application:

• Name in bold, 18–24 points, matching your LinkedIn name
• One phone number with a professional voicemail greeting
• One name-based personal email address
• City and state only, plus relocation or remote details if relevant
• Customized LinkedIn URL, written without https or www
• Portfolio or GitHub link only if it shows relevant work
• No photo, date of birth, ID numbers, or labels
• Contact block in the document body, tested with a resume parser
• Header takes no more than two or three lines

With the header done, move to the line right under it. A sharp headline or summary tells the reader why to keep going; our guides to resume headline examples and resume summary examples show how to write each one.