How to List Certifications on Your Resume (With Examples)

RisenResume · 7 min read

Certifications are one of the most underused tools on a resume. Done right, they can move you from a "maybe" pile into a "yes" pile, especially in fields where licensure or vendor certifications are screening criteria. Done poorly — buried at the bottom or padded with irrelevant courses — they make no impact at all.

Where to put certifications on your resume

It depends on whether the certification is a hiring filter for the role.

If the certification is required or a clear advantage: include it in your summary line and again in a dedicated Certifications section near the top. Example: nursing licences, PE for engineers, CPA for accountants, PMP for project managers, CFA for finance.

If the certification is supporting but not required: a Certifications section near the bottom of the resume is fine.

If the certification is generic or universal: consider whether it adds anything at all. A 30-minute LinkedIn Learning course is usually not worth listing.

How to format a certification

Each certification entry should include: the full name (no acronyms only), the issuing organisation, and the date earned. Add the expiration date or licence number when relevant (regulated professions). Format example:

Certifications that genuinely help by industry

Project management

• PMP (Project Management Professional)
• PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner)
• PRINCE2
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM)

Finance & accounting

• CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
• CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) — all three levels
• CMA (Certified Management Accountant)
• FMVA (Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst)
• Enrolled Agent (EA)

Healthcare

• State RN licence, with state and expiration
• BLS, ACLS, PALS
• CCRN, CEN, PCCN, CNOR (specialty)
• NCLEX with date passed (early career)

Technology

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect / Developer / SysOps
• Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect / Data Engineer
• Microsoft Azure certifications
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate
• CompTIA Security+, Network+ (early career IT)

Marketing

• Google Ads (Search, Display, Video) certifications
• Google Analytics certification
• HubSpot certifications (Inbound, Marketing Software)
• Meta Blueprint
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud Specialist

Engineering & construction

• PE (Professional Engineer) with state and discipline
• EIT (Engineer in Training)
• OSHA 30 / OSHA 10
• LEED accreditation

Education

• State teaching licence with type and endorsements
• ESL/ELL endorsement
• Reading Specialist endorsement
• Special Education certification

Certifications in progress: should you list them?

Yes, if you have meaningfully started — passed at least one exam, are scheduled to sit the next one, or are demonstrably enrolled. Format them as "in progress" with the expected completion date.

Do not list "in progress" if you have only enrolled in a prep course without sitting any exam.

What about LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, edX?

Use judgement. A specialisation that took 40+ hours and produced a portfolio piece (Google Data Analytics, IBM Data Science) is worth listing if you are early career or pivoting. A single one-hour course is usually not worth listing — it makes the section look padded.

When in doubt, list only the ones that directly relate to the role and represent meaningful effort.

Common mistakes

1. Acronyms with no expansion. "ACLS, BLS, PALS" reads fine to a nursing recruiter; "PMP, ACP, CSM" reads fine to a PM recruiter. But "Earned CISSP" without context can confuse a recruiter outside your specialty. Spell it out the first time.
2. No date. Always include the year. Many certifications expire — recruiters need to know if yours is still active.
3. Burying licences for regulated professions. If you are a nurse, engineer, accountant, lawyer, or teacher — your licence is a hiring filter. Top of page.
4. Listing every course you ever took. Stick to certifications that signal something. A list of 20 LinkedIn Learning courses looks like padding.
5. Listing expired certifications without noting status. If it has expired and you do not intend to renew, leave it off. If you plan to renew, mark it as such.

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