How to List Certifications on a Resume (With Examples)

To list certifications on a resume, give each one its own line with the full name and acronym, the issuing organization, and the month and year you earned it. Add the expiry date if the credential expires, and the credential ID if the employer is likely to check it. Put them in a section called Certifications, or Licenses and Certifications, below Experience. Move that section up, or put the letters after your name, only when the job cannot be done without the credential.

The format for each certification

One line per credential, always in the same order:

Full Certification Name (ACRONYM), Issuing Organization, Month Year · Expiry date · Credential ID

Here is how three of them look on the page:

• Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute, March 2024
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, Amazon Web Services, June 2025 · Valid through June 2028
• CompTIA Security+, CompTIA, January 2025 · Valid through January 2028 · Verification code on request

Each piece is there for a reason.

Full name and acronym. Job postings use one or the other, "PMP" in one ad and "Project Management Professional" in the next. Writing both means your resume matches whichever spelling the screening software is looking for. Copy the issuer's exact spelling, down to the hyphen.

Issuing organization. Several credentials share almost the same name. "Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)" comes from Scrum Alliance and "Professional Scrum Master (PSM I)" from Scrum.org; a recruiter who knows the difference will want to see which one you hold. The issuer also separates an exam-based certification from a course badge with a similar title.

Date. It tells the reader whether the credential is current, and many are not permanent. AWS says its certifications are valid for three years from the date earned. CompTIA says A+, Network+ and Security+ are valid for three years from the certification date. PMI requires PMP holders to earn 60 professional development units in each three-year cycle. A 2019 date on a three-year credential invites the question of whether you renewed. If you did, write "Active through" and the current expiry, so nobody has to ask.

Credential ID. Include it when the issuer offers online verification and the employer is the kind that checks: IT, security, finance, healthcare. If your certification came with a digital badge, the badge's verification link can go on the same line. Otherwise leave the ID off and hand it over when asked.

Where to put certifications on a resume

Placement depends on how much the job depends on the credential. Find your row.

Your situation	Where it goes	Example
The job legally requires a license (nurse, CPA, engineer, truck driver, teacher)	A Licenses and Certifications section directly below the summary, plus the designation after your name where the profession uses one	"Maria Lopez, RN" on the name line
The posting lists the certification as required	In the first or second sentence of the summary, and in the Certifications section	"PMP-certified project manager with nine years in construction..."
The posting lists it as preferred, or your field values it	A Certifications section below Experience or below Skills	Security+ on a help desk analyst's resume
Student or recent graduate	Right after Education, or inside it	A Google Analytics certification under a marketing degree
You hold only one or two	Merge into one section called Education and Certifications	Degree, then the certification on the next line
Unrelated to the job you want	Leave it off	A forklift certification on a UX designer's resume

Give each certification one home. The only planned repeat is the credential the job depends on, which can also appear in the summary or after your name. Anything scattered through job bullets is hard for a recruiter to count and easy for software to miss. If you are unsure what to call the section, the guide to resume headings has the names that parse reliably.

Which credentials belong after your name

Only licenses and designations your profession actually writes after names: RN, CPA, PE, PMP, CFA, SHRM-CP and the like. Two at most, with the license first. "Jane Doe, RN, CEN" works. "Jane Doe, Google Analytics" does not, because a course certificate is not a designation.

Some issuers set rules for how their letters are used, and it is worth checking before you type them. CFA Institute's trademark usage guide says to write "Jane Doe, CFA" with a comma and without the ® symbol after a name. It does not permit "CFA certified" at all.

How to list in-progress certifications

List a certification you have not finished only when there is a concrete step behind it: you are enrolled, the exam is booked, or you have passed part of it. Write exactly what is true and date the next step.

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), ISC2 · Exam scheduled December 2026
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) · Three of four exam sections passed; final section scheduled January 2027
• Passed Level II of the CFA Program · Registered for Level III
• AWS Certified Developer – Associate, Amazon Web Services · In progress, expected March 2027

The CFA line follows CFA Institute's own wording. Its guide permits "Passed Level I of the CFA Program" and similar statements, and it specifically rules out writing a level after your name, as in "Jane Doe, CFA Level I".

Three habits keep an in-progress line honest. Never write "(pending)" with no date, because it reads as "someday". Delete the line if you stop working toward it. And expect the interviewer to ask where you are with it, so have the answer ready.

Expired certifications

A lapsed credential either comes off or goes on with the years it was active: "Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco, 2018–2021". Never list it with only the date you earned it. Employers who verify will see the status, and a credential that looked active and was not reads as a small lie even when you did not mean one.

Keep a lapsed one only if the knowledge still matters for the target job. If the posting requires it to be active, renew it before you apply, or say in the cover letter when you will.

Licenses vs certifications vs certificates

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics draws the line clearly. A license is "awarded by a governmental licensing agency" and "gives legal authority to work in an occupation". A certification is "awarded by a professional organization or other nongovernmental body" and "is not legally required in order to work in an occupation" (BLS Career Outlook).

A certificate is a third thing: proof you completed a course or program, such as a university extension certificate or the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate. It usually does not expire and does not test you against an industry standard. Use its real name. "Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate" is accurate; "Certified Data Analyst" is an upgrade you did not earn, and interviewers notice.

List a license with the issuing state or board and the expiry. Add the license number only if the posting asks for it or your field customarily includes it.

Registered Nurse (RN), Texas Board of Nursing · Expires October 2027

If you hold licenses and certifications, one section called Licenses and Certifications covers both, licenses first. If you also have a pile of course certificates, give them their own section called Training or Professional Development, so the credentials that took an exam are not buried among them.

Certification examples by industry

Dates below are illustrative. Use the exact name your issuer prints on the credential.

IT and cloud

• CompTIA Security+, CompTIA, January 2025 · Valid through January 2028
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, Amazon Web Services, June 2025 · Valid through June 2028
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, Microsoft, September 2025
• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco, April 2024

Project management

• Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute, March 2024
• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Scrum Alliance, November 2023
• PRINCE2 Practitioner, PeopleCert, May 2023

Healthcare

• Registered Nurse (RN), California Board of Registered Nursing · Expires August 2027
• Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN), Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, 2025
• Basic Life Support (BLS), American Heart Association · Expires March 2027
• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), American Heart Association · Expires March 2027

Finance and accounting

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA), licensed in New York
• CFA charterholder, CFA Institute, 2022
• Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Institute of Management Accountants, 2024

Human resources

• SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), SHRM, 2025
• Professional in Human Resources (PHR), HR Certification Institute, 2023

Trades, transport and safety

• Commercial Driver's License, Class A, Hazmat (H) and Tanker (N) endorsements, Texas Department of Public Safety
• Master Electrician License, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
• EPA Section 608 Technician Certification, Universal, 2021
• OSHA 30-Hour Construction card, OSHA Outreach Training Program, 2024

The OSHA card is a training card, not a certification. Site employers look for it anyway, so it belongs in this section with its correct name.

Teaching

• Professional Educator License (PEL), Illinois State Board of Education, Secondary Mathematics endorsement · Valid through June 2029

Marketing

• Google Ads Search Certification, Google Skillshop, 2026
• HubSpot Content Marketing Certification, HubSpot Academy, 2025

How many to list, and in what order

• Order by relevance to this posting first, then by date, newest first.
• Three to six is plenty on most resumes. With more, cut to the ones this job asks for, or group them under short labels such as Cloud and Security.
• If you hold two levels in the same track, list the higher one. The lower level is implied.
• Match the posting's wording in your Skills section too. A PMP line in Certifications and "project scheduling, risk management" in Skills tell the same story twice, in two vocabularies.

If you are still deciding which credential to add next, the list of professional certifications worth getting in 2026 is a starting point. The step-by-step resume guide covers the sections around this one.

FAQ

Where do certifications go on a resume?

In their own section below Experience for most people. Move the section directly under the summary when the job legally requires a license or the posting lists the certification as required. Students can place it right after Education.

Should I list certifications I am still working on?

Yes, if there is a concrete step behind it: you are enrolled, the exam is booked, or you have passed part of it. Label it clearly with the next date, for example "Exam scheduled December 2026", and remove it if you stop.

Do I need to include the credential ID?

Only when the employer is likely to verify it and the issuer offers online verification, which is common in IT, security and finance. Otherwise the name, issuer and date are enough, and you can supply the ID on request.

Should certifications go before or after education?

After, for most experienced candidates, because both usually sit at the bottom of the page. Before, when the certification is more relevant to the job than your degree, which is common in IT and the trades, or when the job cannot legally be done without it.

Can I list Coursera or LinkedIn Learning certificates?

Yes, if they are relevant, under their exact names and the platform or university that issued them. Put them in a Training or Professional Development section when you also hold exam-based certifications, so the two are not confused.

Once your credentials are formatted, the free resume builder can take the rest of your notes or an old CV and lay everything out on an ATS-friendly template, certifications section included. It rewrites what you give it without adding facts, and there is no account needed to download a PDF.