Reasons to elevate your resume with awards

Not every employee in a company will be able to win “Employee of the Year,” and that is a fact. Recruiters and hiring managers know this very well. In this modern, fast-paced job market, only the most hardworking individuals with the best kind of attitudes get recognized by employers. If you have received recognition for your services in the past, there is no reason for you to keep those awards to yourself.

Displaying awards and recognition on your resume is a great way to make yourself stand out from the competition. We, at Resume Mansion, encourage our readers and our clients to add their awards to their resumes because awards and recognition help them:

• Portray their work ethic
• Showcase their value for an organization
• Distinguish their job application from the others
• Prove their abilities when they lack paid work experience
• Demonstrate soft skills such as problem-solving, innovativeness, and teamwork

You may wonder about the kind of awards that belong on a resume. There are many types of awards that look impressive on a resume, such as:

• Scholarships
• Military awards
• Athletic awards
• Academic awards
• Professional awards
• Performance awards
• Employee of the month
• Community and civic awards

So, if awards have this many benefits, how can you incorporate them into your resume? It’s quite easy to add awards and recognition to your resume. Here’s how you are going to do it:

Make a list of your awards

First, you are going to start by making a list of all the awards you have received over the years. These can be academic awards or professional awards. If you have received recognition for your contribution to voluntary organizations, include them in your list as well. To make things easier, you can arrange them in reverse chronological order.

Select the relevant awards

Depending on the type of job application and your level of experience, you must customize the list of awards you add to the resume. If you are applying for a management position, it is best to highlight awards you have received for leadership. When you want to impress a nonprofit employer, use the awards you have received for voluntary work. If you are a recent graduate with less experience, use your academic awards in your resume to prove your abilities.

Add the awards to your resume

Once you have selected the awards that you want to display on your resume, it is time to arrange them by priority or by chronological order. However, if you have only a few awards related to the job, it is best to display the most relevant ones first, followed by the others in chronological order. Create a separate “Awards & Recognitions” section in your resume. If you have less relevant work experience, this section can go on top of your resume. Otherwise, it will come after your career history section.

Quantify when possible

We always tell our readers and clients that numbers make their achievements more impressive. This is the same when it comes to displaying your awards on your resume. Use numbers to give some context about the impact of your win. You can mention the scale of the competition for the award to make a good impact. For example, “Received ‘International Award for Best Wildlife Photographer’ in 2022 after being chosen from a pool of 250 contestants,” sounds a lot more impressive than simply listing “National Award for Best Wildlife Photographer” on your resume.

Having trouble adding awards to your resume? Don’t fret over it. Simply ask one of the professional resume writers at Resume Mansion to take care of it for you! Our team is always happy to assist job seekers in search of their dream careers.