Awards on a Resume: Where to List Them, With 6 Examples

By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published 2026-10-27 · Updated 2026-10-27

6 min read

Awards on a resume go inside the job or school entry where you earned them, or in a short Honors and Awards section when you have three or more worth showing. The one constraint: each entry needs the name, the giver, the date and a few words of context, or the reader cannot tell what it was. The Honors Carolina resume guide at UNC puts it plainly: "Honors/awards can be part of the Education section or its own section". Below are the awards worth listing, the ones to leave off, and seven complete examples. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.

"Employee of the Month" in a company of six is not a distinction, it is a rota. The way to rescue it is not to hide it but to say what you did to get it.

An awards section, built properly

Here is the format that works. A mid-level sales coordinator with four awards, each with a giver, a date and a reason.

Each line answers the three questions a reader has: what is it, who gave it and why. If a line leaves one of them out, add a few words or cut it.

Create my CV
Or start from one of our free resume templates

What counts as an award worth listing

Not every certificate belongs on the page. Four groups usually earn their place.

• Academic: Dean's List, honor societies, scholarships, departmental prizes, graduation honors. Most useful for students and recent graduates.
• Workplace: sales awards, quality or safety awards, employee of the year, team recognition. Best inside the job entry as one bullet.
• Professional: industry association awards, published recognition, certifications with a competitive element. Strong at any level.
• Community and athletic: volunteer service awards, scholarships for leadership, varsity honors. Useful when they match the job's values or when you have little else.

The UNC guide says awards should come with "a short description, otherwise the reader won't know what it is or appreciate its value/relevance", and adds that obvious items such as Dean's List do not need one. That is the filter: if the name explains itself, leave the name; if it does not, add six or eight words.

Where to put awards on a resume

Your choice depends on how many you have and how recent they are.

• One or two awards: put them inside the entry where you earned them, as a bullet at the end of the job or in the Education line.
• Three or more strong ones: make an Honors and Awards section after Education (for students) or after Experience (for working professionals).
• A mix of school and work awards: split them. Academic items go with Education, workplace items go with the job.
• An older award: keep it only if it is still impressive. A student award from ten years ago is dead weight once you have a career.

Six examples, by situation

Each example below is complete and can be adapted. The point is the format: name, giver, date, reason.

Student with academic awards

Employee of the month, made real

Sales or performance award

Nurse or clinical recognition

Teacher award

Senior professional awards

Create my CV

What to leave off

An awards line that does not help can cost you more than the space it takes. Leave these off:

• Participation certificates. Showing up is not winning.
• Awards with no giver. "Best Employee" with no organization raises questions.
• Old school awards, once you have a career. The UNC guide suggests removing high school information "no later than fall of your third year of college", and the same logic applies to school awards after your first few jobs.
• Joke or unprofessional awards. Office superlatives do not belong on a page that carries your name.
• Anything you cannot explain in an interview. A hiring manager may ask what you did to earn it.

For more on the education section, see our pages on Dean's List on a resume and summa cum laude.

How awards fit the rest of the resume

Harvard's guide to a strong resume says the top five resume mistakes include "Not demonstrating results". An award is a result someone else has certified, which is why it is stronger than a self-description. Use it as proof under a bullet, not as a replacement for one.

MIT's career office suggests keeping "a ‘master resume’ detailing all your experiences and awards" in its resume guide and trimming for each job. Do that here too: the awards that match the posting go first, and the rest stay in the master copy.

If you are short on both awards and experience, our first job resume guide shows what to put in their place, and for a full set of section examples, see things to put on a resume.

Frequently asked questions

What awards should I put on a resume?

Put awards that are relevant to the job and that you can explain: academic honors if you are a student, performance or quality awards from work, and professional or industry recognition. Add the giver, the date and a few words of context to each, and leave off participation certificates and awards with no clear source.

Should I have a separate awards section on my resume?

Add a separate Honors and Awards section when you have three or more strong awards. With one or two, place them inside the job or education entry where you earned them. A short section placed after Education or Experience is easy to scan and does not push the main content down.

How do I describe an award on a resume?

Give the name, the organization that granted it, the date and a few words on why you received it, such as "chosen by the sales team for fastest quote turnaround". Skip the description only when the name explains itself, as Dean's List does. Keep each entry to one line where you can.

Is it okay to list employee of the month?

Yes, if you add context. "Employee of the Month, March 2025, for resolving 40 customer returns in a week" tells the reader what you did. A bare title could mean anything, in a company of any size, so the reason you won matters more than the title.

More in this series: related guides

• Associate Degree on a Resume: How to List It, 7 Examples
• High School Education on Resume: When to List It, 8 Examples

Related articles

• Budtender Resume Examples: 6 Samples From Entry to Lead
• Combination Resume Examples: 6 Complete Hybrid Samples
• Encouraged Synonym for Resume: 25 Stronger Words to Use
• Ensure Synonym for Resume: 25 Stronger Verbs to Use

More articles

• Bank Teller Interview Questions and 10 Full Sample Answers
• Bank Teller Job Description for a Resume: 7 Examples
• Bank Teller Responsibilities for Resume: 6 Full Examples

Looking for a worked example for your job title? Browse the resume examples by job title.

Get your free ATS score · All articles