A relevant certification can be the keyword a recruiter searches for and the proof a hiring manager wants, but only if it's listed so they can find it and check it. This guide shows how to list certifications on a resume: what each entry needs, where the section goes, how to write ones still in progress or already expired, how licences differ from certifications, and which ones are worth the space.
Certifications, certificates and licences: the difference
These words get mixed up, and the difference decides where each one goes.
Certification: awarded by a professional body or a technology vendor after you pass an assessment, often with an expiry date or a renewal requirement. Examples: PMP from the Project Management Institute, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, CompTIA Security+, Certified ScrumMaster.
Licence: legal permission from a government body or regulator to practise a profession. Without it you can't do the job. Examples: a registered nurse licence in a US state, NMC registration in the UK, enrolment with a State Bar Council in India, a Professional Engineer (PE) licence in the US.
Professional qualification or membership: such as Chartered Accountant (ICAI in India, ICAEW in England and Wales), ACCA or chartered CIPD membership. These usually take years of exams and work, and are listed with the body and the year.
Certificate of completion: proof that you finished a course, often online, with or without a test. Useful, but a lighter signal than a proctored certification.
Keep licences apart from certifications when the job requires one. A hospital checking a nurse's registration looks for the licence, not for a list of short courses.
How to format a certification entry
Give every entry the same few details, in the same order, so a reader can check them quickly:
The official name, spelled the way the issuer spells it, with the acronym if people search for it: "Project Management Professional (PMP)".
The issuing organisation: Project Management Institute, Microsoft, Scrum Alliance, NISM.
The date earned, as month and year or just the year.
The expiry date, if it has one: "valid to 2028".
A credential ID or verification link, optional, and useful for vendor certifications that can be checked online.
On the page:
Project Management Professional (PMP) — Project Management Institute, 2024
Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate — Microsoft, March 2025
CompTIA Security+ — CompTIA, 2024 (valid to 2027)
NISM Series V-A: Mutual Fund Distributors Certification — NISM, 2025
Basic Life Support (BLS) Provider — American Heart Association, valid to 2027
Avoid vague entries such as "Six Sigma certified". Six Sigma has no single owner, so name the belt and the body that awarded it: "Lean Six Sigma Green Belt — [issuing organisation], 2023". Acronyms on their own, such as "CSM, PSM I", make the reader do the work, so write each name out once.
Where certifications go on a resume
Most resumes give certifications their own section, headed "Certifications" or "Licences and Certifications", after experience. Move the section, or repeat the key credential elsewhere, when it's central to the job:
Required for the job: mention it in your summary as well as in the section. "PMP-certified project manager with nine years in infrastructure delivery" puts the keyword where a recruiter and an applicant tracking system both meet it early. The project manager resume template shows this.
Credentials after your name: CPA, CA, ACCA, RN and PE are commonly written after the name in the header, as in "Ananya Rao, CA". Keep it to one or two.
Freshers and career changers: if certifications are your strongest evidence, the section can go above experience.
Only one or two: combine them with your degrees under "Education and Certifications" rather than giving one line its own section. Our guide to education on a resume shows how the two sit together.
Two-column layouts: a side column is a natural home for a short list.
Write the certification out in full at least once. A recruiter may search for the acronym or the full name, so "Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)" covers both. Our guide to resume keywords for ATS screening explains how that matching works.
Licences: how to list them by country
For regulated jobs, the licence comes first. Name it, the body that issued it and its status. Add the registration number only if the job ad asks for it, since employers check it with the regulator anyway.
Nursing: US, "Registered Nurse, [State] Board of Nursing, active"; UK, "Registered Nurse (Adult), NMC registered"; India, "Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife, [State] Nursing Council"; Australia, "Registered Nurse, general registration with AHPRA". See the nurse resume template.
Law: India, "Enrolled with the Bar Council of [State], 2022"; US, "Admitted to the New York State Bar, 2021"; England and Wales, "Solicitor, admitted 2020". The lawyer resume template shows where admissions sit.
Accounting: US, "CPA, licensed in Texas"; India, "Chartered Accountant, member of ICAI since 2019"; UK, "Chartered Accountant (ACA), ICAEW". The accountant resume template covers each.
Other licences: the same pattern, such as GPhC registration for a pharmacist in Great Britain, or a driving licence for a field sales job.
If you qualified abroad and your local licence is still in progress, say exactly that: "NCLEX-RN passed; [State] RN licence pending". Don't use a protected title, such as RN, CPA or P.Eng., in a country where you aren't yet licensed.
Certifications in progress
A certification you're working towards can go on your resume when you are genuinely working towards it: enrolled, studying, or with an exam booked. Make the status impossible to miss:
"AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (in progress; exam booked for January 2027)"
"Level II Candidate in the CFA Program"
"ACCA: 9 of 13 exams passed"
"CA Intermediate: both groups cleared; CA Final in progress"
"CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management (expected June 2027)"
Leave out certifications you only plan to start one day. An interviewer may ask how far you've got, and "I haven't started yet" undoes the line. Some bodies also set rules on how candidates describe themselves. CFA Institute, for example, publishes approved wording for candidates and allows only charterholders to use "CFA" after their name. Check your body's guidance before you write the line.
Expired certifications: renew, keep or remove
An expired certification isn't automatically worthless, but it must never look current.
Renew it if the job requires it. A nurse with lapsed BLS or a forklift operator with an expired licence should renew before applying, or say when the renewal is booked.
Keep it, with dates, if the knowledge still counts. "Cisco CCNA, 2019-2022 (expired)" still tells a hiring manager you learned networking fundamentals, which helps when the job is close to it.
Remove it if the technology has moved on or it no longer supports your target role. A certification in a product version nobody runs any more adds nothing.
Show renewals. If you've kept a certification current for years, say so: "PMP, 2016; renewed 2025". Many certifications need continuing education to stay active, so a renewal shows ongoing effort.
Employers who verify credentials see the status. An expired certification listed without dates can look like a misrepresentation, even when you didn't mean it that way.
Which certifications are worth listing
Relevance beats volume. Three to six certifications that match the job look more serious than fifteen badges. Ask three questions of each one: does the job ad mention it or its subject, would a recruiter recognise the issuer, and did it involve an assessment?
A section from a cloud engineer's resume, before and after:
Before: AWS Cloud Practitioner; AWS Solutions Architect Associate; Introduction to Python; Excel for Beginners; Time Management Essentials; Fire Safety Awareness; Git Basics; Linux Fundamentals; Communication Skills; Docker Mastery.
After: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate — Amazon Web Services, 2025; HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate — HashiCorp, 2024; Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) — The Linux Foundation, 2024.
The foundational AWS certification goes, because the associate-level one covers it. The short online courses go too, or move to a one-line Courses list if they fill a real gap. The cloud engineer resume template shows a finished version.
Online course certificates from platforms such as Coursera or NPTEL are worth listing when they're relevant and substantial, especially for freshers and career changers. The resume format for freshers covers NPTEL in detail, and the career change resume guide shows how courses bridge a gap. Leave off mandatory workplace training, such as fire safety or code-of-conduct modules, unless the job ad asks for it.
Certification sections for three different jobs
1. Commerce graduate in India, applying for mutual fund and banking roles (above experience, because it's the strongest evidence)
NISM Series V-A: Mutual Fund Distributors Certification — NISM, 2025
2. Registered nurse in the US (licence first, with "RN" after the name in the header)
Registered Nurse (RN) — [State] Board of Nursing, active
Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) — American Heart Association, valid to 2027
Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) — Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, 2025
3. IT project manager in the UK (after experience, with PRINCE2 also named in the personal statement)
PRINCE2 Practitioner — PeopleCert, 2024
Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) — Scrum.org, 2022
ITIL 4 Foundation — PeopleCert, 2023
Each list is short and matched to the job, and each entry names the body a recruiter would check with. None of them includes general office courses.
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Each certification has a name and a short line for the issuer and date; click any text to edit it.
Licences have their own standard section, headed "Licenses" in US spelling. Standard headings can't be renamed, so for a heading such as "Professional Registration", add a custom section instead.
Reorder sections to bring either one higher when it's central to the job, or hide it without deleting anything. In the Sidebar and Portrait layouts, certifications sit in the side column.
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Usually in their own section after experience, headed Certifications. Move the section higher, or name the certification in your summary, when the job requires it or it's your strongest qualification.
Should I list a certification I'm still working on?
Yes, if you're enrolled or have an exam booked. Mark it clearly, such as 'in progress, exam booked for January 2027', and leave off certifications you only plan to start.
Should I include expired certifications on my resume?
Only if the knowledge is still relevant, and always with the dates or the word 'expired' so it can't be mistaken for a current one. If the job requires the certification, renew it before you apply.
Do online course certificates count as certifications?
They are certificates of completion rather than certifications, but they're still worth listing when they're relevant and substantial. Put them under Certifications if you have only a few, or in a separate Courses or Training section.
Should I put my licence number on my resume?
Usually not, unless the job ad or application asks for it. Name the licence, the body that issued it and its status; employers check the number with the regulator.