Which awards to put on a resume
Choose awards by what they tell the reader, not by how proud you were. The awards worth including say something the job cares about: you sold more, served customers better, studied harder or led others. An award from your employer or a professional body, a named scholarship, a competition result, or a published recognition of a project usually qualifies. An award for attendance, a certificate of participation, or an old school prize usually does not.
Two tests help. Could the reader verify it, with an issuer who can be named and a year? And does it connect to the work you are applying for? A bartender who won a regional cocktail competition has a relevant award, and an accountant who won a high school spelling bee does not. If it fails both, leave it off. If you are stuck for material, the guide on accomplishments on a resume covers results that are not formal awards.
How to list awards on a resume: name, issuer, year, reason
Write each award on one line in the same order: the name of the award, the organization that gave it, and the year. When the title alone does not explain it, add a short clause: how many people it was chosen from, the result that earned it, or the criteria. A bare title such as “Employee of the Quarter” says little; “Employee of the Quarter, Oakmere Hardware, Q2 2025, chosen from 38 store staff for customer service scores above 95%” says a good deal.
Put the most recent or most relevant award first, and keep the style the same on every line. Do not add a paragraph of explanation for each one. If an award was for work you also list under a job, give the short name in the awards section and the result in the job's bullets, so the numbers are not written twice.
Resume awards examples, from an employer to a food bank
These resume awards examples are for the cases that come up most. The organizations, people and numbers are invented; use your own and keep the pattern.
| Your situation | How the line reads |
|---|---|
| Employer award | Safety Excellence Award, Oakmere Hardware, 2025: zero lost-time incidents across a 14-person warehouse team for 12 months |
| Sales result | Top Regional Seller, Elmstead Insurance, 2024: 128% of annual quota, first of 22 agents |
| Professional body | Rising Star Award, Midwest Dietetic Association, 2023: for a community nutrition program serving 600 families |
| Scholarship | Hartwell Merit Scholarship, 2022 to 2026: full tuition, awarded to 5 of 400 applicants |
| Academic | Dean's List, Westbrook State University, six semesters (GPA 3.8 or higher) |
| Competition | First Place, State Skills Competition in Culinary Arts, 2024 |
| Community | Volunteer of the Year, Riverbend Food Bank, 2023: 410 hours across 11 months |
A student's awards look different from a manager's, but the format does not change. A student with little work history may lead with scholarships and competitions; a manager with ten years of experience should show only two or three recent awards and let the job bullets carry the rest.
Where the awards section goes
There are three places, and the right one depends on how many you have. With one or two awards that relate to a specific job, put them under that job as a bullet or a short line, since that is where the reader will see the context. With three or more, make a resume awards section of its own, usually titled Awards or Awards and Honors, below experience and education. If they are all academic, put them under your degree, as in the education section guide.
A separate awards section of a resume belongs in the lower half of the page, because the reader looks at experience first. Keep it to three to five lines. For a one-page resume it is the first section to cut when space is tight; the page on one-page resume format says what else to cut and in what order. The what to include in a resume guide shows where the section sits among the others.
What to leave off, and one rule on honesty
- Participation certificates, perfect attendance and awards everyone in the group received.
- Anything from high school once you have a degree or several years of work, unless it is exceptional and relevant.
- Awards you cannot name an issuer or a year for.
- Vague titles with no context, such as “Outstanding Performer”, with no organization.
- Awards in a field unrelated to the job, unless they show leadership you cannot show another way.
Never invent or inflate an award. Background checks and reference calls can confirm them, and a false line costs you the offer, or the job later. Write what happened and let the reader decide. The same care applies to certifications, where an expired or unverified credential has the same effect.
Sources
Checked on 13 October 2026.