Resume title and headline: examples for every situation
What title to give your resume and how to write the headline under it: the method and examples for a specific role, a career change, an internship or an apprenticeship.
The title of your resume is the first line read — by the recruiter and by the tracking software. The rule fits in one sentence: write the role you are targeting, with the offer's words. The headline, two or three sentences below it, turns that title into a concrete promise.
The title: the role, nothing else
A good resume title is short, precise and aligned with the posting:
- “Office manager”
- “Junior Python developer”
- “Digital project manager — 5 years of experience”
- “Accounting apprenticeship — 2-year degree, 2 days school / 3 days company, from September”
Why it matters so much: the recruiter sorts dozens of applications and first looks for a match with the role; the tracking software (ATS) compares your resume with the offer's words, as our ATS-friendly resume guide explains. A title that repeats the exact role title scores on both sides.
To ban: “Curriculum vitae” (everyone can see it), your name alone (it is already in the header), or a catch-all title (“Versatile and motivated candidate”).
The headline: three sentences that invite reading on
The headline (or summary, profile) sits under the title. Its recipe:
- Who you are: trade or education, years of experience.
- What you bring: one or two provable strengths, with a fact or a figure.
- What you are looking for: the role, and when useful your availability or mobility.
Example: “Field sales representative for 4 years in business services, grew a portfolio of 120 accounts by 30%. Looking for an area manager position in the Paris region, available immediately.”
Examples for every situation
| Situation | Title | First sentence of the headline |
|---|---|---|
| Specific role | The offer's exact title | Your experience of the same trade, quantified |
| Career change | The new trade you target | The link between your background and that trade |
| Student, internship | “<Field> internship — <duration>, <dates>” | Current studies and the internship's goal |
| Apprenticeship | “<Field> apprenticeship — <degree>, <rhythm>” | Degree prepared, rhythm and start date |
| First job | The target trade, “junior” when relevant | Degree earned and skills ready to use |
For a student profile, our student resume guide details the title depending on whether you seek an internship, an apprenticeship or a first job, and the resume with no experience article helps you build the rest.
Adapt both lines to every application
The title and the headline are the most profitable adaptation of a resume: two lines to adjust, and your application fits the offer. The good habit:
- Duplicate your resume for each application (or family of applications).
- Repeat the posting's exact role title in your title.
- Slip one or two important keywords of the offer into the headline — the ones you truly have.
- Check the overall match with the ATS test.
In short
- The title = the targeted role, as close as possible to the offer's words.
- The headline = who you are, what you bring (proven), what you are looking for.
- Never “Curriculum vitae” or a catch-all title.
- Two lines to adapt for every application — the best effort-to-effect ratio of the whole resume.