A custom section is for real content that doesn't belong in any of the standard ones — publications, languages, volunteering, speaking, patents, awards.
How to add one
- Open a resume from your resumes.
- Scroll to Custom Sections at the bottom of the editor.
- Add a section, give it a title, and add bullets inside it.
Custom sections always print after the standard sections, in the order you add them.
Name it so a machine still understands it
Screening systems recognize section headings they've seen before. A plain, conventional name is read correctly; a clever one may not be.
Use: Publications, Languages, Volunteering, Awards, Speaking, Patents, Licenses.
Avoid: Beyond the 9–5, A Bit About Me, My Story, Things I'm Proud Of.
The same rule holds for a human reader skimming in a few seconds — a heading they recognize costs them nothing to parse.
What's usually worth a section
- Languages, with an honest level. "Conversational" is a fine thing to say.
- Publications or Patents, in fields where they're currency.
- Volunteering, when it shows skills your paid work doesn't, or explains a gap.
- Awards, if they'd mean something to someone outside the company that gave them.
What usually isn't
- References available on request. Everyone knows. It's a wasted line.
- Hobbies, unless one is genuinely relevant to the role.
- A photo caption, personal details, or anything you'd be uncomfortable being asked about.
Good to know
- Empty custom sections don't print, so a half-finished one won't appear in your PDF.
- Your strongest evidence, the numbers and the outcomes, belongs in experience and projects. Keep custom sections for what genuinely doesn't fit anywhere else.
- If you're using a custom section to work around a missing feature, tell us through contact us. That's useful to know.