In this guide
Resumes and cover letters
How to list awards and recognition on a resume
Make an award meaningful to someone outside your organisation by adding what it recognised and how selective it was, and decide where recognition belongs.
Make the award understandable
'Star Award, Q3 2024' means something inside the company that gave it and almost nothing outside. The reader needs to know what was recognised and roughly how many people could have received it. Without that context, an award reads as decoration.
| As written | What to add | Rewritten |
|---|---|---|
| Employee of the Month | What it recognised and how many staff | Employee of the Month (one of 120 staff) for clearing a two-week backlog of refund cases |
| Dean's List | What the criterion was | Dean's List, 2023 and 2024, for top-decile grades in the year group |
| Highly commended | Which competition, and the field | Highly commended, regional apprenticeship awards 2025, engineering category |
| Sales award | The basis of the award | Top new-business performer in the southern region, 2024 |
Where awards go on the page
- Recognition for a specific piece of work: as part of the bullet describing that work.
- Academic prizes and scholarships: in the education section, beside the qualification.
- Industry or professional awards: a short 'Awards' section after experience.
- Several minor awards: one combined line rather than a list.
Informal recognition and feedback
Thank-you emails, positive appraisal comments and customer compliments are real recognition but rarely belong on a resume as quotations. Turn them into the achievement they were about. If a manager praised the way you handled a difficult migration, the resume line should describe the migration.
Illustrative example
From praise to evidence
Before
Received excellent feedback from my manager.
After
Managed the switch to the new booking system for a team of nine with no lost appointments; asked to brief two other branches on the approach.
Being asked to share your method with others is recognition the reader can understand.
What to leave out
- Awards so old or unrelated that they distract from current evidence.
- Participation certificates that every attendee received.
- Recognition you cannot describe or explain if asked.
- Awards whose names reveal information you would rather keep private.
Common questions
Are internal company awards worth including?
Yes, when you explain what they recognised and how selective they were. Without that context they mean little to an outside reader.
Should I include a team award?
Yes, labelled as a team award, with a note on your part in the work. It shows you contributed to something recognised without overstating your role.
Put it into practice
See how Luceria helps with thisDrafted with AI assistance and checked against Luceria’s editorial standards. Examples are illustrative, not real people’s results. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.