Create the best cybersecurity resume and join one of the fastest- growing industries today

Contact information

The contact information is usually your resume header. Busy recruiters want to know how they can contact you if they find your resume compelling enough to make a call or set an interview. This is why your contact details must be on top.

What should you include in your header?

• Name and title – Use your official name or the name you use in all your professional documents. You may include professional license titles.
• Phone number – Use the one accessible to you all day. You may write down a personal mobile number if that is the phone you carry all the time. Refrain from listing down a shared number, such as the landline of your current company.
• Phone number
• Email address
• Email – Write your email address right after the phone number, to give recruiters an immediate alternative contact information if the phone is busy. Use a professional email address, ideally one that has your first and last name.
• Portfolio – If you have a professional portfolio, networking profile, or website that provides more proof of your capabilities and work history, add a link to it. Mention relevant work or past projects, or sites that contain references and endorsements.

Professional Summary

A professional summary or summary statement is a brief two to three-sentence introduction of your most relevant and valuable skills and work experiences. It’s advisable to place this section at the top, right after your contact information, to ensure it gets the attention of recruiters. If these skills and experiences are buried in the bottom sections, there’s a chance they can be missed. The summary informs recruiters at a glance whether you have the qualifications and work background they need.

One thing to note about a summary statement is that it’s most beneficial for individuals with abundant or sufficient work experience. There isn’t much to summarize if you’re a recent graduate or have limited work experience. For such individuals, a resume objective is more appropriate.

What should a professional summary contain?

• Years of professional experience in the cybersecurity field
• Industries you’ve worked in
• Top cybersecurity-related skills
• Skills you plan to bring to your new role
• Type of position you’re seeking and what makes you a good fit for it
• Strengths as a cybersecurity professional
• What you’re looking for or expect in your next role

Certified resume writers offer three tips for packaging your summary statement:

• List down your most important relevant work experiences and skills related to cybersecurity. These must include both technical and soft skills, as well as relevant certifications.
• Read the job description and skill requirements of the job you’re applying for. Find overlaps between the requirements and your qualifications. Your goal is to highlight the skills that fulfill the job descriptions.
• Based on your shortlist, write two to three sentences summarizing your qualifications, while introducing who you are as a professional.
• Pro tips: Use a key adjective to describe yourself. Use action keywords to describe your experiences. Always write in the active voice.

Resume Objective

As an alternative to the professional summary, a resume objective is a one-sentence statement of your goals or what you expect in your role as a cybersecurity analyst. If you are a recent graduate, a newcomer to the industry, or transitioning from another career, a resume objective can help compensate for your limited experience. With the absence of a comprehensive work history, you can focus instead on your skills for the rest of your resume.

Here are a couple of examples of resume objectives:

• Results-driven cybersecurity analyst with a solid foundation in ethical hacking and penetration testing. Dedicated to strengthening organizational security through proactive threat identification and mitigation
• Seeking a dynamic cybersecurity role where I can apply my expertise in threat analysis, risk management, and incident response to protect sensitive data and fortify critical infrastructure against evolving cyber threats

Experience

The professional experience section should contain all your relevant work experiences related to cybersecurity or information security, preferably starting with the most recent or most significant work experience. Each job entry should state:

• Your job title
• The company name and location
• Inclusive dates of employment
• Detailed responsibilities
• Detailed description of achievements

Include paid and unpaid positions, as well as volunteer work, as long as they are related to cybersecurity. When describing your responsibilities and achievements, use action words or active verbs. Doing so makes your resume easy to read and sound confident – a vibe you’d want to project.

Executive resume writing services recommend highlighting the experiences most relevant to the position by connecting them to the job descriptions in the posting.

One way to present it is by listing your work history according to your level of experience:

• If you’re a senior-level cybersecurity specialist applying for the same type of job in your current industry, present your relevant experiences in reverse-chronological order up to the last 10-15 years. This will help bring your expertise to the fore when hiring managers scan your resume.
• On the other hand, if you have gaps in your work history or are shifting careers/industry, you can use the functional form of presentation, which focuses more on your skills and expertise rather than your work history.
• If you’re a midlevel cybersecurity analyst, emphasize roles related to the job you’re applying for, including internships and freelance work that show skills and experiences valuable to the job.
• If you’re an entry-level information security professional, write only the paid jobs you handled, including freelance contracts, independent projects, part-time or temporary positions, or paid internships.
• If you’re a new graduate and have no work experience, you may include both paid and unpaid jobs in your resume, such as volunteer work, projects done for student organizations, or unpaid internships.

Based on AI resume writing tips, another way to present your work experience is by breaking it down according to role, from entry-level analyst to senior cybersecurity analyst, specialist, engineer, and consultant. Each position performs a different function in the large scheme of systems security and network management. It’s important to highlight responsibilities and achievements related to these roles to keep up with job market trends in 2025.

Since information technology and security are fast-growing and evolving industries, with technologies that easily get outdated in just a few months or years, achievements from decades ago may no longer be relevant. Prioritize the most recent experiences and achievements with up-to- date tools and technologies.

Skills

This section focuses on you. It no longer talks about your output in relation to an employer. It discusses your own competencies, whether natural or acquired, that made you effective and successful in your past roles in the information analysis or cybersecurity field. It includes technical skills like various programming languages and computer software, and soft skills like interpersonal interaction, leadership, and conflict management. Examples of these skills are:

• Basic technological skills – programming, firewall installation, network configuration, and administration of operating systems
• Programming and scripting languages – C/C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, SQL, Swift, TypeScript
• Risk management
• Data analysis and management
• Cloud implementation and management
• Automation implementation
• Access management
• Attack surface management
• Logical reasoning and troubleshooting
• Communication skills
• Adaptability
• Application security and protection

Education

Your educational background is a crucial part of your cybersecurity analyst resume because your career or position ideally requires a degree. Recruiters will be looking at other educational achievements on top of your bachelor’s degree to distinguish you from other applicants with similar experience or history. This is why you need to jot down all relevant degrees and accolades in this section.

If you’re a recent graduate and don’t have extensive work experience, you might want to move this section up before the professional experience part to highlight the academic training you received.

What information should you include in your cybersecurity resume?

• Name and location of your school
• Degree you obtained
• Field of study
• Year of graduation, if applicable
• Grade point average, if above 3.4
• Relevant honors or awards
• Coursework or projects completed during your program
• Extracurricular activities
• Any achievements or academic recognition obtained

Don’t be surprised if this is the shortest section in your resume; it usually is. An education section with only 15-30 words is not only normal; it’s recommended. After all, the only thing recruiters want to know in this section is whether your education and training align with your experience, expertise, and the job requirements.

Certifications

Many companies require specific certifications for a cybersecurity analyst or information security management role. You may obtain yours for various sub-categories of cybersecurity, including network security, application security, information security, operational security, and user education. Make sure you list down the ones you’ve earned. Your certifications show hiring managers that your knowledge is up to industry standards and that your skills are to be trusted.

For each credential, add the name of the certification, the certifying organization, and the year you received it.

Here are a few common certifications in the information security industry:

• CompTIA Network+
• CompTIA Security+
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) certification
• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Security
• Certified Wireless Security Professional (CWSP)
• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NCSF) Foundation certification
• Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) certification