Resume Section Checker
Paste the text of your resume to see which standard sections a plain-text reader would find, in what order, and how the dates are written. The check runs in your browser; the text you paste is not uploaded: it stays in this browser tab until you close the tab or choose to forget it.
Results
Paste your resume text and choose Check sections. Results appear here.
What is checked, and how
- Contact details are found by pattern: an email address, a phone number of nine to fifteen digits, and a link that starts with http, https or www, or that points to a LinkedIn, GitHub or GitLab page.
- A section is found by a heading on a line of its own that matches a list of common names. Capitals, a trailing colon and decoration around the heading do not matter, so “WORK HISTORY:”, “Professional Experience” and “Employment” are all read as experience.
- Projects and certifications are optional. They are reported, and never counted as missing.
- Dates are grouped by how they are written: “Jan 2020”, “January 2020”, “01/2020”, “2020-01”, or a year alone in a range.
- Employment dates are the start-to-end ranges under the experience heading. They are compared only when every date there is part of such a range on one line. A gap is listed when more than 6 months lie between one range and the next. A year with no month is read in whichever way is least likely to raise an overlap or a gap.
- Page count assumes about 500 words to a page. A note is shown under 250 words or over 1,500.
What it cannot tell you
- It matches patterns and does not understand meaning. A section reported as not found may be there under a heading this tool does not know, or with no heading at all.
- Text copied from a layout with columns can arrive in a different order from the one on the page. The order shown is the order of the pasted text.
- An overlap or a gap is an observation, not a mistake. Concurrent roles overlap, and so do an employer’s overall dates written above each role.
- Dates written in other ways, such as “Spring 2020”, “Jan ’20” or a range shortened to “2018-19”, are not read. A range written “2010-12” is read as December 2010.
- The heading names and month names are English. Text mostly outside the Latin alphabet is marked not checked, apart from contact details and word count.
- There is no single correct order or length. Both depend on your field and experience.
Questions and answers
Which sections does it look for?
Contact details (an email address, a phone number and a link), a summary or profile, experience, education and skills. Projects and certifications are looked for too, but they are optional and are never counted as missing.
Why does it say a section was not found when it is there?
Sections are found by matching a heading on its own line against a list of common names, such as Work History or Professional Experience. A section under a heading the tool does not know, or with no heading at all, is reported as not found.
Why were my employment dates not checked?
Dates are compared only when every date under the experience heading is written as a start and an end on one line, in a form the tool can read, such as Jan 2020 - Mar 2022 or 2019 - 2021. Otherwise the tool says not checked instead of guessing.
Is an overlap or a gap a mistake?
Not necessarily. Two roles held at once overlap, and so do an employer's overall dates written above the dates of each role there. A gap is listed when more than 6 months lie between one date range and the next; whether to explain it is your decision.
Does the order of sections matter?
There is no single correct order. The tool lists the order it found and notes when experience comes after sections such as skills or education, so that you can decide whether that suits your situation.
Does it work for resumes that are not in English?
The heading names and month names are English. Text written mostly outside the Latin alphabet is reported as not checked, apart from the contact details and the word count.
Is the text I paste sent anywhere?
No. The check runs in your browser and the text is not uploaded. Everything you paste, including a job description, is kept in this browser tab's session storage so that a reload does not lose it, and it is removed when you close the tab or choose to forget it.
Do I need an account, and does it cost anything?
No account is needed and the tool is free to use.
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- Resume Length and Readability Checker. Counts words, estimates pages and reading ease, and points out long sentences, repeated words, missing sections, mixed date formats and unusual characters. Runs in your browser.