Resume Icons and How to Make Your Resume Pop with Them

Tiny icons on a resume can sometimes be a big help. If used wisely, resume icons can make a difference when the recruiters review your resume as they offer a creative, informative, and visually appealing alternative to plain text. Resume icons catch eyes and help the hiring team understand you better. 

Yet, like many other tools we use, resume icons can also have an adverse effect, especially if used excessively or inappropriately. A resume filled with icons or with icons in the wrong places confuses people and discourages them from reading it. Therefore, it is important that you put great consideration into using symbols on your CV.

In this article, we are going to explore where you can find free resume icons, the types of resume icons and where they belong on your resume, tips on using resume icons fittingly and you can also refer to a resume template with symbols.

Resume icons are useful, but not everyone is an artist that can create attractive and easy-to-recognize resume icons. Therefore, we offer you 6 websites where you can download free icons of various styles for your resume and lists of the pros and cons of each website.

1. CakeResume

Incorporated in CakeResume’s resume builder, a large selection of resume icons and symbols is available for CakeResume users. These icons for resume are free to use.

🟢  Pros: 

• It only takes a few clicks for the icon to appear on your resume in the place you want.
• CakeResume offers free resume icons as long as you are a registered CakeResume user.
• There are colored and black and white resume icons for you to choose.

❌  Cons:

• There are not many different styles of icons in the built-in system.

2. Freepik

Freepik is a website that stores a host of different materials, including resume icons, vectors, photos and PSD files. You can either purchase these resume icons or download them for free.

🟢  Pros: 

• There are icons of various styles and even more different icons that you can choose from.
• Icons are visually stunning.

❌  Cons:

• You need to carefully read their license and keep it in mind when you use icons downloaded from Freekpik.
• Some of them might not be free. 
• You need to photoshop those icons into your resume by yourself.
• Freepik’s filter function doesn’t allow you to search for icons by style.

3. Icons8



Icons8, as its title suggests, offers icons, free and paid, for users to download for various purposes, including resume writing. 

🟢  Pros:

• A very large selection of different types of icons is available.
• When you search for an icon, Icons8 search result shows you the whole pack of icons of the same style.
• Icons8 allows you to filter through styles and designers.
• Icons8 provides embed HTML codes of the icon for you.

❌  Cons:

• The free icons are usually of the lowest quality. If you want better qualities of the icon, you will have to purchase it. 
• You also need to pay attention to their license to avoid accidental breaches of intellectual property.
• You need to add those icons to your resume by yourself.

4. Iconfinder

Iconfinder describes itself as the largest marketplace for icons and illustrations online. 

🟢  Pros: 

• A large number of varying styles of icons are provided on the website.
• Free icons come in different sizes and formats, including .PNG and .SVG for your resume.
• Multiple pricing plans are provided if you are interested in resume icons that are not free.
• Iconfinder offers staff picks and helps you to choose icons when you feel indecisive. 

❌  Cons: 

• You need to read the license of each icon carefully and follow the requirements and credit the creator when necessary.
• You need to photoshop those icons into your resume by yourself.

5. Flaticon



Flaticon focuses on icons and stickers, offering users 5.6 million different choices. 

🟢  Pros:

• Flaticon offers a considerable number of free icons for you to download, 5.6 million! 
• Flaticon provides tutorials on how to attribute and already written attribution for you to just copy and paste.
• Different versions of an icon, for example, black and white, colored, and outer lined, are listed together.

❌  Cons: 

• You need to read the license of each icon carefully and follow the requirements and credit the creator when asked.
• You need to photoshop those icons into your resume by yourself.

6. Iconmonstr 

Iconmonstr is a one-creator project that provides free icons for anyone to download and use freely.

🟢  Pros:

• All icons on the website are free.
• Different versions of an icon are provided.

❌  Cons: 

• All icons are black and white and are of the same/similar style.
• Only limited choices can be found on Iconmonstr. For example, icons for Microsoft Office or Adobe Suites are not included.
• You need to add the icons on your resume on your own.

To choose the appropriate symbols for your resume, you first need to know different types of icons and where they fit in on your resume. Resume icons can be grouped into 6 main categories: social media icons, website icons, contact icons, personal information icons, skills or certification icons

Social media icons

For your social media profiles on the resume, you can choose to use social media icons, such as:

Website icons

Website icons are symbols of famous websites that you can put on your resume when you mention relevant information, such as your professional experience or your portfolio. Examples of other website icons that may be included on your resume are as follows:  

Contact icons

Using icons for personal contact details help the recruiter recognize what categories the contact details belong to at first glance. Contact symbols for your resume include: 

Personal information icons

Another type of personal details that is sometimes required on a resume is your address or location; symbols can also be used to indicate what personal information you are including in your resume, for example:

Skills/certification icons

You can also indicate skills and certifications using skills icons and certification icons for resume. You can place these icons next to the skills in the skill section in your resume. For instance: 

Passions, interests, hobbies icons

Sometimes you might want to include relevant interests or hobbies in your resume. Using hobbies and interests icons for resumes can be helpful in saving space on your resume.

Now that we’ve covered different types of resume icons and their functions, let’s take a look at where they belong on a resume.

💭  Resume Header

A resume header is where you give some basic personal information and a perfect place for resume icons.

Here is an example for you to see how icons, including phone icons, Email icons, LinkedIn icons, and GitHub icons, can be incorporated into a resume.

💭  Skills 

With fitting icons, the skills section on your resume can help the recruiter to quickly learn the scope of your ability.

• Microsoft Office Icons: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft OneNote

• Google Suite Icons: Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs, Google Drive

• iWork Suite Icons: Pages, Keynote, Numbers

• Adobe Creative Suite Icons: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Spark, Dreamweaver, Adobe XD, Rush, Acrobat DC

• Other icons:
  - iOS application developing skills icon
  - Android application developing skills icon
  - Coding icons: C++ and Ruby
  - Social media content creation and planning skills icons 

💭  Work Experience

Work experience on the resume is also ideal for icons and symbols. You can include both icons for companies and skills in this section of your resume. 

Here is an example of using icons in the work experience section in a resume.

The most obvious advantage of putting icons in your resume is that it helps the hiring manager to quickly grasp the information as humans process images faster than text. It also benefits you as icons you choose to include in your resume set you apart from other applicants and show the hiring team who you are. Additionally, if you are applying for creative jobs, such as graphic designers or photographers, creating a resume that is pleasing to the eye with icons showcases your ability.

However, when icons on the resume are unclear or of different styles, the recruiter will have a hard time understanding or focusing on the actual content of the resume.

Here are some tips we gather that can help you bring your resume alive with icons.

💡 Choose the right resume icon style carefully.

Resume icons serve to highlight your strength, not to expose your weakness, so it’s important to carefully choose icons suitable for the job you are applying for as well as the corporate culture of the company. For example, when applying for an accountant job, colorful and vibrant icons might not be the best choice. 

💡 Use the resume icon in a reasonable size.

Resume icons that are too big distract the recruiter, whereas small icons barely get any attention. You will want the resume icons to be just about the right size. 

💡 Use resume icons in moderation.

Too much of something is never good. Do not spam your resume with images unnecessarily. Usually sparing use of icons on the resume is favored.

💡 Consider different colors for your resume icons.

Try out different color palettes for icons on your resume. Since icons serve to add flair to your resume, be bold and use icons that are not black and white.

💡 Use icons of the same style.

If you decide to include more than one icon on your resume, it’s better to use icons that aesthetically resemble each other or of the same pack. A resume with icons of varying styles can result in distraction on the recruiter’s part. Keep it simple!