Before a human reads your CV, software usually reads it first. Applicant tracking systems parse your document by looking for familiar section headings and sorting the content underneath into fields like work history, education, and skills. When you label a section something clever, the parser can fail to recognize it, and the content can end up misfiled or dropped.
This is one of the easiest ATS problems to avoid, because the fix is just using the words the software already knows.
Why creative headings backfire
Parsers are pattern matchers. They are trained to find headings like "Work Experience" and treat what follows as jobs. Label that same section "Where I've Made an Impact" and a strict parser may not classify it as experience at all. Your roles might land in a generic notes field, or not get extracted into the structured profile a recruiter searches against.
The candidate never sees this happen. The CV looks fine as a document, but the data behind it is incomplete, and that is what a recruiter filters on.
The headings parsers reliably recognize
Stick to the conventional names. For your roles, use "Work Experience," "Professional Experience," or "Experience." For education, "Education." For skills, "Skills" or "Technical Skills." A summary at the top can be "Summary" or "Professional Summary." Certifications go under "Certifications," and projects under "Projects."
These are boring on purpose. The point of the heading is navigation, not personality. Your distinctiveness belongs in the content under the heading, not in the label itself.
Translate headings, do not invent them
If you apply in another language, use that language's standard equivalent rather than a literal translation of a clever English title. French CVs use "Experience professionnelle" and "Formation"; Spanish CVs use "Experiencia" and "Formacion" or "Educacion." These are the conventional terms parsers and recruiters in those markets expect. A direct translation of an unconventional English heading is unconventional in the target language too.
Keep headings visually clear as well
Beyond the wording, make sure each heading is actually distinguishable as a heading. Headings buried in the same size and weight as body text, placed inside tables, or hidden in the header or footer of the document can all confuse a parser even when the words are correct. A clear visual break and consistent formatting help both the software and the human.
A simple test
If you want to check how a parser sees your CV, copy all the text out of your file and paste it into a plain document. If the structure still makes sense as a flat list of clearly labeled sections, a parser will likely handle it well. If the order jumbles or sections lose their labels, that is a warning sign. Conventional headings are a small constraint that costs you nothing in quality and removes a real failure point. For more on how parsers read the rest of your CV, our guide on how applicant tracking systems work covers the mechanics, and if you build your CV from your LinkedIn profile with Postulit, the export already uses standard section names.