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How To List Bachelor Degree On Resume

Important Tips Related To Listing Degrees On Your Resume

Write Your Degree on a Resume

I want to share a couple of tips related to listing your degree or credentials on your resume.

  • If a position requires a masters degree or higher, include the credentials next to your name at the top of your resume. This makes it easy for recruiters when theyre scanning your resume.
  • List your education details at the end of your resume. This is where recruiters automatically go to search for it.
  • Dont include dates if its been longer than three years since you graduated. Including dates from 10, 20, or 30+ years ago is unnecessary and opens the door to implicit age bias.
  • If you havent done so already, consider removing any dates with your education on your LinkedIn profile. Its not required to include those dates when listing your degrees or certifications on your profile.
  • The most important question you want to ask when evaluating whether to include a degree, certification, or credential is whether it is relevant to the role. If its relevant to the role, include it.

If you havent finished your degree or certification yet and youre wondering if you can include it on your resume and how to incorporate it, this article walks you through everything you need to know.

For more tips, check out this article where Im providing guidelines for whether to include a position on your resume and a checklist for helping you make the decision.

I would love to connect and continue the conversation on . You can send me an invite here.

Adding High School And Ged On Resume

  • If your highest level of education is a high school diploma or a GED, this should still be included as there are many jobs that are open to high school graduates as well as college graduates.
  • Generally, this type of education section should be kept short and sweet. Listing that you have received either a diploma or a GED should be sufficient.
  • If you have recently graduated high school or received your GED, including additional high school-related achievements may be beneficial

How To List A Degree On A Resume

The thought of breaking into the professional world is daunting, but having a degree under your belt means youre already at a competitive advantage.

However, when listing your degree on your resume, its important to include the correct information to ensure you clearly communicate your qualifications to hiring managers.

To get started, well explain how to list an associates, bachelors, and masters degree on a resume and how to list multiple degrees with examples.

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How To List College When You Didn’t Graduate

Whether you’re currently working toward a degree, or have no plans to graduate, don’t let a lack of a degree stop you from including your time spent at college or relevant details about completed coursework on your resume.

Your college classes, even without an earned degree, can help you meet an employer’s educational requirements.

If you did not graduate from college, make sure that your resume does not indicate otherwise. Many employers will do a reference check prior to hiring someone. Any information found to be intentionally misleading will end your candidacy and is grounds for firing if you have been hired.

Where Does The Education Section Go

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Where among your resume sections you choose to put your education depends on where you are in your career. For instance, if youre a recent graduate with little to no experience, your education section is your best asset and should be put at the top of your resume .

On the other hand, if you have some professional experience, you should let that be the focus, opting to place your education section below Work Experience.

If youve recently gone back to school, you may want to put your education section at the very top. For example, veterans who went to school after transitioning out of the military are advised to put their education above their experience on a military-to-civilian resume.

However, if youve returned to school in preparation for a career change but are still looking to work in your current field, keep highlighting your past experience.

Ultimately, where you place your education section depends on how relevant your education is for the job position compared with the other experiences on your resume.

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Where To Put Education On Resume

Like a hotel in Monopoly, youve got to locate it strategically.

In the vast majority of cases, put the education resume section just below your work experience section.

Place it after your resume summary when:

  • Youve just graduated.
  • You re writing an academic resume.
  • Youre a professional returning to school.

If you’ve got little or no experience, put it above the experience section to focus the recruiter’s attention on what you have rather than what you don’t have.

Expert Hint: Went to a prestigious university? You might want to show that off to make use of the halo effect. This cognitive bias basically says that, because you went to Cornell, youve got to be an impressive candidate.

Where To Place Your Education Section

Where you place the education section on your resume depends on a few different factors: your education history, your work history, and the job for which you are applying.

If you are a recent graduate with minimal work history, itâs appropriate to list your education first. Education will be your more impressive section, and youâll want it to be the first seen when employers are viewing your application.

If you are pursuing a job that requires a particular degree or credential, you should also list your education first. Employers will be interested in making sure you have those certifications before moving forward with your resume.

If youâve been working for several years, your work history is likely more relevant than your education history, so it may make sense to list it first. This is particularly true if the field of study of our degree isnât particularly relevant to the job or industry youâre targeting.

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Associate Degree On Resume: Abbreviation Or Not

Generally speaking, it’s better to spell out the name of your associate degree on the resume than using abbreviations for it. In this way, the HR is less likely to misunderstand your educational background. However, if you don’t have enough space to write out the full name of your associate degree on your resume, you can choose to abbreviate it.

Here are some common associate degree abbreviations to put in a resume:

  • Associate of Applied Business: AAB
  • Associate of Applied Science: AAS
  • Associate of Arts in Teaching: AAT
  • Associate of Arts: AA
  • Associate of Business Administration: ABA
  • Associate of Electrical Engineering Technology: AEET
  • Associate of Forestry: AF
  • Associate of General Studies: AGS
  • Associate of Nursing: AN
  • Associate of Occupational Studies: AOS
  • Associate of Physical Therapy: APT
  • Associate of Science: AS

Using abbreviations for an associate degree certainly has its pros and cons. So, before you write your associate degree on your resume, it is good to know the pros and cons of abbreviating the name of your degree.

Pros

  • It shows that you have a good understanding of your degree and your chosen industry.
  • It leaves more white spaces on your resume, which might encourage employers to read it thoroughly.

Cons:

How To List A Masters Degree On Your Resume

Resume Tips: Your Education Section

In most instances, youll show both your masters and bachelors degrees on your resume. Although it will likely be assumed that youve achieved a bachelors by the hiring manager, failing to include this degree could cause issues for you during the initial ATS scan of your resume. As previously mentioned, be sure to feature your degrees in reverse chronological order. You can also leave off additional academic achievements unless you lack relevant work experience to feature on your resume.

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What If You Went Back To School To Get A New Degree

Are you changing careers? If you got a new degree becauseyou want to pursue another type of work, then its vital that you include yournew degree on your resume. Put it on top of your previous college degree.

When you switch roles, most of your previous work experiencewill be considered irrelevant. Lets say you want to switch from nursing toselling life insurance or IT to managing a restaurant. In those cases, the majority of yourprevious qualificationseducation, skills, achievementswill be inapplicable.

Thats where your new degree comes in. Youre like a freshgraduate in your new field, but a tad better. Your formal education willsatisfy the job requirements of most employers, and your transferrable skillswill boost your qualifications a bit more, so youre not seen as a totalnewbie.

If Youre A Current Student

You can still include your degree on your resume if you havent graduated yet in fact, if youre applying for jobs in a related field, you definitely should. You should put your education section at the top of your resume, since thats likely to be your most relevant experience, and list an expected graduation date. Its okay if this changes employers understand that things dont always go exactly to plan.

If youre currently on hiatus, you dont need to change the way you list your degree unless its been over a year. Within this timeframe, you can still legitimately consider yourself a current student.

If youre a current student or have been on hiatus for less than a year, list your education section first and include an expected date of graduation.

For more tips on what to include in your education section, check out our guide on how to list education on your resume.

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Education In Progress Resume Examples

When you include details indicating that youâre currently pursuing a degree on your resume, itâs important to provide clarity. The last thing you want is to inadvertently leave the impression that youâre trying to pretend like youâve completed the degree. And while it might be tempting to just note that the degree is still a work-in-progress, we believe that you should be even more specific. The best way to do that is to include the anticipated graduation date.

Now, if youâre like many students, you may not be entirely sure that youâll complete your degree by a set date. However, that shouldnât stop you from providing an anticipated date of completion. In fact, itâs essential that you provide this information so that employers know that youâre serious about your studies. This is especially true in cases where the job youâre seeking requires that degree. Fortunately, itâs a relatively easy task to accomplish.

We wrote a good post here on how to include an MBA on a resume.

For example, check out this listing from a sample resume with a masterâs degree in progress:

MBA, Human Resources Program

Dynamic University, Anytown, AnyState. Expected completion 2022

If youâre closer to graduation and are more certain about the date, you can use something like this:

Graduate Studies, Computer Engineering

How To List High School Education & Geds On Your Resume

Graduate Bachelor Degree Resume

If youre a student in high school, the chance is you probably have some volunteer work and extracurriculars under your belt. If these aspects are relevant to the job you are applying for, you can put them before the education section.

In all other cases, the education section would take the upper hand, and would look something like this:

EDUCATION

2015 – 2017

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Theres a lot more to creating a good resume than just the education section. Become an expert with our complete guide on how to write a resume.

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But Just How Much Of Your Education Needs To Actually Make It Onto Your Resume

Only your most recent and relevant education should go on your resume that means your degrees and any specific schooling you’ve done in your field. If you’re wondering, ‘do I need to put my high school on my resume?’ The typical answer is no, unless high school is the most schooling that you’ve had.

If Your Profession Mandates Specific Academic Training Or Certifications

If your profession requires specific educational training or certifications to practice, such as the case with registered nurses, chartered professional accountants, or law attorneys, consider moving your educational section above your work experience history. This way, the hiring manager or recruiter can easily see that you have the necessary qualifications to be considered.

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Should You Put Your Associate Degree On Your Resume

Now that you know what an associate degree is, you need to think about its importance on your resume.

Or, in other words should you put your associate degree on your resume?

Simply put yes.

But only under specific circumstances.

First of all, consider its relevance to the position you are applying for.

You should only list your associate degree if it is relevant, otherwise it wouldnt work in your favor.

Including it relevant associate degree on your resume shows your potential employer that you are really interested in that particular field of study.

Furthermore, you are so interested, that you are willing to go an extra mile to earn a diploma.

And if your associate degree is the highest degree you have earned thats great.

But what should you do if you have also earned a bachelors or a masters degree?

In that case, you should consider leaving your associate degree out of your relevant, as you have already earned a higher educational accomplishment.

But after all, its entirely up to you.

Your potential employer would value any effort on your part.

And earning an associate, or any other kind of degree, can really boost up your resume.

List Your Awarded Degree

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On the final or main line of an education entry, list your awarded degree. This is your major area of study. For example, if you complete a four-year degree in psychology, you would list it as Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology or Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Some students opt for a double major. In this case, summarize your degree level and category and follow it with your two majors. For example, if you earn a bachelor’s degree in education and another in mathematics, you might list it as:Bachelor of Science: Education and Mathematics

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If You Dont Have Any Other Relevant Experience

If you lack more relevant experience to put on your resume, including volunteer work, you should list your education section first on your resume and expand on your achievements from your unfinished degree. You can list coursework or achievements underneath the degree itself or in a separate projects section.

List coursework in your Education section if its relevant to the job youre applying for.Any projects you completed as part of your degree can be listed in a projects section with accomplishment-led bullet points.

How To Write Degree On Resume

First, check the job listingits the perfect cheat sheet.

Refer to your diploma the same way your future employer talks about it.

If they say BA, you say BA.

If they say B.A., add those periods.

But here’s a great trick: when talking about diplomas, use the preferred abbreviation and the whole form: Bachelor of Arts .

If the ATS expects to see bachelor not BA, this will double your chances of being understood by those annoying robots.

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Cases When You May Want To Omit An Unfinished Degree

There are cases where its best to leave an incomplete degree off your resume.

For example, if an incomplete degree is irrelevant to the work you want to do and doesnt add value to your resume, simply leave it off your resume.

Another case is when including the degree has the potential to do more harm than good.

For example, if you didnt complete your degree for reasons that dont reflect well on you , then you may want to leave it off your resume.

On the contrary, if youve successfully completed your degree, then youll want to take full advantage of your hard work by learning how to properly list a degree on a resume.

Where To Include Education On A Resume

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When it comes to placing your educational credentials on a resume, there are many considerations to make.

Resumes can serve a variety of purposes and, as a general rule of thumb, should be tailored for specific jobs.

It is also important to take into consideration the level of education you have completed, as this will impact how it should be presented as well.

For instance, a job applicant seeking a position in academia would have a much heavier emphasis on education and academic-related achievements â than someone seeking a job in a corporate environment.

Ultimately, not all resumes are the same, so the placement of the education section will differ depending on the type of resume being used and the intention behind its structuring.

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When Your Associate Degree Is Relevant To The Role

Another ideal situation in which you’d benefit from putting your associate degree on the resume is when it is related to the position or industry. Write your associate degree on your resume as it shows your experience and knowledge in the subject matter.

However, if you also have a bachelors or even a masters degree in the same field, your associate degree can be left out from your resume. In this case, you can decide whether to list your associate degree on the resume. If you have the space to spare and would like to show your strong passion in the subject, including the associate degree in your resume is not a bad idea.

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