Use What You’ve Learned To Your Advantage Learn How And Where To Include Your Education On Your Resume
Include your education background on your resume.
Your resume education section seems like it should be the easiest thing to writejust list your school, program of study, degree, and date, and youre done. However, its not so straightforward for many job seekers. Unsure about the best way to present your education? On resume templates, youll find a few ways to best display your credentials. We laid out some common scenarios, examples, and strategies below to help you determine the best way to look smart.
How To Put An Unfinished Degree On A Resume: Examples
So you never finished your college degree. Thats okay as some 40% of college students drop out before the graduation date. But should you bring up your unfinished degree on your resume?
In many cases, the answer is yes. After all, even if you never got to that part of being handed the diploma, attending a college has helped you develop many worthwhile core competencies, along with interpersonal skills.
Still, have doubts? In this post, well explain why you should put an unfinished degree on a resume and how to do it right. Lets dive in!
How To List A Major And Minor On Your Resume
Some students supplement their education with a minor specialization, and there’s a proper way to include it on a resume. Other students choose to double major or double minor, and their resumes become cluttered if they don’t know how to list them. If an employer can’t follow the information in your resume, they might pass it over.
In this article, we discuss when and how to include majors and minors in your resume, along with a series of steps and examples for properly formatting it.
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How To Format Education On Resume
Where you place your education depends on a few factors. Those include:
- If you still attend high school or college
- If recruiters consider you an entry-level applicant or an experienced one
To format this part, follow the below tips on how to write education on resume:
Resume Education Section Examples
No matter which school you attended or degree you received, one of the following eight resume education section examples should be able to point you in the right direction when updating your resume.
- Bachelor of Applied Sciences , International Business, 2013Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
- Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, 2010-2014Bachelor of Arts, Accounting/Finance
- Miami University, Coral Gables, FLBachelor of Arts Social Psychology, 2013
- Doctor of Pharmacy , Magna Cum Laude, 2015Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
- Bachelor of Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2009Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
- University of Cattolica, Milan, ItalyBachelors Degree, Marketing and Finance, 2011
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, INBachelors Degree, Hospitality Tourism Management, 2012Activities: Intercollegiate Quidditch Association
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If Youre Currently Employed In A Related Field
If you currently work or are applying for a job in the same field, listing an unfinished degree can help illustrate relevant technical skills. This is especially true if you completed any noteworthy research, projects, or volunteer work as part of your degree and are still in the early stages of your career.
List the unfinished degree in your education section to give context for your achievements. The accomplishments themselves should be listed in the relevant section of your resume for example, the experience section for paid or volunteer experience, or a projects or additional section for research or publications.
Examples:
Internships and other work experience should be listed in your work experience section.If youre including accomplishments from university projects or other activities, list these in their own section and include your unfinished degree in the education section.If you picked up relevant technical skills or certifications as part of your unfinished degree, list these in your skills section and include the degree for context.
Why Is A Resume Education Section Important
Like numbers quantifying accomplishments in other parts of a resume, education is proven by degrees and diplomas earned.
On top of that, a resume education section helps show direction
Employers want hires who are willing to learn and improve, and your education on resume shows that.
When you dress it up with impressive extracurricular activities, relevant coursework, and honorsall the better!
Expert Hint: Double-check if there are no typos in your resume. They undermine your educationand your chances for employment. 58% of employers auto-reject resumes that contain typos.
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If You’re In College Or Just Graduated
At this stage, you probably have more credentials related toyour target job as a student, than as a working professional.
So if you havent had a job, project, or volunteer workrelated to the position youre applying for, put education before workexperience on your resume.
You might argue that its better to list the odd andpart-time jobs you did first. Maybe you think these job entries show thatyoure employable and at least know what its like to work for a living.
Perhaps some hiring managers might consider that fact.
But what if they dont read past your job title as Waitress, Cashier, or Barista? Allthe qualities and achievements you list below the job title will be ignored,too. Even if those skills are related to the job at hand.
For now, list education before your work experience first. Justconsider it your first step in convincing employers that you have thequalifications they need.
You Recently Graduated From College
Once you graduate from college and start searching for your first entry-level position, it’s assumed that you’ll remove any information that refers to your high school activities and focus on your new undergrad degree.
If you’re new to the workforce and your new degree is your best selling point, the Education section should appear toward the top of your resume. This is because you most likely have limited professional experience and your education is the core competency that you wish to highlight for an employer. After you have a few years of relevant experience under your belt, the education section gets shifted to the bottom of your resume, and your work history will get pushed farther up on the page.
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You Started College At One Place But Finished Somewhere Else
If you attended college at one institution perhaps a community college and then completed your education in another place, you only need to list the university where you completed your degree. All the employer wants to know is which college supplied you with your degree at the end of your education they don’t necessarily care or need to know how you arrived at this place. Save that resume space for more important information.
What’s The Purpose Of A Resume
If you are wondering whether you should include in your resume an MA degree you are still working on, or one you started working on some time ago and discontinued, it helps to think of a resume’s purpose.
Your resume should put your best foot forward by presenting a concise summary of skills you have and things that you have accomplished that may be of value to your employer. The idea is not to provide a minibiography but to help your employer understand why it is in her best interests to hire you for the available job.
You surely want to avoid claiming a degree you don’t have the news accounts of various high-profile individuals who have been caught out doing that make clear why that’s a terrible idea. So be sure, when you list your degree in progress that you make clear it is something you are working on or worked on some time ago but have not yet received_._
On the other hand, you are trying to put your best foot forward. If you are presently working on an MA, you have already gained knowledge and skills that can benefit your employer. Even if you started an MA sometime in the past and quit before earning the degree, the coursework you completed or the work you began on your thesis gives you a knowledge-and-skills advantage over another applicant without any graduate-student credentials at all_._ You should include that graduate work in your resume.
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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.
Employed With Unfinished Degree
For those who choose to go in the field, instead of pursuing a complete education, the unfinished degree can be leveraged to showcase the gained skills.
But how do you style this? Well, you have several options.
First, you can write a functional resume and can include all the skills youve gained in college to the Skill Set portion of your resume. In that case, your entry might look like this:
Skill Set
BS: Software Engineering Completed 18 hoursWork-Study Employee: Software Design
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How To List A Minor On Your Resume
If your minor relates directly to the job youre applying for, it may be worth including on your resume. Listing your minor can help highlight relevant skills that can set you ahead of the competition.
You should list your minor on your resume just beside your major. For example:
DePaul University, Chicago, IL, December 2009-March 2013
Bachelor of Arts, Major English Composition, Minor Journalism
If you are including your GPA, it can go at the very end, beside the minor, like this:
DePaul University, Chicago, IL, December 2009-March 2013
Bachelor of Arts, Major English Composition, Minor Journalism
Should You List A Degree On A Resume
Yes, you should list a degree on a resume if its relevant to the job youre applying for or is a notable achievement.
Even if your degree isnt relevant, however, listing it on your resume is still beneficial because hiring managers value individuals that possess strong educational backgrounds, so listing your degree can give you a competitive advantage over similarly qualified candidates.
How to properly list a degree on a resume
To properly list a degree on your resume, first include it in your resume education section.
Then, include the following basic information about your degree:
- University name
- Major
- Minor
Additionally, if you lack work experience and want to add extra details about your degree, include the following optional information:
- GPA
- Honors
- Additional activities, such as volunteer work and school clubs
Heres an example of how to list a degree on a resume:
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, Minneapolis, MNBachelor of Science in Business Administration / May 2019
- Honors: Cum Laude, GPA 3.9
- University softball club president
If youre applying for a job while youre currently completing a degree, knowing how to list an unfinished degree on a resume is important as it can still be a competitive edge when competing for a job with other applicants.
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Options For Listing Education On A Resume
Not sure how to list your college degree on your resume? How should you list your expected graduation date if you’re an undergraduate student? What if you didn’t go to college? How about if you’ve already graduated? Alternatively, what do you do if you haven’t yet graduated but intend to complete your degree at some point in time?
Even if you didn’t graduate, there are options for presenting your educational background in a positive manner. An entry-level resume will often present more educational or training information than would a resume for someone who has been in the workforce for many years.
If you dont have a lot of work experience to prove your skills and capabilities on the job, it can be important to list any relevant college coursework, even if you didnt graduate with a degree.
Here are a few options for including your education, as well as for mentioning credit you have earned for college-level work on your resume even though you didn’t graduate.
How To List College Education On Your Resume
How you include education on your resume depends on when or if you have graduated. If you’re a college student or recent graduate, your college education is typically listed at the top of your resume. When you have work experience, the education section of your resume is listed below your employment history.
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You Possess An Undergraduate Degree Graduate Degree Or Other Advanced Certification
An employer expects to find information about your undergraduate degree and any graduate work or additional graduate degrees you’ve earned, such as a master’s degree, Ph.D., law degree, and so forth, on your resume. The same goes for any certifications or advanced training you’ve received that’s relevant to your current job goals and career path, such as an RN, PMP, SSBB , etc. Include these in a designated Education and Professional Development resume section.
If you’ve earned an advanced degree or certification that’s considered very important for your field of work, include the acronym for the credential after your name at the top of your resume in addition to including the details of your education at the bottom of your resume in an Education and Professional Development section.
Be Consistent In Your Formatting
Whatever format you decide to use, make sure each entry follows the same template. A break in formatting will be distracting and make your resume look less professional. Along the same lines, choose a format that will fit well with the rest of your resume. The formatting of each section will not be identical, but it should be similar.
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Forty Years Ago A Bachelors Degree Was Almost A Guarantee Of A Job Upon Graduation And A
What Does Degree Mean On Resume. However many graduates are unsure if when and how they should list Latin honors and other academic achievements on their resume. If you had two degrees your transcript would list both degrees. Check out one of our dedicated resume-writing guides for students to really smash it.
Well show you how to put an expected graduation date on a resume but resumes are more complicated than just that. On your resume there are multiple ways of listing degree information. For example you could abbreviate the Bachelor of Science as BS.
These facts would let you know about the significance of AAS degree in an ideal manner. Dec 03 2019 Once youve been in college for a year or so or once youre in some other sort of continuing education you can leave your high school degree and GPA out of your resume. My resume is now one page long not three.
It all depends on your degree and where youre in your career. So really from this perspective your major is not nearly as important as everything else you spend your time on during these next few years. Jun 05 2019 How to List an Associate Degree on a Resume.
You could also format it as Bachelors Degree in Science or Masters Degree in Arts. You would also have two degree certificates and would probably have had two degree ceremonies. Or Master of Arts as MA.
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How To List Education In Progress On Resume
Perhaps youre still in school now, looking for a job to make ends meet.
This means that you should add high school below, like so:
Townsend Harris High School, Flushing, NY
Graduated 2017
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Where To Place Your Resume Education Section
The best placement depends on what employers would value more: your experience or education. Theres no set rule for where to put it, but here are a few guidelines.
Place experience before education if:
- You have several years of experience related to your goal. Hiring managers will likely be more interested in your work-related accomplishments than your education.
Place experience after education if:
- Youre an upcoming or recent graduate or have a couple of years of work history.
- Youre changing careers and continued your education to support your new goal.
- Youre in an academic or scientific professioneducation is usually listed near the top of CVs.
Should You Include A Minor On Your Resume
Obtaining knowledge in a secondary discipline makes you more marketable. Your knowledge either becomes more diverse or more specified, making you a unique job candidate. Minors not only supplement your education but also open additional doors for future advancement. However, inclusion on a resume is only required if there’s relevance to the position applied for. Not all students choose a minor as a supplement to their major. Instead, they choose another area of interest. The two degrees are often quite different and don’t pair well for positions.
For example, if you apply to a Therapist Assistant position and list a minor in marketing on your resume, it won’t make sense to the employer. There’s nothing wrong with earning an unrelated minor, but it might not always work on a resume.
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