How To List Education On Resume If Still In College

Advanced Education When You’re Overqualified For A Job

If you’re applying to a job you’re overqualified for, it’s acceptable to leave off advanced degrees. There are many reasons why you might be applying for a job you’re overqualified for, including an industry switch, targeting a less stressful workload, or focusing on a company or mission you support. Your resume does not have to be an exhaustive list of everything you’ve done–in fact, it shouldn’t be.

If your education makes you look overqualified for a job you want, you can remove it from your resume. Appearing overqualified puts you at risk of multiple preconceptions, from salary expectations to feeling threatened. You can get ahead of this by leaving out some of your qualifications.

Example of when you should exclude an advanced degree:

If you have a Master’s degree but you’re targeting a part-time administrative position, you can safely exclude your over-qualifying degree. While you may be looking for a job that allows you to be home before 3 p.m., the hiring manager may think you’re applying to any position you can find. Tailor your resume to fit the job sometimes that means trimming off your advanced degrees.

*Word of caution: while you can omit information from your resume, you should never lie about your education or experience on a job application. Job applications are signed, legal documents and if you’re asked about your academic history, you must answer honestly.

How To List Incomplete Or In

In-progress educationIf youre not finished with your degree, you can still include work youve done and when you plan to graduate. Employers are interested in what youre studying and any specific coursework or special recognitions relevant to the job. If youre still a student, place the education section just below your contact information and summary statement.

Be sure to include the following information:

• Name of institution

If appropriate, consider adding these pieces of optional information:

• Honors or other academic achievements
• Your GPA, if its a 3.4 or above
• Relevant coursework
• Extracurricular activities or organizations

Here are a couple of examples of high school and college student education sections for reference if this is applicable for your situation:

Waters High School | Waters, VAExpected Diploma, 2019 National Honor Society, Vice President

University of Kentucky | Lexington, KYB.A. in Accounting candidate | Diploma expected 2019Prominent Coursework: Intro to Risk Management, Actuary SciencesHonors: Member, Phi Mu EpsilonJohnson Academic Achievement Scholarship

University of Alabama | Birmingham, AlabamaCompleted Coursework: Calculus, Accounting for Nonprofits, Finance 101 & 102

General Education Development CertificateCertification in Grant Writing, Notre Dame Online

Valley High School | Valley, MaineProfessional Development: Online Coursework on Photography Basics, Advanced Photography, Photography in History

Writing A Resume With No Education

Listen, you might think that you do not have an education because you did not attend college or university, but even if you did not finish high school there are many roles that are looking for other aspects of life learning than grades and certifications. Adding “education” on your resume might not be as hard as you think:

• List incomplete educational qualifications and even mediocre high school results
• What online learning have you been able to take on board?
• What lessons have you learned in your non-working life that might help?

Education comes at you every minute of every day. If you have not been a hit in the classroom, think hard about what skills you will need on the job and where you may have picked up those skills before. Don’t be embarrassed – it won’t seem desperate and you are simply demonstrating creativity. It will give you an advantage over those people who leave the education section empty.

Take a good look at the sorts of jobs that you are applying to. More of them than you think will be open to employing someone who doesn’t have a stellar education but does have the right attitude. If they do not demand certain educational qualifications in the job description, then you are likely to have some wiggle room.

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How To List Education In Progress On A Resume

There are two things you need to learn if you want to know how to list education in progress on your resume. The first is how to provide that information in a way that clearly conveys your education status to an employer. The second is where to place that information in the body of your resume. With respect to the how, there are a few different ways to convey these details. There are only a couple of basic rules to follow when you list these education details:

Lets Start With Basics Of How To List Education On Resume

In terms of a layout, a resume’s education section includes:

When wondering how to list education on resume:

• Start with your highest degree and work your way back in reverse-chronological order
• Only include high school if you did not attend college, attended a prestigious private academy or recently graduated.
• The placement of the education section of your resume depends on your graduation date, if youre a recent graduate education on your resume is more important and should be added closer to the top of your resume.

Do employers verify education? You might think that no employer has time to check references or verify education, but no matter what the level of hire, it is actually incredibly easy to do a basic check. A quick 5-minute phone call will suffice. While this isn’t industry standard, if there is any hint at all that you are bending the truth with your educational claims, it is not hard to verify what you have listed.

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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.

Are You A Soon

Put your expected graduation date on your resume.

For a current student such as yourself, it’s considered a best practice to include your expected graduation date on your resume when applying for entry-level jobs. An expected graduation date tells potential employers how far along you are in your degree or diploma. It also helps employers understand the amount of flexibility you may need around your work schedule. Read on to find out how to add your expected graduation date to your resume.

Read Also: How Much Work History Should Be On A Resume

Why Include An Education Section On A Resume

Theres a good chance that every resume youve ever seen had an education section. But why?

How To Proofread Your Resume

Now that youve updated your resume with your education section, its time to prove it.

Catching any typos, grammar errors, bad formatting, and other mistakes is important. You can be the best candidate in the world, but if your resume is full of typos, spelling errors, and other mistakes your resume will get tossed.

15 easy tips to proofread your resume effectively:

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Kicks Two Cents: How To Make Your Education Section Stand Out

Listing Education With Limited Work Experience

In resumes that have limited or no work experience, as may be the case with college students or recent graduates, the education section may be a good opportunity to show off educational achievements instead.

Additional information that can be included in longer education sections can include:

• Internships completed as part of a curriculum
• Academic assistantships with professors or other academic professionals

As covered, in documents such as CVs the education section could be fairly lengthy.

However, the education section for most resumes will be one of the shortest sections.

This is mostly because standard resumes will be used for entry-level or mid-level positions, while longer-form resumes like the CV will only come into play for more prestigious or hard to obtain positions.

It is much more important to show either a robust work history or detail relevant and transferable skills, using your education as support rather than the main point of interest.

Here are some quick tips for deciding what educational information to include in a resume:

1) When including professional hobbies and extra curricular activities, it is important to keep relevance in mind

Incorrect: Do not include information about sports clubs or other clubs that cannot be connected back to your qualifications for a job.

Keep your descriptions simple and concise

Correct: Use bullet points to separate bits of information to keep your resume easy to read or skim.

Also Check: How To Put Community Service On Resume

Resume With No College Degree Example

Emphasize skills, experience, and soft skills when you did not attend college. Place your work history section after your professional summary and stress the following:

• Make sure the hiring manager understands all of your career achievements.
• Include statistics to show how your actions turned into measurable results. As an example, a new business account manager needs to bring in new clients to generate revenue. In your professional summary, you could say, Results-driven new business account manager responsible for growing businesses by 25%. Then, include the amount of revenue you generated at your places of employment.
• Sprinkle your measurable actions throughout your resume. Word your job duties as accomplishments.

If you never attended a community college or four-year university, but you have , licenses, or other training, use them as your education.

Many nonprofits offer free courses. A popular choice is freeCodeCamp a nonprofit that provides no-cost certifications and courses.

Coding extends across industries anyone from a marketing professional to a content manager will have a better resume when learning applicable code.

Without a degree, certification, or license, your Education and Training lists completed coursework or courses in progress. That section looks as follows:

Introduction to Basic HTML and HTML5|freeCodeCamp|April 2019

Javascript Algorithms and Data Structures|freeCodeCamp|June 2018

High School Education On A Resume

You don’t need to include high school education on your resume. If you have any education beyond high school, the degree is implied and including it would be redundant. Even if your highest degree is high school, you should still leave it off.

Only listing a high school diploma will make you look both young and underqualified for a job. Instead, you can list in-progress or incomplete degrees. You can otherwise supplement your education section with relevant training or certifications.

If neither of those situations apply to you, you can omit the education section altogether. Some of the most successful people in the world don’t have a college degree, so don’t let it discourage you from succeeding!

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Career Changers Can Start Their Resumes With An Education Section If It’s Relevant

The last exception is career changers. If youve gone back to school as part of the career change process, you can list your education first. A new qualification is more relevant than your experience in a different industry. It also provides important context for your application, as a resume that solely focuses on your past experience in a different sector might otherwise be confusing to a hiring manager.

How To List An Unfinished Degree

Now, lets consider the two main scenarios for listing some college degrees and how to do it positively.

Your degree is in progress right now

This case is pretty simple. You are a college student now, and intend to obtain a degree in the matter of years . Here, you put your educational institution and a degree as if you were describing the complete degree, and include the date of getting a long-awaited diploma.

Take a look at a few pro examples:

1.University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA Anticipated May 2021

BS in Engineering

2. Cornell University, New York, NY Expected graduation 2022

BS in Design and Environmental Analysis

Current GPA 3.7

Along with the degree and university name, you may include the GPA, number of credits completed, or relevant coursework.

Do you feel that your college studies are not what you expected and would like to work in a different field? Take a look at our tips for turning your hobby into career.

You dont plan to complete an unfinished degree

Youve spent a few months or years in college but havent completed a degree. Whether you left college for financial reasons, to focus on work or because you realized that you wanted to pursue a different profession, you can still reflect this degree positively. As a rule, youll need to include the university name and the area of study:

1.University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Completed 18 credits towards BA in Management

2. Williams College, Massachusetts, MA

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How To List Education On Resume Coursewok High School Students High School Resume Should Place The Resume Education Section At The Coursework Of Your Resume

How To List Your Education On A Resume. Sep 09 2020 If you list your education at the end of your resume see below you can include your certifications or certificates in the Summary of Qualifications or Resume Summary section instead. Structuring your Education section on your resume. Make sure your format remains consistent for all the entries in your resume education section.

GPA when only when over 30 When listing education on your resume. In most cases your education section only needs to be a line or two underneath your work experience. If you are a distinguished professional with tons of experience it is not.

However if you have earned a college degree then its recommended you omit your high school information. Its enough to list the degree program s youre taking part in the name of the school and its location and your expected graduation date. Oct 06 2020 If you are a recent high school graduate who has not earned a college degree then create a resume that lists your high school education.

Second list the time period that you attended or date that you graduated making sure it is clear whether this education is completed ongoing or unfinished. Should you include the year you graduated from college. When you have work experience the education section of your resume is listed below your employment history.

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