How To Handle Your Age On Your Resume
Well, for one, career experts agree: There is no rule that you have to put your graduation year on your resume.
While removing the year can be a smart move to deflect attention from your exact age, career experts suggest that you focus on your experience instead of worrying about your age.
If you choose to leave your graduation date out, Ryan Kahn, 38, career coach and founder of California-based staffing agency The Hired Group, advises to keep your resume in a simple format and showcase all your relevant experience toward the top. That will stand out more so than your graduation year.
Removing your graduation year is truly a personal choice, says Holly Berry, 33, managing partner at Vaco, a consulting and specialized recruiting firm, in Louisville, Kentucky. Im sure, in some cases, companies choose to hire more experienced individuals. But most companies will be excited to hire new college graduates.
So youre wondering: Is a missing graduation date a deal breaker for getting past the resume screening stage? Not if the rest of your resume is impressive and your overall qualifications are strong, says Pamela Skillings, chief interview coach and co-founder of job coaching program Big Interview in New York.
So Do Colleges Need Resumes
Itâs probably the only question that you care about. So, the simple answer is that you should if your college has provided space for uploading optional resumes in the common app.
Colleges like Brown, Boston College, Georgia Tech and Carnegie Mellon provide space for uploading optional resumes in the Common App. In fact, many colleges like University of Texas at Austin strongly recommends that you send your resume in.
See the list of schools that the guys at âScore At The Topâ put together for colleges that recommend adding a resume.
In short, check your list and see whether they have mentioned the resume as option. If any of them have, create a resume and attach it to your application.
How To List Education On A Resume With Examples
The education section of your resume provides hiring managers with a detailed insight into your background and how it relates to the role. When written to reflect the job requirements, your education section can give you an advantage over other candidates. The best way to list your education depends on your work and academic achievements.
There are several ways to list education on your resume. Reading and understanding the job description can help identify the perfect location and level of qualification to include when applying to a position. Not all jobs need your full credentials, so you can check the job listing to see what the hiring managers are looking for. In this article, you can learn about how to list your education on a resume.
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Employers Perform An Education Background Check
Many prospective employers will do a background check on job-seekers so you should avoid lying on your resume. They will verify an applicants education and degrees as a part of that process.
Unfortunately, some applicants will lie about earning a degree. Furthermore, some candidates will present a phony diploma to an employer. This dishonestly is why employers have to make sure you have the educational credentials you claim to have.
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How To Include Your High School Education On A Resume

For most positions, hiring managers are interested in reviewing resumes to find the best candidate for their open position. Even without experience, your high school education can help you stand out from your peers and other candidates who are applying for the same position if you’re able to show what makes you unique. Your resume should be comprehensive enough to appeal to a hiring manager and entice them to contact you for an interview.
In this article, we explain why it’s important to include your high school education on your resume, share how to include education and provide a template and examples you can use as guides for writing your own resume.
Related:10 Resume Writing Tips To Help You Land a Job
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Create A Striking Design
There are some general formatting standards that will ensure your document is both attractive and easy to read.
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Use a visually pleasing template that will catch the readers eye.
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Choose a professional, easy-to-read font such as Calibri, Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, or Cambria.
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Your body text should be between 10 and 12 point font. The headings should be slightly larger and in bold type.
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Bullets can be used to make the text easy to scan, but they aren’t necessary unless a section has three or more items.
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If you use color at all, select simple colors to highlight your name and/or headings.
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Limit yourself to a single page.
Resume Template With High School Education Details
Use this template as a guide when you’re writing your resume and want to include your high school education:
Career Objective high school seeking an opportunity to work as a at so I can .
Experience | |
Education |
- Notable achievements:
- Relevant courses:
Skills
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Career Q& a: Is It Lame To Put High School Achievements On My Resume
Q: As I start applying for internships and jobs, Im wondering how much high school experience matters to potential employers. Considering that Im a college sophomore now, how long is too long to keep listing my 10+ high school activities, honor societies and leadership positions on my resume? Does it look juvenile if I talk about high school experiences in interviews?
A: The rule of thumb for including high school activities is that you can go back four years . So, if you are a sophomore you can include the last two years of high school stuff and the first two years of college if you are a junior in college, you can include the last year of high school, etc.
However, my gut response is that Id limit high school mentions to only one or two of your most impressive or unique accomplishments . In the workforce, high school seems very young. Of course, if you have anything SUPER impressive from high schoola major award, national recognition, a Grammy, an Olympic medal, etc.keep it on your resume as long as youd like!
When filling out a job application, you want to remember two key questions: What have you done? and What have you done lately? Thus, the value of including your high school education or diploma in the education section of a job application depends on how far you have gotten in your education or career.
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Let Cfnc Help You Every Step Of The Way
Your high school resume is just one step of the process when you apply to college. While the to-do list can feel overwhelming, there are a wealth of resources available to high school students who are ready to prepare for post-secondary education.
College Foundation of North Carolina is a free service that assists students with education and career planning and applying and paying for college. As you prepare for college, youre excited, but you must stay organized. CFNC can help you complete each step of college enrollment, including residency, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA, and applications.
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You’re Still Pursuing A College Degree
If you’re still attending college for either your undergraduate or graduate degree, you can simply add an expected graduation year to this information. You can add a list of a few courses you’ve completed if they’re higher-level courses that are relevant to your job goals, and you don’t have a lot of relevant work experience to market on your resume.
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.
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List Awards And Achievements
Employers are looking for candidates who have a history of making an impact. Sharing your awards and achievementsacademic or otherwiseproves you can make positive contributions and will help you stand out above other candidates.
Here are a few examples of awards or achievements you can include on a high school resume:
- Member of the National Honors Society
- Elected student body president for the 2016/2017 school year
- Awarded school newspaper best feature article of the year
- Helped yearbook staff increase ad sales 30% year over year
Why Include An Education Section On A Resume

Theres a good chance that every resume youve ever seen had an education section. But why?
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What Is A Sponsorship Resume
If you are seeking a sponsorship for your sport, you will need a resume that is tailored to the industry or sport in which you work. A sponsorship resume is a little different from an employment-seeking resume, as it includes 3 pages of information: a cover letter or proposal, an experience page and a personal page.
Include A Career Objective
A career objective is a one or two-sentence statement summarizing your career goals and how your talents and skills align with the needs of the employer. While people of any age and career level can benefit from including an objective statement on their resume, its especially important for a high school student. This is largely because your work history may not reflect your future goals.
Adding a career objective to your resume will give employers a clear idea of why youre applying for the role and how their decision to hire you could be beneficial.
Examples of high school student resume career objectives
I am a motivated team player and aspiring graphic designer seeking an opportunity to work in a sign shop where I can apply my skills and further develop my artistic abilities.I am an aspiring leader, with more than three years of experience in childcare, seeking a position as a summer camp counselor. Im excited to share my talents while expanding my leadership skills as part of a valued community institution.
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Place High School Education After Your College Experience
If you’ve attended any years of college, even if you have yet to earn a degree, list that experience first, followed by your high school education. If you have a college degree, you can leave your high school education off your resume. Once you have completed a college degree, you should include information regarding classes, projects, internships or organizations that you participated in that are relevant to the role since this information is more recent.
For example, if you were captain of the swim team or student body president and just graduated three years ago, you may want to keep your high school education on your resume even if you’re about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. Accomplishments such as these show a hiring manager you have leadership potential and can work well with a team.
How Do You Make A Racing Resume
Wrap up your resume with a list of references. To summarize, a quality race resume will at the very least include:
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Takeaways: High School On Resume
Your resume is probably the first impression that a potential employer would have of you.
Make sure that you present the most important information about you in a way that stands out to hiring managers.
Depending on your education and your work experience, putting your high school information on your resume might be a good idea.
When considering it, you should remember:
- Include your high school details only if its your highest level of education, or you are still in high school
- Include your GPA if its higher than 3.5. If it is lower, you might want to leave it off your resume.
- Include your high school details properly, depending on whether you graduated or not.
So now you are good to go.
Now youre ready to write your resume and get your dream job.
***What are your thoughts? Did you list your high school details on your resume? Give us a shout-out in the comments below. Wed love to hear from you!
How To Format Education On A Resume
While people have different education backgrounds, employers expect that education on a resume be formatted in a readable way.
Follow these steps to format education on a resume:
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Do Not Overstate Your Expertise Or Include Dishonest Information
You never know whether a college admissions counselor will call one of your references, teachers, or school counselors to confirm the information you provided. You are better off being honest and consistent. If you volunteer 5 hours a month, dont say you volunteer 15 hours per month. If you took one semester of Spanish, it is unlikely you can claim to be fluent in the language. Tell the truth.
How To List Education On A Resume In 2021

Not sure what degree to list? If you should include a GPA? It just so happens that theres a variety of ways to effectively list your eduction.
The education section of a resume may not always be the star of the document but knowing how to properly list your education can be essential for advancing into the next phase of the hiring process.
In this guide, we will cover all the ins and outs of crafting an education section for your resume.
Well cover the following:
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What To Include In The Education Section Of A Resume
What’s the best way to include your education on your resume? In the education section of your resume, list the schools you attended, the degrees you attained, your GPA if you’re a student or a recent graduate, and any special awards and honors you earned.
You should tailor the education section of your resume to fit your circumstances, including whether or not you’re still a student, and the nature of any academic achievements you’ve accrued. By including the right information in the education section of your resume, you can impress your employer and secure an interview.
What Not To Include When You’re Writing A Resume
What shouldn’t you include in your resume? Because resumes are typically only one to two pages long, your resume should contain only information related to the job for which you’re applying. There is some information that should be included in every resume. There are also some things that don’t need to be listed.
The hiring manager should be able to skim through your resume and see your qualifications without knowing everything about you. It often makes sense not to include information on your resume that could hinder your chances of getting an interview.
Here are some items that you should avoid including on your resume.
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Kicks Two Cents: How To Make Your Education Section Stand Out
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