Where Should Education Be On A Resume

How To Put Down Your Education In Your Resume

Now that you have an idea of where to put your education section, lets start with the basics.

In terms of structuring your education section, the general practice is to follow a reverse chronological order: list your latest educational entry first, and then go backwards from there.

Okay, but how far back should you go? Do you put your high school education in there as well?

Usually, if you have a relevant university degree, its not advisable to waste precious space on your resume by listing your high school education.

Now that weve got all of that out of the way, we can show you a general template of how to write down your education. You list the following features in this particular order:

• Name of degree : e.g. B.A. English Language and Culture, Minor in Teaching*
• Name of educational institution: e.g. University of Groningen
• Years attended: e.g. 2016 – 2019
• Location of the program : e.g. Groningen, the Netherlands
• GPA : e.g. 3,84. Keep in mind, though, that you only list education if its at an impressive scale . This shows determination and hard work on your part. If its lower, you might want to omit it altogether.
• Honors : e.g. Magna Cum Laude
• Courses that are relevant to the job : e.g. Modern Popular Literature track
• Exchange programs : e.g. Exchange Program in Oslo, Norway

* Possible ways to write down the same degree:

The full listing for this educational entry, then, is:

EDUCATION

B.A. English Language and Culture, Minor in Teaching

University of Groningen

What Employers Look For In The Education Section Of Your Resume

Each employer searches for different things in your education and what they look for depends on the requirements for the job. If youre applying for an entry-level job, the hiring manager might want to see that you have a high school diploma or college degree. A recruiter seeking a director of a department might be looking for business or managerial training, like an MBA.

The educational requirements of a job are often listed under a requirements or education section on the job description, so read carefully to see if your background is a good match.

There are some professions such as finance or healthcare where specific certifications or degrees are essential to getting the job. If you know a potential employer will need to see that you have the right credentials before considering your other experience, place your education at the top of the page just below your contact information and professional summary.

The most important thing to keep in mind as you document your education is honesty. Potential employers may conduct a background check before offering you a job. If they come across information thats different from whats on your resume, this could hurt your chances of getting the job.

How To List Education On A Resume With Examples

• Education FAQs

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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What Takes Priority Education Or Work Experience

Whether education or work experience is more important is determined by the job posting and your qualifications.

Generally, experienced candidates should list their previous work experience first, if the experience is relevant for the job.

However, teens, students, recent grads, and candidates with less work experience could list education and relevant qualifications first.

How To List Education On Resume: 2021 Guide With 10+ Tips

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Mandela has left us with a compelling line. And education on a resume is the most important finish to a resume.

But how to list education on resume?

Listing education on a resume can be very difficult. Considering which field to include and worrying about the unfinished degrees can take a lot of your time!

Be it a high school resume, a college student, or a working professional, do NOT worry! We have got you covered. All your questions have been answered:

The following guide and FAQ shall answer all essential questions. Our professionals at Hiration have got you perfect templates for your resume. Check out our 20+ free customized resume templates here.

In this blog post, we will cover the following topics:

Recommended Reading: Sample Resume With Master’s Degree In Progress

Information To Include In Your Resume Education Section

Hiring managers are looking for a few basic pieces of information when they scan your education section, including:

• The name of your school

• Location of your school

• The degree you obtained

• Your field of study

• Graduation year

• Your GPA

• Any relevant honors or academic recognition, coursework, activities or other achievements obtained during your education

Though varying levels of detail are required for different jobs, the education section is often the shortest portion of the resumetry keeping it around 1530 words.

Its important to format your educational experience to match the requirements of the job youre applying for. For example, a recent graduate will want to include more detail and place the education section in a prominent position on their resume because this is the bulk of their experience. Alternatively, a person who has been in the workforce for several years will move their education section below their professional experience and keep this section short because their interviewers will be more interested in the work theyve done at previous employers.

If Youre A Recent Graduate

As a recent graduate, its better to leave your graduation date on your resume. If you dont have a lot of work experience, a recent graduation date makes it obvious why.

Unlike more experienced hires, recent graduates can use your education section to highlight your achievements. This includes awards, student initiatives, study abroad programs, language proficiency, key leadership skills, and any major accomplishments.

Remember that your resume is about presenting you as a strong applicant for a position rather than about adding as much information as possible. Normal resume rules apply if it strengthens your candidacy, leave it in. If it takes the spotlight off more impressive work experience, take it off.

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How To List Education In Progress On Your Resume

ZipJob Team

6 min read

Are you unsure about how to list your in-progress education on your resume? Many people are, including current students, students taking online classes, and people taking a break from their degree programs.

Is it acceptable to include unfinished degrees on a resume?

ZipJobâs career experts agree that education in progress should usually be included on a resume. A degree in progress is still important to employers, as well as a degree that was started and holds relevance to a position. However, it needs to be included in an honest way so itâs an accurate reflection of your learning and accomplishments.

If youâre currently pursuing a degree, here is how you can include it on your resume .

A Final Note: Grade Point Average

We should also address another common question that we encounter: do you need to include your grade point average? There are different schools of thought on this, so itâs really up to you. As a rule, however, most experts agree that itâs generally unwise to include anything less than the best GPAs. That typically means leaving it out unless itâs at least 3.5. In most instances, however, you wonât need to include that detail unless the job description requires a certain grade point average or youâre seeking a job at a major firm.

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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:

How Do I Write My Education On A Resume

“You can probably put more than just the name of your school, the year you graduated and the degree you earned,” according to Top Resume. “There are a number of other details you might opt to include, but only if they are useful to you or apply to your situation. One of the most basic additions would be your concentration, if you had one. Some majors don’t offer concentrations, while others do. Even if your school only let you formally choose one, if you earned multiple concentrations in terms of coursework, you can put down several.”

Another extra bit you can add to your education section is any certificates you may have.

“Once again, this only applies if you actually have any some people never get professional certifications,” Top Resume points out. “Others get them in lieu of a degree by attending vocational school. Still, other people have a degree under their belt as well as professional certifications. These are usually applicable to people who are experts in technology or in very specialized disciplines.”

The education section on your resume should always contain three main elements:

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Where To Place Your Education Section

Either before or after your work experience section. It depends on your resume format and where you are in your career.

As with the rest of your resume, the rule of thumb is: always put the most important information first.

Are you a student or fresh graduate? Then remember: your education is still one of your biggest strengths. Naturally, you should play to your strengths and put your education section in a place where recruiters can immediately see it.

Place it near to the top of your resume just below your resume objective/profile section.

Are you an experienced professional? Then you can place your education section anywhere on the page .

Just remember: you should always put the most important information first. At this point in your life, your education isnt nearly as important as it used to be. Because of that, it should probably find its place near the bottom of your resume.

Do You Put Incomplete Education On A Resume

If your education is incomplete because you re still pursuing your degree , you should definitely include this information. This is especially important if the degree you re working toward is a requirement for your position. Include your expected graduation date and your grade point average as long as its above a 3.0.

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List Your Education On Your Resume

When it comes to writing the education section for your resume its important that you maintain a certain structure in order for it to be easily found by hiring managers.

Similarly to the work experience section, you should always write your academic achievements, diplomas and degrees in reverse chronological order, beginning with the most recent and going backwards, i.e. naming a Masters degree before the Bachelors.

If you attended college and obtained a BA or BSc, it is not advisable to include your previous education or high school degree information. The ACCU claims 95% of hiring managers will giving hiring preference to your college degree. Therefore its best to focus just on this headline academic achievement.

In the case that you attended college and did not finish a degree program, you can indicate the amount of credits that you finished.

Within the resume education section, you should always list the course name, institution where you completed the degree program or training and the type such as:

BA English Literature, College of William and Mary, VA

It is not obligatory to include the graduation date or your grade.

Where To Position Education On Your Resume

So, should your education or experience come first in your resume?

Think of it this way:

The top third of the resume is reserved for your accomplishments that are most relevant to the job you are applying for.

So before you continue, ask yourself: Is your education your most relevant accomplishment?

The answer most of the time will be no. Work experience will be a more important requirement for just about any position above entry-level.

However, education can take priority in some particular cases.

Education comes first if youve just graduated from college and dont have relevant work experience to list. Imagine you are an employer and the first thing you see in someones resume when theyre applying for an entry-level marketing associate position is their summer job as a bodyguard at their local town pool.

Its also wise to list education before work experience if youve recently gotten back to school to get a degree thats relevant to your potential job.

For example, if youre switching to a career in sustainable energy after having finished a related program, but have work experience predominantly in engineering, you would want your new education to be the first thing the hiring manager sees.

Getting a fresh MSc, Ph.D., or MBA is another case where you would want to highlight those degrees more than the work experience.

Not sure if you need a CV or a resume? Check out our guide on CV vs Resume and learn whats the difference between the two .

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What Does And Doesnt Belong In The Education Section

Everything on your resume should have a single purpose: Demonstrating that youre a good fit for the position youre applying to. This means:

• Tailor your resume. Add or remove experiences and qualifications from your experience section as necessary to fit each specific role.
• If you don’t have much work experience: Expand your education section when you dont have a lot of work experience, or if the experience you do have isnt particularly relevant. On the other side, if your work experience is extensive or impressive on its own, anything else you add risks taking focus away from the parts you want to highlight.
• If youre a career changer, fresh qualifications can help bridge the gap between your old industry and the new role you want.

Dont waste space with irrelevant information. Its better to keep your resume brief even if its under one page than to pad it out with fluff.

• Tags:

If You Transferred Schools

If you started and finished your degree at different institutions including transferring between four-year schools or from a community college it’s fine to just list the name of the school you graduated from. If you’re a recent graduate and have achievements on your resume from your previous institution , you can consider listing both schools for clarification.

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Can You Leave Education Off Your Resume

You dont 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 . Instead, you can list in-progress or incomplete degrees.

If Youre A Current Student

If youre still studying, your education section can be a lot bigger, since youre unlikely to have a lot of relevant work experience. You should include any major accomplishments, including awards and involvement in extracurricular activities, but only list your GPA if its particularly impressive . Any part-time work experience or internships can go in the work history section of your resume.

If you know when youll be graduating, go ahead and list the expected date.

Generally, you shouldnt include your high school information once youre in college, as its no longer relevant. If you do, keep it strictly to one line.

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How To Perfectly List Education On Your Resume

As a HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT Example: If you are a high school student,education is most probably top of the list of what you have to showcase to your

Get Resourceful In Your Education Section

Dont feel intimidated if your degree doesnt exactly align with the job youre applying. By showing a commitment to your education, you can still demonstrate the qualities employers are looking for like strong work ethic, dedication, leadership, commitment, and desire to improve.

According to Live Career, Not only should the education section of your resume be concise, but it should also relate to the job you are seeking. This is a good time to brainstorm and make a list of your best student accomplishments. Any relevant honors or academic recognition, coursework, activities, or other achievements obtained during your educationshould be included to build up what may be lacking in your experience section. You can even add in relevant coursework and school projects youve completed to establish your training qualifications and special areas of study, particularly if your major or minor doesnt readily indicate it.

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