Lori Wade 5m 1,206 #resume
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Education on Resume
A good resume should be structured in a clear and precise manner in order to communicate its message in the shortest time possible. The message of the resume usually begins in the education section as it progresses towards the experience section. For somebody who is fresh out of college or has not worked long enough, the experience section will be slim, and the education section will be the message.
It is, therefore, important to have a clue of how best to present your education section in your resume. You should learn about what will be included and excluded from this section, and how to write everything down. Online platforms are the best place to start with as many samples and templates are available for you to go through. See how others have done it and emulate them.
You can as well seek professional advice on how to write your resume. For somebody who will rely solely on the education section to sell the message, you must get it right from the word go. There are hundreds of thousands of professional sites on the internet offering advice on how to edit your resume.
How to Write the Education Section in Your Resume
- Graduated College
If you’ve graduated, you should indicate it and include the date as well. For recent graduates with no work history, the college section will be at the top of the resume. For anyone with employment history, it should be included in the college education. If your GPA is high, it should be included as indicated below:
B.A., Sociology, May 20XX
Pittsburgh University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
GPA 3.73
- College In Progress
When you’re yet to graduate but still need to prepare your resume, you can include this information. List the details about your college including the name and location. Indicate “degree expected”, then indicate the graduation date. It’s optional to include your GPA at this level, but if it is strong, you can include it.
Bachelor of Science, degree anticipated May 20XX
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Current GPA 3.74
- Didn’t Graduate
If you did not graduate, you can still include this information in your resume. You can include the relevant completed coursework and the other activities on your resume. Some courses are significant as they can stand on their own despite you lacking the degree. Some employers consider performance in specific courses when employing staff.
You, however, should not falsify information on your resume. This can terminate your employment if you have just been hired or dim out all chances you had at being hired. In some states, this is a criminal offense and can have consequences.
There are other ways in which you may include your college education in your resume. They are:
- College Focus
- List the College and its location as indicated below:
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
- List and provide details. The details provided can be the time spent at the college, completed credits, and the GPA if it is over 3.5.
Harvard University, 2012-2014
Harvard University, MA
completed 42 credits, GPA 3.7
- Focusing on course work. You can include specific course credits if they impact your chances of being hired.
Harvard University, 2012-2014
Harvard University, MA
completed 42 credits, including 14 credits in Sociology
- Coursework Focus
Another way to include your college education in your resume is to have a separate section from the education section where you will list completed course work that’s relevant to the job.
Related Coursework:
Sociology
Rural Sociology, Psychology 1 and 2, Social Research
- Course Projects
Some of the courses that you did during your classwork can be indicated in your resume. You can make this work in your favor if you haven’t gotten the chance of collecting some work experience.
If you did a project involving complex circuits in your engineering classes and you’re applying for a wiring job, you can include the project in the resume. If you had been awarded and got an outstanding score, you could mention it as well.
Dos and Don’ts for the Education Section of Your Resume
- Do – List your academic qualifications in descending order. That is, start with your highest level of academic qualification and progress down the ladder. If you have a college degree, you can opt not to include high school information. Other certificates lower than the degree should be listed after the college degree but before high school information.
- Do – Indicate the GPA score and other accomplishments if you’re a new graduate. After some time, the work experience makes the scores irrelevant. Include academic honors as well.
- Do – If you did not graduate and get your degree, you should indicate the number of credits you attained. List the majors you pursued and coursework that’s relevant to the targeted job.
- Don’t – Falsify or embellish your details. If you do this, you could be exposed to danger in some ways, so we must restate this. Despite the apparent consequences, you might run into unexpected repercussions. You might, for example, due to incompetence, fail to deliver in your new job or worse, cause injury to yourself or others.
- Don’t – Be too sketchy. Include a good amount of information about your accomplishments and achievements. You should tailor this section specifically targeting your prospective employer. Listing college minors and relevant certificates earned during your school days will boost the chances of you impressing your interviewer.
- Don’t – Ignore dates. Indicate the date you graduated, the month, and the year as well. If you haven’t graduated, be sure to indicate the expected graduation date as stated before. Failure to note these dates may poke holes in your application. There won’t be a connection between your education and work history. If you have worked for about a year, show when you graduated and when you started working highlighting your immediate work experience which will bring out your focus and determination to progress your career.
Conclusion
Your resume is your formal representation. When creating your resume, ensure that you have a goal. Follow all the regulations of writing a resume. Look for ways of enhancing your resume by making it spicy and inspiring to the reader. Make it clear and communicative. Above all, honesty comes into play; dishonesty will impact you very negatively in many ways.
Don’t forget to seek help from friends and colleagues on how to update your resume. If it becomes too challenging, professional advice and help are usually a button away. After you finish preparing your resume, go through it, is it impressive? Give it to a friend for proofreading, did they like it? Make necessary adjustments, then present it. Remember preparing your resume is a continuous process and you should always keep updating all sections of your resume. Did you follow these guidelines while preparing your resume?
About the Author
Lori Wade is a freelance content writer who is interested in a wide range of spheres from education and online marketing to entrepreneurship. She is also an aspiring tutor striving to bring education to another level like we all do. If you are interested in writing, you can find her on Twitter or Google+ or find her on other social media. Read and take over Lori’s useful insights!
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