Let’s start with my previous example Superman’s Resume. His educational experience looked like this.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism, Metropolis University, Metropolis, NY 55555.
COURSES
Journalism, Public Relations, Flying, Typing
My Job Application Template, and Resume Aid form in regards to Education looked like this.
EDUCATION INFORMATION:
High School Education:
Highest Education Level Completed:
Employer Sponsored/Industry Sponsored etc. Courses, Certificates, and Dates
I would like to go ahead now and further explain the format. One should list the highest level of Education completed whether that be high school, community college, university, or vocational college. The employer will assume if you went on to college or vocational school you have a high school diploma. You may need your high school information for an application, but if you have any higher level education you should only list that on your resume.
Superman’s resume demonstrates the format you should use, degree first, such as Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, etc., Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, etc, Major Journalism, Business Administration, Business Management, and then comes the full name of the school spelled out no initials, such as Metropolis University, not MU, and then the postal address of the school, Metropolis, NY 55555. Leave off the date of graduation, and the GPA, Dean’s List information, etc. You can place any GPA, Dean’s List, and scholarships etc. under the heading HONORS AND SCHOLARSHIP on your resume if you choose. I know recent graduates are so keen in showing their accomplishments off, but if you have graduated over 5 years ago, sorry, don’t put your GPA on your resume, nobody cares anymore.
If you are completing a degree it should look the same as above but it should include your expected date of graduation; expected because you don’t know what could intervene to delay your graduation plans. It should look like this. For those graduating this May, you should be sending out resumes now anyway, and starting to look for a job. Get your resume together early and get a jump on your competition.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism, Metropolis University, Metropolis, NY 55555, Expected Date of Graduation May 2010.
And for those of you who have completed your Freshman, Sophomore, or even Junior year and have no intention of ever graduating try listing your education like the sample below.
EDUCATION
Junior Year Journalism, Metropolis University, Metropolis, NY 55555.
And then under courses highlight the specialized courses that you completed that are applicable to the job you are applying for just like Superman did. Don’t put down the basics English, Math, Science, etc.
COURSES
Journalism, Public Relations, Flying, Typing
Or if you graduated from community college before you went on to a university your resume can look like this.
EDUCATION
Associate of Arts, Journalism, Metropolis University, Metropolis, NY 55555.
ADDITIONAL JUNIOR LEVEL UPPERCLASSMAN COURSES
Broadcasting, Journalism, Political Science, Public Relations
Now if you have been out of school for awhile, you don’t want to list your courses you took in college, specialized or not, although you want to list the specialized courses that your employer insisted that you complete, or additional courses that you completed to update your skills in your industry, or even additional courses that you completed to move into another industry. This will help all you mid-life career changers out there.
If you are a recent high school graduate looking for a job you shouldn’t forget those specialized or vocational courses that you have already completed in high school such as Agribusiness, Broadcasting, Cosmetology, Journalism, Newspaper, Vet Assistance, Library Science, Yearbook etc. Once again leave off the basics English, Math, Reading, Science, etc.
And if you are graduating this May from high school, then your resume should look like Superman’s, aka Clark Kent’s below.
EDUCATION
High School Diploma, Smallville High School, 555 W. Main Street, Smallville, Kansas 55555, Expected Date of Graduation May 2010.
COURSES
Journalism, Newspaper, Yearbook
A GED graduating student should look like the example below. Of course, if you already have the GED leave off the expected dates.
EDUCATION
General Equivalency Diploma, Smallville, Kansas 55555, Expected Date of Graduation May 2010.
And if you have just left the military don’t forget to list your courses, and certificates that are transferrable to other fields. When in doubt if they are applicable list them. Just don’t get too lengthy.
Under the heading CERTIFICATES, you want to list the certificates that you have obtained that are applicable to your industry such as a Food Handler’s License, or a Substitute Teaching Certificate. Make sure to also put the expiration date of your license on the resume.
You especially want to list certificates and courses that you have completed that are asked for in the job description. A lot of Internet computerized filters will filter out your resume for consideration if you don’t have these important certificates listed.
If you aren’t getting job interviews maybe this is the problem? Review your completed courses, and certifications and make sure they are listed on your resume. If you need a course or certificate, research financial aids options, and motivate yourself to pay for those courses, and certificates yourself, not waiting for some employer to pay for it.
I like to list courses and certificates alphabetically. I showed a former recruiter my format and he said this was great idea because there was an identifiable pattern, and he could look for information quickly. Recruiters usually peruse your resume for a minute if you are lucky, and thirty seconds if you are not, before they make a decision to interview you or not, thus you want to make your resume as easy to read as possible.
Now all this formatting is fine, but I know there are readers out there wondering if they should even put their higher education on their resume at all. If you are anything like me you have run into situations during interviews where the employer tells you that you are overqualified, and that they are afraid to hire you because you won’t be happy, and leave. And I know a lot of you are so desperate that you don’t care if you are quote overqualified or not you will take any job in order to survive. I’m sure a lot of you are wondering in that case should you put your higher education on your resume or not? Or maybe you should just look for jobs that you are qualified for, not under or over qualified?
Well, that all depends. If you do this you cut down on your opportunities, although you may get more interviews this way. And if you leave off your education this may raise more questions in your prospective employer’s mind. You see I have had jobs such as a Substitute Teacher that require a degree and if I don’t list my degree and I list all my work experience then the prospective employers will wonder how I ever got that job. And if I don’t list those jobs in addition to leaving off my education, then the employer will wonder what I had been doing all that time? “Was I in prison, they ask, or involved in some illegal activity such as drugs, or prostitution?”
And then there’s the situation where you start at a job say as a clerk, and you left off your education. Down the road there’s a promotional opportunity in management that requires a degree, and now suddenly you apply for that promotion, and you list on your resume that degree that you never mentioned before. You are going to look like a liar. And you already signed the application form claiming everything on the form is truthful. Is it truthful if you leave off a degree? Is this just as bad as claiming a degree that doesn’t exist? You really shouldn’t claim a degree that you never received. If you have a lot of experience, this is usually accepted under that word “equivalent” that was asked for on the job description in lieu of a degree. Either way, you can get fired for lying on your application. You agree that your application is complete and truthful, when you sign the signature line, after reading the fine print in the application. Be sure to read it.
And even if your job never lends itself to any promotional opportunities you still are going to have to guard everything you say at your new job. You can’t mention that you learned such and such while in school, or casually mention how much you enjoyed playing in the University’s marching band, if your application, and resume never mentioned that you attended a university.
On the other hand maybe you should leave off some degrees. I knew some people who received JD degree, a law degree, but never got around to practicing and obtaining a license. They left this information off their applications so that they don’t appear overqualified. It also makes them look a little flakey that they put in so much time and money getting a degree and then changed their mind when it came to actually practicing law.
The same problem arises with vocational school. Some people go to cosmetology school, or automotive mechanic vocational school, and then never practice that particular vocation, so there again people choose to leave it off their resume.
Another reason, some people may hesitate to list education, and courses on their resumes are that they obtained this education while completing a stay in prison. Well, you probably are going to have to admit your prison stay anyway, and in some cases this won’t affect your consideration for the position, so I recommend going ahead and listing your education, anyway.
Another reason why some people may hesitate to list education is that they attended a university overseas. They are afraid of being discriminated against because of their ethnicity, or are afraid that the employer may not accept the university’s degree as legitimate. I would also list this education anyway. Don’t automatically assume that the employer will be prejudiced against you, or your school.
I also know some people that received Master’s degrees that leave this information off of some applications, and resumes if they perceive a benefit in doing so. It works for them. Later on if they are interested in some promotion at work, they admit to not originally listing it on their resume in order to not look overqualified. Of course, they have the diploma to prove that they actually graduated if anyone asks.
So even though in some cases leaving off higher education is beneficial such as in a Master’s degree or doctorate situation, I believe a bachelor’s degree it’s a different story. More people work outside their major of study then in it. A bachelor’s degree in any subject shows you can learn, and having a degree in another area is not such an impediment to switching careers. Also, even though the company may not require a bachelor’s degree as listed in the job description the degree may indeed help you to obtain a job. Let’s say you have a degree, and all the other applicants only have a high school diploma, you may be considered first for the job. For example, when I worked in the ‘80’s as a clerk for one of the major metropolitan cities, the city’s government required a high school diploma for a clerical job, but every applicant they hired had at least an associate degree or bachelor’s degree. So when the labor market is tight like it was in the ‘80’s, and is now, the companies will probably pay a high school diploma wage, but want to hire a college graduate. Keep that in mind.
So just because the job description doesn’t require a degree don’t consider automatically consider that you will be considered overqualified. My rule of thumb is when in doubt put in on your resume.
So the rule of thumb is list your highest education level received on your resume, however if your associate degree, and bachelor’s degree or your bachelor’s degree and master’s degree are not in the same field, depending upon the requirements of the position you are applying for both may need to go on your resume. If you have a really good reason for leaving off your education, and you truly perceive this as a benefit to yourself, you may leave off your education.
As you can see there are no hard and fast rules. Do what works for you. I hope my article was helpful in helping you to design your resume in regards to your educational accomplishments. I tried to cover all situations from high school graduate, recent college graduate, graduating high school student, graduating college student, college or high school dropout, GED graduate, career professional, mid-life career changers, and retiring military personnel. There are a lot of nuances involved in deciding what educational accomplishment to put on your resume, but once you decide the format is rather straight forward. Good luck in job hunting to you all!
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