All resumes normally have an education section. This generally includes post-secondary institutions attended and degrees earned (or expected to be earned).
For new graduates, the education section is central to establish their credentials as they enter the workforce. However, it’s often relegated to a mere formality for experienced professionals.
This article focuses on how new graduates can optimize their education section when writing their resume. While also making a brief allusion to more experienced professionals.
New Graduates
Generally, the education section of the resume of a new graduate is right at the top. This is because it’s what the candidate has the most valuable to offer.
Even if the candidate has some summer work experience or internship experience, the education section still supersedes those at this early stage of the candidate’s career.
However, it’s a matter of discretion whether you want to display the education section first, as you will see from the resume samples below.
A “basic” education section looks as follows:
University or College, City, State
Degree, year of graduation
Depending on your preferences, you can change the order of the information to emphasize different things. For example, some people prefer to emphasize the degree instead of the institution attended. So, they’ll display the name of the degree first, or will bold and/or capitalize it.
If You Haven’t Graduated Yet
If you are applying for a position but have not yet graduated, you can mention this beside your degree: “Expected month year” (e.g. Expected December 2019).
You can also use this format if you’re applying for a summer job, a coop term or an internship. The key is to show that you’re “on track” in your studies.
Beyond the basics, you can also include in the education section:
- Your GPA (if you have a strong GPA; otherwise, leave out)
- A list of relevant courses that you took (if you are not done with your studies yet, this is a good chance to plan ahead and choose your elective courses strategically in function of the career that you’d like to pursue)
- Any projects or extracurricular activities you were involved in (avoid mentioning anything that could trigger a bias against you)
- Awards or honors you received (shows you can excel)
- Publications (shows your commitment to sharing your knowledge, as well as your writing skills)
Shake Up Your Education Section
Note that the content of the education section of your resume does not need to remain the same for all your job applications. Same as for the rest of your resume, you should tailor this section in function of the specific positions you apply to.
Here are some new graduate resume samples. See how they made the most out of their educational credentials:
- A Resume sample of a management graduate (see the “Academic Showcase” section)
- Resume sample of a graduate in marketing and communications strategy (see how the education section is titled “Academic & Professional Development”)
- Resume sample of a graduate in marketing (see the “Academic Projects / Achievements” section)
One last comment. As you finish your studies, you may take what you learned for granted. However, people who have graduated years ago or HR personnel who are unfamiliar with your field of study may have a keen interest in knowing about the curriculum and explore your knowledge base.
Therefore, don’t downplay your education or assume that the person reading your resume is familiar with it. Be ready to discuss your education. Be proud of what you’ve learned while showing eagerness to applying that knowledge in the workplace.
Mid-level Professionals and Up
Once a candidate has a few years of experience under their belt, the education section is relegated after the work experience section. This is because “practical” experience generally primes over “theoretical” educational background.
Therefore, the education section should generally include the basics only. Omit references to GPA, courses, extracurricular activities and so forth. Mentioning them at this stage in your career would only look odd and cause the recruiter to question the reason why you decided to include such information.
About the author: John Sylo is a co-editor for WorkBloom, an online resource for job seekers worldwide.
