Putting Your Education to Work on Your Resume

by Nathaniel Davis

You can use your education on your resume to put you ahead of the competition. It doesn’t matter if you have a college degree or a GED; it is possible to showcase your education. Placement of your education is important in how you want to utilize it.

Where to Place Education

Depending on what you are trying to emphasize should dictate your placement

When highlighting your education, a good place is to list it in the “Objective” section as a career summary as well as list your certificates, degrees, and relevant training in the “Education.”

·         Experience should be the first thing a hiring manager sees if you have at least five or more years of experience that fulfills your goal. Education in the form of experience and accomplishments on your job are more interesting to hiring managers than your education.

·         Education should be the first thing seen if you recently graduated or have work experience less than five years. Changing careers and continuing you education to support the change should be listed first. Fields that are academic and or scientific focused sometimes look for education before experience.
 

Highlight educational credentials in the “Objective” and “Education” sections if you feel the need.

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The GPA

• Current students or recent graduates should list their GPA only if it is not lower than a 3.0.
• If your program is very challenging and unique, a lower GPA is acceptable to list.
• For programs that do not utilize a 4.0 scale, it is important to list the scale as to avoid possible confusion.

The further you get in your career, the less important it becomes to list GPA and eventually removed.

Honors

• Include academic honors to show you excelled in your program.
• Give specific details such as type of program and what type of honor along with when achieved.

New Grads

Students and new grads with little related work experience should use the education section as the centerpiece of their resumes, showcasing academic achievements, extracurricular activities, special projects and related courses.

Degree Incomplete

• Try not to list incomplete educational or abandoned programs. This gives the impression that you start things and don’t finish them.
• If you feel the need to list incomplete or abandoned programs, then list the amount of credits completed or the study type began.

Experienced Job Seekers

If you are focusing more on experience than education, list the basic facts regarding your degree, including institution name, location, degree, major and date.

High School Information

High school or GED information is not necessary for inclusion if you have college credits and or a college degree or degrees.

Lack of Certain Educational Credentials

Just because you don’t have a degree or may be lacking certain education in reference to what HR is asking, then if you have participated in ongoing training, seminars, and courses creation of a “Professional Development” list in the Education section could satisfy the requirements.

Professional Development Highlights:

·         Global Marketplace Product Launch

·         E commerce Innovations

·         Selling the Vision of Change

·         Professional Management Program

Your Skills and Adding Them to Your Resume

by Nathaniel Davis

When compiling a resume, it is important to show your potential employer that you have the right skills for the job. The Skills section should showcase the skills that would be important to the position you are seeking. You should start by searching and reviewing postings that target the position that you are seeking. Record the frequently repeated skills and list them, as well as create a list of your skills that match for incorporation into your resume. Skills and acquisition of them are not limited to just employment, but can come from extracurricular activities and even self-study.

Three Types of Skills

·         Job-Related: These are relevant to a specific job.

·         Transferable: These are skills that are learned in one field and are transferable and applicable to different fields or jobs. Transferable skills can show how work with materials, data, and people. For example, you can show how you deal with actual things such as machine operation, or data such as research and dissemination of information, even how to manage and instruct people.

·         Adaptive: These skills are the hardest to substantiate as they include personality traits and characteristics that determine your style of work. Adaptive skills include reliability, ability to get along with colleagues, honesty and productivity.  

Adding Your Skills to Your Resume

For each skill, indicate your skill level and years of experience. It's important to describe your true skill level. Don’t consider yourself an expert unless you can substantiate your claim. At the same time don’t underplay your skill level which could be just as negative.

Here's a guideline for rating your skill level:

·         Beginner: A novice understanding of the skill. You have exposure to the skill and understand its basic concepts.
 

·         Intermediate:  You have experience with and can carry out the skill but don't understand its advanced concepts.
 

·         Expert: A highly developed skill level. You have solid experience and training with the skill and understand advanced concepts. You demonstrate proficiency and superior skill level.

Select 10 to 15 of your strongest, most desirable skills, because most employers scan for the most relevant and beneficial skills that can add to their organization. A short, targeted skills list will be more effective than one that's long and overwhelming.