Education
When applying for a job in a company, the first thing you need is your resume. A resume is the first thing that your future potential employer sees even before they call you for a face to face interview. A resume is not just a piece of paper, it's a representation of what you have been, what you are and what you are trying to be in the coming years.
A resume is a document built by a candidate with the purpose of procuring employment. A resume clearly should reflect upon your background, skills and accomplishments. Talking about writing your background in your resume, the most important part of the said section should and must be your educational history.
Before giving you an employment opportunity in the company, an employer would want to understand the knowledge of the candidate. And how does he/she do that? Simply by gazing through the education section in your resume. Which is why writing an effective education section in your resume is important to all the candidates!
What are the basic contents of the Education section?
The basic content of the education section in your resume should be precise, yet informative. You need to include details such as the school name from where you received your secondary education, the year in which you passed your secondary examination.
Again, you need to include the name of the school from where you received your higher secondary education and the year in which you passed your higher secondary examination. What you also need to mention in the education section is the name of your college. Give details about the subject you picked in college and mention the year you graduated from college.
Furthermore, if you had enrolled for a master's degree after graduation, mention the name of the college/university, the subject of your choice and the year of passing.
Where should I put the Education section in the Resume?
Placing your Education section in the right way on your resume can be tricky. If you do not get the placement right, it might cost you the job, depending on who the employer is and how particular he/she is about details such as the placement of the Education column in the resume.
If you are a fresh graduate, right out of college searching for jobs, position your Education column right after your contact details, which is at the beginning of your resume. The importance of doing so is because of a certain reason. Since you are a fresh graduate, having minimum or no experience, putting your Education column on the top will prioritise your educational qualification.
However, if you are no longer a freshly graduate and have spent a couple of years or more doing internships and jobs, then you need to place the Education column after your work experience, which is at the end of your resume. The importance of doing so is because of a particular reason. Since you have put your work experience column before your Education column, not only does your resume then highlight your work experience, but also expresses that your working capabilities speak louder than your college degrees.
What are the things to consider while formulating the Education section in the resume?
Here are a few things to consider before jumping right into making the Education column in the resume -
- Break it down If you keep putting in a lot of information about your educational qualifications and academic excellence without putting them in short boxes, they are most likely to escape your recruiter’s eyes. Make sure to break the information into small fragments like - Schooling and College degrees in one section. Then comes the list of ‘Awards and Honors’for any or all your academic excellences that you might be accumulating over the years. Thereafter, consider putting a fragment or a sub-section for your ‘List of Certificates’. If you happen to have done some social work while being at school or you have led your school’s football team make sure to put it there.
-
Hyper Specifications
This is the part which you provide only if you are sure that it would do you some good. Normally recruiters are only interested in knowing your University because unknown or lesser-known Universities are not taken in the same light as renowned Universities. But do not shy away from mentioning your college in addition to your University if your college is a renowned institution.
-
GPA is not that important after all
Your school or college final grades are not as important as your parents might have forced you to believe. In fact, get this, in two to three years as a working professional you will be required to shred off information relating to which college or University you are hailing from let alone the grades you got back then.
However, if you are a fresh graduate with no hardcore working experience (leaving alone your internships and apprenticeships) and you also happen to have good grades in your college, then add those numbers in your resume.
But, don’t forget to slip it off if your grades aren’t that good. - Schools are forgotten by the time you join work After a point in time, you are obviously supposed to leave out the details of your school and the related academics. However, just like your college grades, if you have a record of being an exceptional student all throughout, we insist that it is worth mentioning. So, do not forget to mention your academic excellences in your resume.
- Be Honest Do not even think about lying on your resume about your educational qualifications. There can be so many embarrassments in front of other applicants and moreover you may get black-listed from applying before other employers in certain job industries.
How to format the Education Section in the resume?
Make your Education section in the following format to make your resume effective and at the same time impressive.
College Name
Year of graduation
Degree (Major/Minor)
Career Expert at CV Owl
Your CV or resume is your first impression for any company. With the help of CV Owl, you can get a well-structured CV and your time will be saved. Everything on your CV should be written in a formal manner and in a precise way. You have only 20 seconds to impress your recruiter with your CV, make the best out of it. Visit our series “The HR Talk” where we help you know everything about your job interview from the recruiters.
Try CV Owl as we help you furnish a fully-formatted in a chronological order resume on our RESUME BUILDER or cover letter. You can also try our CV REVIEW SERVICE, through which you get a CV writing expert reviewing the insight of your CV and advising you so that you can make your CV stand out.
