If you just graduated from college or even grad school, law school, or medical school, your education section is probably the first on your resume (after your headline and possibly a summary/brand statement) . Why? Because it studies what you have done most recently and is most relevant to your potential employer. (There may be exceptions to this rule if you have a long and relevant work history. If you think you are one of those people, ask an expert for advice.)
The following are five helpful tips for organizing your Education section. Follow these tips to include a lot of information without taking up half the space on your resume:
1. What should be the basic format?
has. List your educational institutions in reverse chronological order, just as you list your employment history.
b. The most important part of each school section is the name of the school you attended. Make it bold and/or lowercase, followed by the city and state. Use the same format you use for your employers.
against Next, put the title you received. If you are anticipating a degree, write “BA Candidate,” “BS Expected,” or “MA Anticipated.” Fill in the appropriate grade of course.
2. Do I need a separate line for my GPA and for each of my honors?
To save space, you can combine your GPA and honors on one line, and even put them on the same line as your major. How much you combine things will depend on how much space you have on other lines. Here are some possibilities:
has. BA in Political Science, cum laude, 2006 (GPA: 3.41)
b. Degree in Political Science, concentration in Psychology, May 2005
Major Average: 3.73; Cumulative average: 3.68
3. How should I list honors and activities?
You do not need a separate section for Honors or Activities. Only create these separate sections if you need to fill the space! Instead, place them under the appropriate school entrance.
Do you have many honors and/or activities? If you need space, you can group them. For example, you can have a bullet that says “Honors:” and follow that title with your honours, separated by semicolons. Then have a bullet that says “Activities:” and list your activities, separated by semicolons. You can put any relevant date in parentheses after the honor or activity and before the semicolon.
Examples:
has. Honors: Undergraduate Honors Thesis Research Scholarship (Honors Program Award); Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; Golden Key International Honor Society
b. Honors: Dean’s List (2006-2009); Baylor University Alumni Scholarship (2005-2009); Greek Women’s Leadership Award (2009); Midwest Conference Academic All Conference Team (2008 and 2009)
Contra Activities: Latino Student Association, Secretary (2006-2007), Delegate/Community Service Committee (2005-2007); Organization of Mexican Students, Social Chair (2005-2006); South American Student Association, Member (2004-2007)
d. Activities: Varsity Girls Basketball Team, Four Year Charter Winner; Pi Beta Phi Fraternity, Board Director (2006-2007) and Member (2004-2007); University Chapel Choir, Member (2004-2007)
4. Do I need a separate section for Study Abroad?
Nope! Studying abroad is part of your university education. It can be a bullet point, or if you want to emphasize it because of your international interest or language ability, you can put it in bold. Do not leave a space between your college degree section and the study abroad section, unless you need to fill in the space.
Bullet format example:
[end of undergraduate section here]
• Third year semester at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England (1993)
Example of bold section in undergraduate section:
[end of undergraduate section here]
Reid Hall, Columbia University, Paris, France
Summer 2003 Study Abroad (Courses: 19th Century French Painting, French Language)
5. How long should the Education section be?
Unless you’ve already earned five different degrees from five different schools, your education section should generally take up a maximum of one-third of a page. This means it’s important to get experience to put on your resume and not rely on your education to get a job!
Implementing these five tips will give you a great start to your Education section, making it efficient and effective.
