Work experience or education in the first place?

There is no consensus as to whether the “Work Experience” or “Education” section will be the first section on your resume. The answer depends a lot on where you are in your career and your level of experience.

In general, if you have a lot of work experience behind you, you should pay attention to your career and the skills that you have acquired in various positions.

However, if you have little work experience or are still studying, it makes sense to indicate your education first. You will also want to prioritize your education if you are applying for an academic position.

Experienced professionals

At this stage in your career, your education is not as important as your work experience. However, this does not mean that you should not indicate your degree.

Including your education on your resume demonstrates an interest in learning – a highly desirable trait in fast-growing industries (technology, e-commerce, finance, etc.).

Unless you are applying for an academic position or a position where professional qualifications are important (for example, accounting), there is no need to list the course modules you have taken. In terms of your schooling, you also don’t need to list your final exam grades if you didn’t get top grades in all subjects.

In fact, at this stage in your career, it’s best to not include your high school education on your resume at all and focus on your skills and accomplishments.

Hairpin

If you are still studying, you can indicate this on your resume and let employers know when you plan to complete the course (s). This avoids confusion about your availability and start dates.

If the modules you are studying are particularly relevant to the job you are interested in, you can elaborate on them so that employers understand how your course relates to the job description.

Graduates

If you have recently left your education, your focus will be on earning a degree, not any part-time job you have had. You do not need to list course modules, but it will demonstrate your knowledge and experience to employers.

During your studies, you may have the opportunity to do an internship or two. In this case, you can include it in the “Work experience” section of your resume and place this section above your education if the work experience is directly related to the position you are applying for.

School graduates

If you’ve just graduated from high school, it makes sense to focus on your high school or college. While most entry-level positions won’t require much direct work experience, employers will still expect passing grades, at least in English and math.

If you have studied a wide range of subjects, feel free to combine the subjects studied and the grades obtained into less detailed descriptions. Moreover, you can only include topics that are directly related to your position.

Whichever subjects you choose, there is no need to list any subjects taught in elementary school unless you are very young. Even so, you can draw attention to part-time work or volunteering to make up for your lack of work experience.

Professional courses

If you do not have the formal education required for the job, you can include vocational training courses, events, or workshops. You can include them in the Education section of your resume or in a separate Professional Development section.

Be sure to only include courses that are relevant to the business, for example, do not mention your pottery course if you are applying for a job as a mechanic.

No education or training

What if you haven’t completed your education? The best policy, then, is to be honest about it on your resume and highlight your work experience and practical skills as much as possible.

You can also focus on soft skills gained from hobbies and interests or volunteering. You can list your soft skills in the Skills section of your resume, as well as in the Hobbies and Interests or Volunteering sections.

How to mention education on your resume

As with the Work Experience section of your resume, you need to list courses in reverse chronological order and include the following information:

Course or Qualification Name Academic Institution or Study Service Provider Start and End Date Grades and Honors Subjects and Modules (only if you have recently completed your education or are applying for an academic position)

Each qualification must be listed on a separate line, for example

University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, October 2000 – 2010

Combined French and German (BA Hons): 2: 1

What employers are looking for in your education

How important your education is to potential employers will largely depend on the position and job requirements. For example, if you are applying for a management position, employers may require you to have an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree.

For certain occupations (eg, medicine, finance), qualifications will be considered “essential criteria or requirements” by employers. In such cases, you may need to place the “Education” section higher than the “Work experience” section on your resume – right after your personal application or profile.

Avoid cuts and cuts.

While common acronyms such as BA Hons (Bachelor of Honors) or PhD (PhD) are universally understood by employers, there are some that can be misleading, such as LLM (Master of Laws).

If in doubt, please indicate qualifications in abbreviated form and write full name in brackets.

One final tip: don’t exaggerate qualifications!

It can be tempting to exaggerate the qualifications on your resume, especially if you don’t have relevant work experience. However, lying on your resume is never a good idea, and you will almost certainly be recognized when employers ask for proof of your qualifications.

In the worst case scenario, lying about qualifications for a high-paying job may even constitute a felony.