Listing Your Education on Your Resume

For most to mid to upper level professionals who have strong experience and accomplishments in their industry education should appear near the end of the resume. The reason being at this point where you graduated from isn't going to get you the job. The exception to that is if you have a degree from some very well known school that is going to "wow" them. The education portion of the resume for experienced professionals should be brief and to the point because you do not want it to take away from other accomplishments.

When listing your education provide the institution you attended, degree and your major (s). If you have multiple degrees you should start with your most advanced degree then work your way down (Master's â†' Bachelor's â†' Associate's). If you attended multiple schools in your quest for higher education you only need to list the one you received your degree from.

If you earned your degree with some type of award or distinction (summa cum laude) you should mention it but don't make a big deal of it. You want to avoid taking up valuable real estate on the piece of paper with college activities unless they where really stellar achievements and honors. There great but for experienced professionals the potential employer is much more concerned about your experience. Another little resume writing tip is do not include high school information

Listing your date of graduation isn't required and I have a tendency to encourage people not to. If you are an older candidate in can help you avoid age discrimination. An employer sees a resume with the graduation year in the 60's or 70's they may not call. On the same note if they see a graduation year that is to recent they may not call.

If you are currently enrolled in school and intend to earn your degree you may want to list it on your resume as follow:

UNIVERSITY OF BOSTON: Bachelor of Science in Business, anticipated May 2010

On the topic of listing college experience on your resume that you haven't completed there are two opinions. The first being that some college is better then no college and you should list it. The other is that if you haven't completed a degree and have no intention to, you should not list it. I am of the opinion of the latter. The reason being is that they potential employer is looking to see if you set goals and complete them. Not completing school can be looked upon as a negative. You do not want to highlight troubled parts of your work history unless necessary. Hopefully the employer will be impressed enough with your work history and skills that they will call you in for an interview.