Your education section can shrink or grow depending on your situation. For example, if you don’t have very much experience but you have relevant coursework, you could put your education section before your experience section. If you do this, you need to treat your education section like your experience section and provide more details, including high-impact statements. If, on the other hand, you have experience that demonstrates your qualifications for the position, you can keep your education section brief and only list the credentials that you have or will attain.

Your education section should start with your highest degree and work back in time. Each entry should include the name of the school, the degree or course of study that you obtained (or will obtain upon completion), and the date of completion (or anticipated completion). In addition, you should include any honors you have received.

Let’s look at two examples, a traditional one that is shorter, and one that you would use if you wanted to emphasize your education over your work experience.

Traditional Example

Bachelors in Applied Management, Anticipated September 2021

Brigham Young University-Idaho

Emphasis in Accounting and leadership

Web and Mobile Development Certificate, June 2017

Bridgerland Technical College

Relevant coursework in HTML5, CSS3, and databases (MySQL)

Expanded Education Example

Bachelor of Applied Science in Professional Studies, Anticipated 2023

Brigham Young University-Idaho

Certificate in Construction Field Supervision, Anticipated April 2020

Brigham Young University-Idaho

Coursework in project management, estimating, safety, scheduling, and documentation

PathwayConnect Certificate, December 2019

BYU-Pathway Worldwide

• Led weekly peer discussions about coursework. Helped retain classmates in the program by reaching out to them through encouraging weekly chats and email, and offering to tutor them in math
• Significant coursework in time management, budgeting, study habits, oral and written communication skills, decision making, and quantitative reasoning
• Participated in a multi-week team project to make data-driven decisions by remotely collaborating with group members.

As you can see, the traditional example was kept short to demonstrate that they meet minimum educational requirements and instead provide more space for the experience section. In the expanded example, you can see that if you add more details and use high-impact statements, the education section can be swapped with the experience section.

If you have substantial coursework, credentials, or certifications, feel free to include those as well under a simple subtitle like “Credentials” or “Certificates.” If you have significant education experience, you don’t need to go all the way back to high school, just list the most recent and relevant experience.

Ponder and Record

• What education experiences, degrees, certificates, credentials, or awards should you include on your résumé based on the job you are applying for?
• Should you include descriptions of relevant courses or projects completed?
• Where should these items be placed on the résumé (before or after the experience section)?

Need More Help?

1. Study other Writing Lessons in the Resource Center.
2. Visit the Online Tutoring Resources in the Resource Center.
3. Contact your Instructor.
4. If you still need help, Schedule a Tutor.