How to Not Appear Old with Your Education on Your Resume

How to Not Appear Old with Your Education on Your Resume As you get older, it gets a bit more difficult to ‘figure-out’ how to include Education on your resume. Do you list high school or not? What if you went to college but didn’t graduate? Should you include the years of attendance and graduation? These are all things to consider when working with this portion of your document. Read below for some tips and ideas on how to include the “correct” information without appearing “old.” Tip #1 â€" Don’t add years. That is right. The year you graduated college is not important. And, at some point, the year you graduated may start to date you and open you to age discrimination. If you know someone graduated from college in 1988, you may automatically think that he or she is out-of-date when it comes to today’s workplace. So, why put that information out there? Tip #2 â€" List your major and your minor. Don’t just say that you earned a “Bachelor of Arts” degreeâ€"instead, state that you earned a degree in Chemistry or Marketing with a minor in History or Public Relations. This is the type of information that will be most applicable to your future job. Keep in mind that it is not necessary to include all of the classes you took or your GPA. And, be sure to list the name of the college from which you earned your degree. Tip #3 â€" Don’t list EVERYTHING associated with your education. What does this mean? This simply means that you don’t have to list all of the clubs, sororities, or organizations you were involved with during your college career. Now, if you only graduated from college three weeks ago and have ZERO professional experience, you may want to consider adding your extracurricular activities to emphasize collaboration, leadership, and a focus within your desired work area. Otherwise, if you were a member of a fraternity from 1988-1992, it’s probably not vital that it ends up on your resume. Tip #4 â€" Coursework but no degree? Here’s what to do. If you attended college for some time, but didn’t get a degree, then list it like the following, “Coursework â€" Accounting, ABC University.” Or, as an alternative, you could list the number of credits you earned towards the degree. And, if you have any sort of college education, there is no need to list high school education. Still not sure how to list your unique educational experience? Email me at heather@feather-communications.com and I can offer you a free resume review. If you want MORE resume tips, then download my free Top 5 Resume Tips to GET THE INTERVIEW.