Parts of a Resume

2. Educational Qualifications

Educational Qualifications generally include details of your schooling and college level education along with any other achievements or accolades that you have received in the field of academics. You can also choose to include any projects or courses that you have completed that are related to the job you’re seeking. Most college students have little or no work experience. In such cases, your Educational Qualifications play a major role in determining the fate of your application. It is understood that a candidate who has excelled in academics is likely to excel at the workplace as well, not only due to his/her knowledge but also due to qualities like focus, hard work and discipline which enabled the high grades.Ideally, you should mention your Educational Qualifications in chronologically ordered bullet points, starting from the most recent. This helps the reader glance through your Educational Qualifications without missing out on any important information.

The bullet points will generally mention your graduation, Class 12th or equivalent qualification as well as Class 10th or equivalent qualification (optional).

All your Educational Qualifications should be mentioned along with the institution and year. For example:

  • XYZ College, ABC University, New Delhi                          May 2012
    Bachelor of Science
  • AAA School, New Delhi                                                        May 2009

Class 12th, CBSE.

An alternate way of mentioning an Educational Qualification is in a sentence form, such as
‘Graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree from XYZ College, ABC University, New Delhi in the month of May, 2012’.

 In case you are yet to obtain a particular qualification, you can mention the expected date by which you are most likely to have completed that course. Therefore, the above example will also be applicable to a student, who is going to receive his /her degree in May, 2012.

It is vital that you mention your marks/percentage/score along with your Educational Qualifications. This not only makes the information you mention on your Resume more credible but also helps you show your academic proficiency which can play a huge role in helping you stand out in a crowd and be preferred over other candidates.

For example, if a company has a choice between 2 candidates with the same qualifications and experience, it is most likely that the company will choose to hire the candidate with a better academic record. This decision is based on 2 basic assumptions: One, that the candidate with the higher marks has more knowledge and is more likely to benefit his/her company than the other candidate and two, that the candidate with the higher marks is likely to be more focused, hard working and determined than the other.

You can mention your marks in the following forms:

  • XYZ College, ABC University, New Delhi                          May 2012
    Bachelor of Science Degree.

GPA – 3.75/4.00 or 86% or 1st Division

 

You can also mention your marks in a sentence form:  ‘Graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree from XYZ College, ABC University, New Delhi in the month of May, 2012 with a GPA of 3.75/4.00’.

It is important to keep in mind that you should only mention your marks or percentage along with your Educational Qualifications if your marks are at a higher scale. You can avoid mentioning the marks if your grades were average or low. In this case, you would not like the reader to focus on your educational qualifications but on other parts of the resume.

Many students also choose to only mention their marks in the subjects that are related to the job they’re applying for. For example, aspiring engineers can choose to only mention their percentage in Physics, Chemistry and Math.

Apart from your Graduation and Schooling, you can also choose to include any other achievements or accolades that you have received, related to your education. These can include awards like coming 1st in the class, study exchange programs, topping the State Board, receiving the best student award etc.

The purpose of mentioning any such awards, accolades and achievements is that they differentiate you from the rest of the crowd and increase your employability.

You can also mention projects that you have completed and been a significant part of under your Educational Qualifications. Mentioning the projects that you have been a part of will help the reader learn about the practical and research experience you’ve gained.

The projects you mention can include projects that were a part of your course, including your final year project as well as any additional projects. It is ideal to include the projects you have completed as a sub – head under your Educational Qualifications and mention each project separately. An example is given below.

  • Final Film Project
    Co - wrote the Story, Screenplay and Directed a 13 minute short film called ‘…………..’.
  • Website Design Project
    Designed a professional website using HTML; viewable at …………….(provide link).

 

Apart from their degrees, awards and projects, many students choose to highlight certain aspects of their education that are relevant to the job they’re applying for. This gives the reader an idea about the type of job – related knowledge you have gained as a part of your education.

For example, if you’re a Mass Communication graduate who wants to get into advertising, it can prove to be beneficial for you to highlight the advertising related – courses that you took up as a part of your vast Mass Communication program.

It is ideal to mention related coursework in a bullet point format as a sub – head under your Educational Qualifications. An example is given below:

  • Related Courses:

*Copywriting (3rd year, 88%)

*Fundamentals of Advertising (1st year, 85%)In the case of many professional courses like Medicine, Law, Architecture etc. internships or work experience are a part of the course curriculum. You should mention about such internships/training programs under your Educational Qualifications.

For example, all medical schools require students to undergo a 1 year internship as a part of the course. Mentioning this under your Educational Qualifications will give the reader an idea about the practical experience you have gained as a part of the course.

You can mention this as a single bullet point in the following manner:

  • ‘Assisted Dr. ABC and maintained patient records as an intern at the XYZ Hospital for a period of 1 year as a mandatory part of the MBBS course’.

 

You should also mention any professional training programs that you underwent in addition to your educational course under your Educational Qualifications. These may or may not be a part of your educational curriculum. For example, as a Computer Science student, you might want to mention the following:

  • ‘Wrote code and programmed mobile gaming applications as a part of a 6 month training course in JAVA from the AHD Institute, New Delhi’.

Things to consider before you mention your Educational Qualifications in your Resume:

* Make sure you mention your Educational Qualifications in a reverse – chronological manner, so that the most vital qualifications are at top of the list.

* Avoid mentioning your marks if they do not represent your true academic and work potential.

* Try and mention any accolades/awards or accomplishments that highlight your academic strengths. It is most beneficial to include achievements that are related to the job you’re applying for.

* While mentioning your projects and coursework, try and give only the most important and relevant information. Do not mention courses or projects that are not related to the job you’re seeking.

* Rather than just mentioning your internship/training program, talk about the duties you performed as a part of the internship/program to give the reader an insight into the type of work you have already performed.


Resume and Cover Letter

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