More on Spouse Family Job Search: Military Spouse Job Search Home Beginning Your Job Search in a New Location Slow Down for Job Search Success Resume Prep: Don't Get Hung Up on Education Military Spouse Job Search Expert: Pamela M. McBride, Military Spouse Job Search Expert Additional Resources: Online Job Search Guide for Veterans Guide to Career Change

Education at the Top?

Document your education, certification, and training at the TOP of your resume if:

1. It is the standard minimum requirement in the field in which you are hoping to land a job and you are not likely to be hired without it. Some examples of career fields with required degrees include teaching, counseling, and nursing.
   
   
2. The job announcement states that applicants must have a specific certification, training, or license. Jobs that often require these are certified public accountants (CPA), computer programmers, child care providers, and dental hygienists.
   
   
3. It is the most significant job-related item you have to sell, such as when you have a degree in a field, but little or no experience in it. This often happens when a military spouse finishes a degree and then has to PCS to a new location before she is able to work in that field.

Important Considerations

When documenting your education on the resume there are a few other considerations:

• Don’t include the dates, schools, courses and other details about your education at the top of the resume.
  
  They should be documented in the education section at the end of your resume, if they are relevant. Dates and names of the schools are usually relevant. Courses, credit hours and other details often don’t matter.
  
  
• High school diplomas should not appear at the top of the resume unless you completed a technical training or certificate program that would meet the minimum qualification requirement for a job as described above and it is the highest level of education or training you have.
  
  
• Your education, training, certification or license can be a simple bullet in your summary of qualifications, if it meets the test of being a minimum requirement.
  
  
• In general, the more work experience you have and the longer you have been out of college, the less significant your degree becomes to the reviewer and therefore it should probably appear at the bottom of your resume.
  
  
• Professional development that is relevant to the job you are trying to land, whether company-sponsored, or a personal investment, can be noted in the education section at the bottom of your resume.
  
  

How much is too much?

Given the fact that you only have a limited amount of time to get and keep the employer’s attention and the fact that you must keep your resume to less than two pages, be careful that you don’t appear to have spent more time “learning” than making a contribution to the work place.

Bottom Line

When all is said and done, remember the point of a resume is to get you invited for an interview. Therefore, don’t get hung up on what to do with your education. Instead, provide the most important highlights that will complement your other background, and move on to the next job search task.

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About This Author:

Pamela M. McBride is an author, career coach, and 20+ year Army wife. Pamela is the author of 2 books: Work It, Girl! and The Mocha Manual to Military Life and a blog, The Work-Life Diva. Learn more from Pamela on the Work It Girl and Working It Military Life Style Facebook fan pages, and follow her on Twitter @PamelaMMcBride.