Growth Trends for Related Jobs

How to List an Incomplete Education on a Resume

careertrend article image
Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Even if you didn't complete your college education, the courses you took might still be relevant to your career and thus worth mentioning on your resume. As with all aspects of your resume, it's important to format the information carefully.

Formatting the Information

Information about your education typically goes in an "Education" or "Job Training" section in reverse chronological order, meaning the most recent education is listed at the top of the section. Write the educational institution you attended, your area of focus, and, in some cases, the dates you studied there. For example, you might say, "State University, Accounting, 2007-2009." If you are afraid that putting the dates in might reveal too much about your age and jeopardize your chances of landing an interview, leave the dates out.

Listing Individual Courses

If you've taken any courses that are particularly relevant to the job, write something like "courses in..." and then include the names of the courses. For example, if you're applying for an administrative assistant job and you took courses in bookkeeping or business writing, those courses would be worth mentioning. If you have lots of relevant work experience and your coursework doesn't have anything to do with the job for which you're applying, you don't necessarily have to include your courses. For some employers, however, the fact that you have some higher education can still be a positive, so in this case you want to mention the college courses you took. This might happen if you see a job listing that says "some college preferred."

Writer

Nicole Vulcan has been a journalist since 1997, covering parenting and fitness for The Oregonian, careers for CareerAddict, and travel, gardening and fitness for Black Hills Woman and other publications. Vulcan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and journalism from the University of Minnesota. She's also a lifelong athlete and is pursuing certification as a personal trainer.

Photo Credits

Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images