Transcript: Lesson 7: Writing a Resume, Part 4:

Education
Hello, in this video, we'll be talking about the fourth part of a resume, education. This part of the resume is very
important for current students, recent university graduates, or people with little work experience. For people with
a lot of work experience, the education section shows that they meet the required education level.

Job advertisements usually have a required degree as part of the qualifications for the job. Job seekers list each
educational experience they have had and include the name of the school, the location, the degree received, major
or subject of specialty, and the year of graduation. Those who received high grades or special honors during their
education sometimes include those awards in this section.

The development of the education part of the resume often shows future employers your academic performance,
management, and technical abilities, and general areas of interest. There are many kinds of degrees that are
included in the education section. The most common types of degrees in the United States are:
1. AA or AAS, which is associate of arts or associates of applied science. These are two-year degrees from
community colleges and technical schools.
2. is B.A. or B.S., Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. These are typically four-year degrees from a college
or a university.
3. M.A. or M.S., Master of Arts or Master of Science. These are graduate-level degrees from a university.
Number four is M.B.A.
4. Master of Business Administration. This is a graduate degree in business from a university.
5. PhD. A doctorate degree is the highest-level degree from a university.

Like the work experience section of a resume, job seekers list their educational history in reverse chronological
order. Beginning with the most recent or current degree program. Here is an example job seeker, Michael Johnson,
who attended one university and earned two degrees.

Education:
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• M.B.A. General Management 2015
• B.A. Sociology 2009
• Awards: Dean’s List 2008 and 2009

Notice how he begins with the name of the school and the location, that's city and state. In this example, he
attended Cornell University in the city of Ithaca, in the state of New York. On the next line, he lists his most recent
degree, an M.B.A. in General Management, which he completed in 2015. This is a graduate-level master’s degree
in Business Administration with a special focus, or major, in general management.

Next, he lists his B.A. in sociology which he completed in 2009. His Bachelor of Arts degree is a four-year degree
and sociology is the subject area that he studied most. After listing the degrees, Michael includes an award that he
earned in 2008 and 2009. In United States universities, Dean's List awards go to students who received very high

© 2021 by FHI 360. “Transcript: Lesson 7: Writing a Resume, Part 4: Education” for the Online Professional
English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S.
government and administered by FHI 360. This work is an adaptation of “Video: Writing a Resume Part 4: 1
Education”, by The University of Pennsylvania licensed under the Creative Commons Share-Alike License. To
view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
grades at the end of the academic year. Many people put this information in their resumes to show that they were
very successful in their courses.

Summary
Let's review part four of the resume, education. In this section, job seekers show each educational experience
separately in reverse chronological order. Each entry must include the name of the school, the location, the degree
received, major or subject area, and the year of graduation. The addition of awards or honors is not required but
does provide good information about a future employee. Job seekers include all of their education to show that
they meet the required education level for the position. Being very successful in one's education often means that
a job seeker is serious and a hard worker.

What’s Next?
Now, we will move on to the next video, which will help you to learn how to use action verbs to describe your
experience very clearly.