While education is one of the most important sections of a resume it doesn’t mean that job seekers should ignore it. You can optimize your resume by including the education section. A customized resume will pass an ATS scan more easily and impress a hiring manager. This article is about the strategies behind customizing your education section.

Our career experts agreed that it is possible to remove some education from your resume. Some education may not be relevant to your career goals, just like work experience. It can lead to you being thrown out of the race for a job in the hiring process.

Confused? Don’t worry. We’ll show you the pros and cons of five reasons you shouldn’t include education on your resume.

5 reasons you might not include education on a resume

1. Higher education if you aren’t qualified for a job

It’s okay to drop advanced degrees if you are applying for a job that you aren’t qualified for. You might apply for a job that you aren’t qualified for. This could be due to a shift in the industry, a more relaxed workload, or support for a mission or company. It doesn’t have to include everything you’ve done. It’s not necessary to be an exhaustive list of all your experience, as this could lead to a resume with irrelevant experiences.

You can take your educational record down if it makes you appear overqualified for the job you desire. Overqualified job seekers can be subject to multiple preconceptions. These could include salary expectations and feel threatened. This can be avoided by omitting certain qualifications.

Exclusion of advanced degrees:

You can exclude an over-qualifying Master’s degree if you are targeting a part-time administrative job. The hiring manager might think that you are applying for any job you find, even though you may be seeking a job that allows your family to get home at 3 p.m. You should tailor your resume and cover letter to the job. Sometimes this means reducing your advanced degrees.

EXPERT TIP

If you are not qualified for the job, you can get rid of your education.

Warning: While you may omit certain information from your resume, it is important that you are truthful about your education and work experience when applying for a job. When you are asked about your academic background, job applications must be signed legally.

2. Resume for high school education

A high school diploma is not required on your resume. The degree is not mandatory if you have additional education than high school. You should not include it, even if you have a high school diploma.

A high school diploma is not enough to make you appear young and unqualified for a job. You can instead list incomplete or in-progress degrees in your education section. Other than that, you can add relevant certifications or training to the education section of your resume.

You can skip the education section if neither of these situations is applicable to you. You don’t need a college degree to be successful.

3. Includes irrelevant education

Your resume should be specific to the job that you are applying for. If you have an education–especially if it’s in addition to similar education–that isn’t related to your current career target, you can leave it off your resume.

Employers might be interested in your education credentials if you went to an elite school or received a prestigious award for your thesis or dissertation. Your education section is your greatest asset. You can even lead with it. Your professional resume should not contain irrelevant information. This will cause more damage than good. A resume should only be used to demonstrate relevant work experience and qualifications for the job you are applying for. Unrelated jobs may be removed from your resume.

Example of an irrelevant education:

If you have an additional certificate from a web-development program but are looking for an accounting job, you can leave it. They can however be removed from your resume if you are tailoring it.

4. A resume can have multiple degrees or certifications

Many people have multiple degrees and certifications throughout their careers. This can lead to an education section that takes up valuable pages. You’ll fail the 6-second Resume Test if your education section is too long and confusing.

Employers and hiring managers won’t look at your education section to determine if you have the right degree or certification. You can only list the degree that is most relevant to your job or industry if you have more than one degree.

Let our experts help you sort out your resume and land your dream job.

5. Resume with outdated education

If you are applying for medical jobs or any other specialty such as science or law, it is important to include your education on your resume.

You should remove the year you graduated from your resumes to avoid age discrimination. You might also consider removing older degrees from your resumes for the same reasons. Your age may have an impact on your job hunt, even though discrimination on the basis of age is against the law at any stage of employment.

Examples of outdated education:

You might not realize how much information you are giving away by listing degrees in programs that were discontinued by schools. If you list a degree from an obsolete field such as radio advertising or home economy, it is easy for a hiring manager to assume your age.

Instead, simply list the degree level and the institution. The year is not necessary.

Conclusion

Your resume should have a section on education that is relevant to the job. You can also leave out education if necessary. Your job application must be truthful, even if your resume is strategic. If you are looking to upgrade or enhance your resume, We recommend reaching out to one of our experts so you can land the job you like.

You now know the right education to include in your resume. Read the How to organize your education section. Good luck in your job search!