how to write a resume without education

How to write a resume when you have no education [high school or college]

Landing your dream job can seem impossible when you don’t have a degree, and even more so if you haven’t graduated high school. As long as you can learn how to write a resume with no education, however, you should never hesitate to apply for the job you want. Plenty of people have had successful careers without any formal education, and you shouldn’t let this one thing hold you back.

As long as you have the right skills, the right experience, and a willingness to learn, you can succeed in any field without a degree. Writing a great resume with no education is only the first step.

This article will discuss:

• Writing a resume with no education
• Listing education on a resume with no degree
• Writing a resume with no high school education
• Writing a resume with no college education
• Deciding which sections to include on your resume
• Formatting your resume

• Pick the right resume format

Most resumes use a reverse-chronological format, with a Work Experience section that lists jobs from most recent to least recent. If you have some impressive experience to highlight, this format will work for you. A reverse-chronological resume allows you to focus your work experience over everything else, which can help when you don’t have much education to show.

If you would like to highlight skills over experience, you can also try the combination format . This resume format features a prominent Skills section, where you can highlight your best skills and competencies, as well as a reverse-chronological Work Experience section. If you have a strong skill set that you would like to showcase, you may want to use a combination resume.

• What sections to include on your resume when you have no education

The sections you should include on a resume with no education are:

• Contact information : Your name and contact details
• Summary : A brief summary of your key qualifications
• Skills : A detailed list of the skills that make you suitable for the job
• Work experience : A reverse-chronological list of previous positions, with job descriptions
• Education : Even if you haven’t completed any formal education, you can list your ongoing or incomplete education

For many job-seekers, these sections will be enough. If you have other qualifications you would like to highlight, however, you can also include:

• Awards : Any awards, achievements, or honours you have received
• Certifications : Licenses and other proof that you are able to do the job
• Volunteering Experience : Past or current volunteer positions
• Memberships : If you belong to any professional organizations, you may want to list them
• Interests and Activities : While this section is not necessary, if you participate in any impressive clubs or teams, it can help fill out your resume

The exact details of your resume will depend on your career, your experience, and the job you are applying for, but any information or qualification you think will improve your application should fit in one of these sections.

• How to write a resume with no high school education

Writing a resume with no high school education can be a challenge, but it can be done with the right strategy. Many people have had successful careers without graduating high school, and they all had to start somewhere.

When you're writing a resume with no high school education, you'll need your other resume sections to do the heavy lifting. Focus on your skills and experience instead of your education.

You should still include an Education section, however. If there is no Education at all, the employer or applicant tracking system may think that you have uploaded an incomplete resume and reject your application. It’s better to include the section, even if it requires some explanation.

If you are still in high school, or are pursuing your GED as an adult, you can note this in your Education section. Simply include that your education is in progress, and list the date that you expect to graduate.

If you dropped out of high school, you can list the dates you attended and note that your certification was incomplete with the dates you attended. Then, you can list any other education you may have received. This might be workshops, seminars, apprenticeships, online courses, and any other training. Self-directed education and on-the-job training can be very impressive to employers.

• How to write a resume with no college education

Writing a resume with no college education means putting your skills, experience, and achievements in the foreground. While you should still list your education, it will not be the focus of your resume.

If you never attended college or university, simply list your high school education.

If you started a degree but didn’t finish it, you can include the dates you attended and describe some coursework as long as you note that your degree was not completed. You can make even an incomplete degree sound impressive if you describe the courses, research topics, or important projects you were a part of during your time in college.

You can also include non-college education, such as certificates, licenses, workshops, online courses, and more. All of your education is important to your career, even if it wasn’t at a college or university.

• How to write a resume with no education: a step-by-step guide

Writing a resume with no education will take some effort, but by following these steps, yours will be done in no time. Here is a step-by-step guide to writing a resume with no education.

#1. List your contact information

Your contact information should be right at the top of your resume. Your contact information should include:

• Phone number
• Email address
• City and state/province
• Relevant social media

No matter what else you include on your resume, your contact information has to be easy to find. Your resume won’t do you any good if hiring managers don’t know how to contact you.

Make sure your email address, as well as any social media accounts you link to, are professional and appropriate for work. If you link to a Twitter or Facebook account, for example, double check to make sure your online behaviour will be acceptable to any company who sees it.

When you have no education, an online portfolio can be an important asset. Linking to a Github profile or online profile with examples of your work is a great way to show that you can do the job, even if you are self-taught. If you have impressive work that you can link to online, linking to it in your contact information is a good idea.

#2. Write a resume summary

A summary is a short paragraph or bulleted list that highlights:

• who you are as a candidate
• what skills and specialties do you bring to the job
• your key achievements or qualifications

A resume summary is an essential part of a resume with no education. It's an opportunity to make a great first impression with your resume and underline what you can bring to the company.

Your summary should come right at the top of your resume, and it should be good enough that anyone who reads it wants to keep reading.

#3. Highlight your skills

When you don’t have much education to discuss, your skills section is a very important part of your resume. In fact, this may be where you want to put most of your effort. A great Skills section can show that you have what it takes to succeed at the position, even if you learned these skills yourself.

To really emphasize skills, you can create a heading for each skill type, with examples of skills, tools, or achievements underneath. A Skills section like that could look like this:

Professional skills

Graphic design

• Designed logos, gifs, animations, and branded content for website
• Proficient with Adobe Suite, Crello, and CorelDraw
• Developed various promotional materials including catalogues, flyers, business cards, posters, product packaging, and merchandise

Web development

• Expert in HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, PHP, Python, and Java
• Front-end development for eCommerce websites
• Developed documentation on ReactNative to onboard new team members

SEO & Content writing

• Used Moz and Ahrefs to research keywords and topics for clients
• Write highly-technical, SEO-friendly content for company blog
• Used targeted keywords and pillar content to increase website traffic by 400%
• Managed team of seven people for content management and web development department
• Trained and mentored interns and junior developers

If you prefer something shorter, however, you can simply list your skills in a single bulleted list. The exact format of your Skills section will depend on your specific resume.

#4. Describe your work experience

A robust work experience section is vital for a resume with no education. Alongside the skills section, the work experience section will form the main body of your resume.

You should list previous positions in your work experience in reverse-chronological order, beginning with your most recent job and working backwards. Each item in your work experience should contain:

• Position or job title
• Company name
• Bulleted list of accomplishments and duties in the role

Each job description is very important to the success of your Work Experience section. As you describe each role, try to use quantifiable achievements as much as possible, such as sales numbers or customer success scores. This will make your experience sound credible. You should also use active language as much as possible so that you sound like a productive employee with leadership abilities.

A Work Experience section might look like this:

Work Experience

Game programmer.

17-Bit , Seattle, WA June 2016 - March 2022

• Write code for games using C++ and Java for domestic and international market
• Extensively test code and game before beta release
• Work on several projects simultaneously, communicating with team and management to ensure deadlines are achieved
• Write code reviews and compiled documentation
• Supervise and mentor junior devs and interns
• Assist CGI team in research and development of new technologies

ABC Games , Lynchburg, VA Oct 2010 - June 2016

• Recruited from the internship in bug testing department
• Provided feedback and testing for several successful games
• Developed several simple first-person shooters that reached the top 20 on the AppStore
• Coding 2D and 3D graphics for our flagship puzzle game

#5. List awards and honours

Your work history and skills will be doing most of the work in your resume. If you have any other qualifications you would like to showcase, however, you should create a section for them as well.

If you have received any awards, honours, or rewards in previous positions, you can describe them in an Awards section. This is a great way to show that you have done well, and been recognized for it.

Awards & Achievements

• Digital Marketing Awards: Designer of the Year 2019
• Achieved promotion to manager at DigiMarketing in 2020
• Feature articles on marketing in Forbes, Advertising Age, and Marketing Week
• Improved traffic by 350% for well-known challenger shoe brand, resulting in seven-figure revenue growth

#6. Education

Exactly how important your education is will depend on your industry.

If you want a job as a doctor or professor, for example, your education is very important. In fact, you will likely need to get a degree before you apply for one of these jobs.

In other careers, however, you don’t need a formal education to succeed. For most jobs, your skills and experience are much more important than your education. As long as you have skills you can showcase, you don’t need to rely on your education to land a job.

There are a few ways you can approach writing a resume with no education, depending on your circumstances.

1. List incomplete or in-progress credentials

If you are still in school, you can note this in your education section. Simply explain that you are still pursuing your education and note the date you expect to graduate.

If you started a degree that you don’t intend to finish, you can still mention it in your resume. You may not want to use too much resume space on an unfinished degree, but listing some relevant courses, projects, or research areas can be an asset to your resume, even if you decided not to complete your degree.

2. List alternative education or on-the-job training

Some of the most important education comes from less formal educational settings. You can list certifications, conferences, bootcamps, workshops, on-the-job training courses, online courses, and more in your education section. In some cases, education that you pursued on your own can be more impressive and more relevant than what you learned in school.

In the example below, the candidate includes their unfinished university courses and a 12-week bootcamp. The bootcamp is more recent, more relevant, and more impressive, so it is listed first.

Flatiron Coding Bootcamp New York City (online)

• 12-week course (Spring 2021)
• Software development

BSc in Mathematics with Computer Science (incomplete) MIT, Cambridge, MA 2019 - 2020

Earned credits towards a degree. Coursework included:

• Introduction to Programming 1 & 2
• Fundamentals of Computation
• Data Science
• Operating Systems
• Tips for writing a resume with no education

Once all of your sections are in place, you can begin writing your resume. Here are some tips to get started:

Use a professional resume template

One of the best ways to ensure your resume looks perfect is to use a resume template. To make sure your skills and education get the attention they deserve, a two-column template like VisualCV’s Gallant or Slate templates are ideal for resumes with no education. You can place your Skills and Experience in the larger main column, and keep your Education section shorter in the narrower side column.

Some candidates feel that they won’t get a job if they are truthful about their lack of education. However, even a resume with no high school education can get interviews when you have a great resume summary, skills, and work experience.

Lying about your education is a bad idea. These records are easy for employers to check, and you won’t get an offer if you get caught in a lie. Honesty is the best policy.

Apply, even if you don’t meet the stated requirements

Companies aren’t always as strict as the job posting would make them seem. The minimum requirements listed in the job posting are often more of a wish list than concrete requirements. You might be the right candidate, even if you don’t have the exact degree they requested.

As long as you are confident that you can do the job, there’s no reason not to apply. If your skills and experience have prepared you for the role, your resume will reflect this, even if you don’t have the education.

Community Success Manager & CV Writing Expert

Ben is a writer, customer success manager and CV writing expert with over 5 years of experience helping job-seekers create their best careers. He believes in the importance of a great resume summary and the power of coffee.

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Resume With no College Degree Example + Writing Tips

No degree? No problems. History knows plenty of highly successful college dropouts who banked on practical experience over formal credentials. Besides, enrolling in a university isn’t the only way to obtain a quality education — you’ve got online courses, professional certification programs, and coaching programs! 

Employers also increasingly recognize that screening out applicants based on their degree doesn’t work in their favor. Almost half of US companies have already eliminated (or plan to remove) degree requirements for most positions. Among them are large employers like Walmart , IBM , and Dell Technologies among others. 

Yet, you’re still required to provide a coherent resume as part of the job application. So do you best address your lack of a degree in a resume?

This post provides several working resumes without college degree examples, alongside actionable writing and formatting tips for each section.

Resume With no College Degree: Example (Word)

Download resume example (.docx)

No College Degree Resume Example (plain text)

Creative growth manager in the SaaS domain, delivering user base growth of up to 35% YoY and churn reduction of 20%. Specializes in growth hacking, social media user acquisition, and PR.

Key Skills 

Social Media Marketing｜Paid Media｜Influencer Outreach｜Digital PR ｜Community Management

Work Experience

SaaS Subscription Company,   Superstition, Arizona

Growth Manager (Nov. 2017 – Present)

• Worked with the data science team to gather and analyze customer sentiment around products in our niche and develop targeted social media campaigns.
• Secured 15 endorsements from industry thought leaders, resulting in reviews on blogs with 100K+ monthly audience.
• Cultivated and established relationships with journalists, resulting in product reviews on Forbes, Fast Company and Inc Magazine.
• Increased the total user base by 35% within one year.

Food Mobile App, Phoenix, Arizona

Social Media Marketing Manager (July 2015 – October 2017)

• Developed a communication strategy for the company’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
• Created a regular publishing schedule, maintained high engagement with users. Follower account growth on Twitter +5,000 followers in 1 year; on Instagram +13,000 followers in 1 year.
• Managed the collaborated with industry influencers on seasonal marketing campaigns. Reported on budgets and key KPIs.

Professional Certificates and Training 

Certifications: 

HubSpot Social Media Certification 2016-2019. Google Analytics Certification Facebook Ad Certification

Content Strategy for Professionals: Engaging Audiences completed in December 2017 at coursera.org. Offered by Northwestern University. Influencer Marketing Strategy completed in April 2018 at coursera.org. Offered by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content completed in June 2018 at coursera.org. Offered by Wharton School of Business.

Sample Resume Without College Degree But Credits

Lydia Price

Customer Success Manager for FinTech & EdTech Brands

Proactive CSM with strong people skills and a proven track record of improving business metrics. Reduced customer churn rates by 15% in one quarter for the personal finance management app. Maintained a 98% CSAT for managed customer accounts for a corporate learning platform. 

Skills & Competencies 

• Relationship management 
• Digital community building 
• Customer onboarding
• Customer retention 
• Sales demos and presentations 
• Deal management and negotiation 
• Business analysis with Power BI 
• Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk

Work Experience 

Customer Success Manager FinTech Company Atlanta, GA May 2021-present 

Joined as the first CSM hire to a Series B startup, offering personal finance and wealth management services to Millennial consumers. During the first year in the role, focused primarily on customer retention and churn reduction. Performed customer surveys and did sentiment and statistic analysis of responses. Conducted 1:1 user interviews to elicit new insights and pitch personalized service offers. Collaborated with the product management team on implementing new user retention features (investment goal tracking, automated savings, and round-ups, personalized market analysis digests). Achieved a 15% churn reduction in 12 months. 

Junior CSM  EdTech Company  Atlanta, GA July 2019-April 2021

Worked with a roster of corporate eLearning clients (primarily in the manufacturing sector). Facilitated with preparation of product presentations, demos, and sales decks. Took an active part in negotiating B2B contracts through a 12-month sales cycle. Developed and pitched up-sell opportunities with a 25% conversion rate. After a year, was appointed to run the annual CSAT program.  

Customer Support Specialist  Ecommerce Business  Atlanta, GA Sep 2018-June 2019

Handled customer support tickets via Zendesk for an online fashion retailer. Provided assistance with shipping tracking, product returns, and refund processing. Helped troubleshoot common payment and online ordering issues. Maintained an average customer review score of 95%. 

Education: 

University of Atlanta (2017-2018) Atlanta, GA BA: Business Administration  Completed 45 credit hours in 2017-18 before dropping out. 

Professional certifications: 

• Customer Success Association – Certified Customer Success Manager (CCSM), issued in 2018. 
• HubSpot – Inbound Sales Certification, issued in 2020. 

Pro Tip: How to Put Education on a Resume Without a Degree

When it comes to listing education on a resume without a degree, several scenarios are possible. 

First, you may have an unfinished degree . You’re still either pursuing it or decided that formal education isn’t for you. In this case, here’s how to style your education entry on a resume: 

University of Toronto (2022 – 2023) Toronto, CA BS: Accounting — Completed 25 Hours Passed Grade 1 Certification Examination

An alternative scenario is that you’ve never even gone to college or a trade school (which is fine!). But it doesn’t mean the education section on your resume has to be blank. 

In place of a formal degree, you can mention the following:

• Professional certifications and licenses: List all the credentials you have obtained to develop your skill set. Make sure to add the year and validity status if applicable. 
• Professional training and courses: Create a curated list of programs, workshops, or masterclasses (online and in-person) that you’ve completed to show your competencies. 
• On-the-job training: Mention relevant training your former employer(s) have administered. 

Here’s how a sample education section on a resume may look like in this case:

• Professional Certificate in Content Design by UX Design Institute, issued in 2021. 
• Google UX Design Professional Certificate, issued in 2022
• Online courses from Interaction Design Foundation: “Mobile UI Design”, “Design Thinking”, and “Information Visualization”. 

How to Have a Great Resume Without a College Degree

For hiring managers, degrees are often a quick proof point of the candidate’s competency. Your goal is to emphasize your qualifications through other means: On-the-job experiences, skills, and work accomplishments. Focus on showing what you can do in practice, rather than just stating that you know the “theory”. Below are step-by-step tips for writing a resume without a college degree. 

Open With a Compelling Resume Summary

Open your resume with a succinct and memorable resume summary pitching the value you can bring to the company. Think of it as a quick “punch line” that immediately grabs attention and brands you as an experienced and promising candidate.

Here are a few tips to help you brainstorm a solid summary statement:

• Attempt to write it after the work experience section.
• Create a quick list of 3-5 top achievements in your career based on what you wrote in the experience section.
• Re-read the job posting once again to determine which ones will be the most relevant to the employer.
• Don’t pitch what you “can do”. Instead, tell what you have already accomplished.
• Avoid vague, generic statements like these will make you sound like every other candidate applying for the job.

Read more about writing and styling a winning resume header . 

Keep The Focus On Your Accomplishments And Experience

In the chronological resume format , the “Work Experience” section comes first. Thus, you’ll have plenty of room to make a solid impression before the HR scans to the bottom education part. Make this section the focal point of your resume. Speak to your accomplishments at every position you have held, quantifying them with relevant numbers whenever possible. 

Showcase that you have solid hard and soft skills , highly relevant to the role. Prove that you are a solid performer that can bring a tangible impact to the new organization. Here’s a quick template you can use for that:

Position Name 

Employer 

Dates of employment 

• List key skills and the results they helped achieve for the company
• Quantify your impact with numbers if possible to add extra weight 
• Describe your growth and extra skills/experiences you’ve acquired. 

Emphasize Alternative Education And Courses

Today formal education can be easily replaced with alternative training, offered by e-learning providers and MOOCs. Prestigious universities like Harvard , Stanford , Yale , and others offer free online courses and issue certificates of completion. Moreover, there are plenty of niche credentials you can obtain to complement your work experience and demonstrate that you have an up-to-date, hands-on skill set.  

Add these to your education section to make it more authoritative. Also, you can list all the professional training you have obtained on the job, plus add masterclasses, conferences, industry certifications, and so on. 

Finally, you can also list hobbies and interests if these are relevant to the job and help demonstrate your skill sets. For example, saying that you’re an avid marathon runner can strengthen your profile as a potential personal trainer. 

Edit Your Resume for Impact 

Once you are done with the initial writing, change gears for a while and then sit down to review your resume once again. Specifically, look for any gaps or vagueness that may leave the employer wondering about your expertise.

Sprinkle in additional power words and keywords (taken from the job description) to better articulate your competencies. Beef up your accomplishments and duties and re-check the texts for any grammar and formatting mistakes.

Pro tip: Use our free resume builder to create a well-formatted resume 2X faster. The app automatically guides you through each section and then generates a recruiter-friendly resume in Word or PDF format in one click. 

Final Tip: Apply Even If Your Feel Underqualified

A lot of job posts come with specific education requirements in terms of BA/MA. Don’t skip on these if you feel that you are otherwise a strong fit. A lot of employers prefer candidates with strong hands-on experience to those with a less diverse background, but the said degree.

Thus, emphasize your skills and career progression to showcase what results you can drive for this particular company. The best way to do so is by writing a strong resume summary/career statement and placing a stronger accent on your skills.

Elena runs content operations at Freesumes since 2017. She works closely with copywriters, designers, and invited career experts to ensure that all content meets our highest editorial standards. Up to date, she wrote over 200 career-related pieces around resume writing, career advice... more

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How To Write a Resume with No Degree: Expert Tips & Examples

If you are an experienced professional worrying that you don’t have a college degree to include on your resume, you aren’t alone. Questions about how our resume writing team would approach writing a resume with no degree are some of the more common inquiries I have received in all my years as a professional resume writer .

In the second decade of the 21st century, increasing numbers of employers began including a degree requirement as a minimum qualification for open jobs. Mind you, these were jobs that previously had no educational requirements attached to them. Considering that some two-thirds of Americans do not have a college degree, this became an increasingly difficult barrier for the majority of workers, and among our clients, an increasing issue for them to deal with on their resumes . But good company or not, if you are one of these people missing out on job opportunities that you are otherwise qualified for simply because you didn’t complete a degree, knowing that you are one of many is likely little comfort.

But happily, this trend is now reversing, according to a recent Harvard Business Review report of an analysis conducted in partnership with Emsi Burning Glass, a labor market data company. After analyzing 51 million job postings published between 2017 and 2020, researchers found that degree requirements had been lowered for 46% of middle-skill occupations and 31% of high-skill occupations. While there is still much room for improvement, and some of the reset can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent “ Great Resignation ,” these findings show that approximately 1.4 million new jobs could open up to those without degrees over the next few years.

Still, that middle ground between jobs that undeniably require higher education (e.g., physician) and those that do not (e.g., restaurant server) is immense. Many of these employers still have degree requirements in place. If you do not have a degree and wish to compete for these jobs , what is the best way to handle education on your resume? The answer is: “it depends.” The best approach will be very individual to your circumstances. But, here are some time-tested strategies and suggestions for you.

Carefully Review the Job Announcement for Both Required and Desired Qualifications

Job announcements are often very specific and state both the required and desired qualifications for the “perfect” candidate. Go through the announcement with a highlighter, carefully noting every qualification mentioned. Especially if you are missing one of these qualifications—a degree—your task will be to show exactly how you are a match for every other requirement.

The closer you are to matching the requirements, the greater your odds of successfully competing for the job. However, keep in mind that some gaps will be too wide to cross. For example, if you are not just missing a required degree but are also missing 50% of the other stated requirements.

But if you are a match for all or most of the qualification requirements, except for the degree, and you can provide concrete examples of how you have still used your skills to add value to your employer , your odds increase exponentially.

Create a Hybrid / Combination Format Resume

Think of your resume structure as a pyramid. The most impressive and relevant information should be at the beginning (top of the pyramid) of the resume. The less impressive and less relevant information should be at the end (bottom of the pyramid).

A combination format resume will usually lead with a really strong professional summary . This will give you the space to call out all of the skills and experiences that match the other requirements of the job. And you will do so right at the forefront of your resume.

With this type of modern resume layout, your will list your education at the end of the resume. This provides you with the format to make a persuasive case for why you are perfect for the job before the employer notices that you don’t quite meet the desired educational requirements.

This example resume template structured in a hybrid format shows how to create this type of resume.

How To Include Education in Your Resume When You Don’t Have a Degree

It is important to remember that almost all employers and recruiters use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to store resumes and track candidates through the hiring process. Hiring managers can input certain criteria and specifications to filter and rank resumes and narrow applicants to a manageable list.

The problem is that education is often one of the filters used to narrow candidates. In some cases, if a degree you don’t have is required, you may have no choice but to accept that you will not get your resume through these filters. If you wish to pursue the job , you will need to find other channels, and this is where brushing up on your networking skills will be helpful.

Considerations related to ATS are also why just dropping the Education section from your resume is not recommended except in the most extreme situations (and be prepared to network heavily if you do). Whenever possible, you should always have a major section labeled “Education” on your resume. Review the following situations to decide what to include in the Education section of your resume.

Situation 1: You worked toward a degree but didn’t complete it

Despite the challenges an ATS presents, if you are applying for a job without a degree, yet you worked toward a degree that you didn’t finish, you should state this in your resume. This provides you the possible opportunity to include the requisite keywords that may get you included in the ATS shortlist of applicants. Here are some possibilities for how you would phrase this on your resume:

Coursework toward Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Biology NAME OF UNIVERSITY, City, State

Of course, the above could imply two courses toward the degree before you dropped out or three years of coursework. If you feel the need to include context, you have a few options:

Coursework (XX credits) toward Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Biology NAME OF UNIVERSITY, City, State

Coursework (X semesters) toward Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Biology NAME OF UNIVERSITY, City, State

Coursework toward Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Biology NAME OF UNIVERSITY, City, State (20XX to 20XX)

Situation 2: You are enrolled in a degree program now

If you are currently enrolled in and working on a degree program, include it. Again, as shown above, include the degree name as this increases your chances of getting through the ATS cut.

Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Biology in progress, degree expected 20XX NAME OF UNIVERSITY, City, State

Situation 3: You completed professional coursework but not toward a degree

If you have completed professional training or courses, even if not toward a degree, include it in the education in the same format as if it were a degree. For example, you could include a list like this:

• NAME OF COURSE/TRAINING, Name of organization that provided the training (20XX)

If the courses you completed were more significant or comprehensive, or especially important in your field, you might wish to give the listing more prominence, like this:

NAME OF TRAINING PROGRAM (20XX) Organization that provided the program

If you are using this strategy, think beyond traditional job-related training or college courses. There are many self-directed online and correspondence courses. If you have completed any relevant ones, you may include these in this section too.

Also, make sure to include any professional certifications you have earned under the education section.

Situation 4: Everything else

Suppose you cannot show work toward a degree, coursework or job-related training, or certifications. In that case, your goal should be to include items in the Education section of your resume that show your commitment to professional development even without more traditional education.

Ideas for this include conferences you have attended, presentations you have delivered, or completed apprenticeships. I even remember one client who had personally read and studied dozens of respected books on her field of interest and regularly read relevant trade magazines and other periodicals. We included a comprehensive list which was quite impressive. As a bonus, the titles of these books included many important resume keywords and phrases that helped her in ATS searches.

Final Considerations

Never forget that it isn’t the job that requires the degree you are missing. It is the employer. Do not ever be tempted to be deceptive on your resume and include a degree you don’t have. It is unnecessary. As shown in this post, you have many opportunities to write a resume even without a degree that shows how you are qualified and can add value . Experiment with the format of how you include this in your resume and you will find the right formula .

Employers are interested in how you can make them money, save them money, improve efficiency, or solve their problems. Show them that you can do this in a more profitable way than your competitor for the job (who happens to have a degree but not the great experience you have), and you will be irresistible.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to write a resume if i don't have a degree.

If you don’t have a degree, you can still write a strong resume by focusing on your skills , experiences, and other qualifications. Start with a professional summary that highlights your strengths, and list your education at the end of the resume. If you’ve taken any professional courses or training, include those as well.

How can I make my resume stand out without a degree?

To make your resume stand out without a degree, focus on showcasing your skills and experiences that match the job requirements. Use a combination format resume that starts with a strong professional summary. Include any professional training or courses you’ve completed, and highlight your commitment to professional development.

Can I still get a good job without a degree?

Yes, you can still get a good job without a degree. Many employers are more interested in your skills and experiences than formal education. Show how you can add value to the company, such as by improving efficiency or solving problems.

What should I put in the education section of my resume if I don't have a degree?

If you don’t have a degree, you can still include an education section in your resume. List any coursework you’ve completed, even if it wasn’t part of a degree program. Include any professional training or certifications you’ve earned. You can also list conferences you’ve attended, presentations you’ve delivered, or books you’ve studied related to your field.

Is it okay to leave the education section off my resume if I don't have a degree?

It’s generally recommended to include an education section on your resume, even if you don’t have a degree. This section can include professional training, certifications, or other forms of professional development. Leaving it off entirely could cause your resume to be filtered out by applicant tracking systems.

Can I include a degree I'm currently working on in my resume?

Yes, if you’re currently enrolled in a degree program, you should include it in your resume. List the degree you’re working towards and the expected completion date.

Is it okay to list a degree I started but didn't finish on my resume?

Yes, if you started a degree but didn’t finish, you can still list the coursework you completed on your resume. This can help you get past applicant tracking systems that filter resumes based on education keywords.

About the Author: Michelle Dumas

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• • Managed a team of 7 engineers and 15 technicians ensuring optimal productivity and deadlines met.
• • Implemented Kaizen and Lean Six Sigma methodologies, improving overall efficiency by 25%.
• • Launched an initiative to turn production waste into a new revenue stream, generating $300K annually.
• • Conducted feasibility studies on new technologies for product line improvement.
• • Coordinated manufacturing activities for 3 product lines, involving staff of 50+.
• • Improved equipment efficiency by 20% through preventive maintenance procedures.
• • Reduced production defects by 15% by implementing new quality control measures.
• • Redesigned workflow to reduce bottlenecks and increased assembly speed by 30%.
• • Participated in process enhancement initiatives for semiconductor manufacturing.
• • Reduced cycle time by 15% through workflow optimization.
• • Improved efficiency by 10% by streamlining operational processes.
• • Managed process documentation, ensuring updated and accurate technical information.

5 No Degree Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

Your no degree resume must be a testament to your skills and experiences. Highlight the expertise you've acquired, not the diplomas you haven't. Show potential employers how you've successfully applied your knowledge in real-world situations. Use specific examples to demonstrate your worth and stand out from the crowd.

All resume examples in this guide

Resume Guide

Tips for refining your no degree resume format, writing your no degree resume experience, spotlighting your no degree hard and soft skills, highlighting no degree-specific certifications and education, choosing between a resume summary or objective, additional no degree resume sections for a personalized touch, key takeaways.

One specific challenge faced by people with no degree is effectively highlighting relevant skills and experience which can be overlooked due to the lack of formal education. Our guide assists in addressing this challenge by providing detailed tips on how to emphasize practical experience, transferrable skills, and professional development in a way that makes your resume stand out, regardless of your educational background.

Enhance your application for the no degree role with our concise guide on how to:

• Format your no degree resume, ensuring a balance between professionalism and creativity, in line with best practices.
• Align your resume with the no degree job requirements by incorporating relevant industry keywords.
• Utilize distinct resume sections to highlight your skills and achievements, making a case for why you're the top pick for the no degree role.
• Draw from leading no degree resume examples to effectively tailor your experience.

Recommended reads:

• Returning to Workforce resume
• Board of Directors resume
• Infrastructure Engineer resume
• Stock Broker resume
• User Researcher resume

The resume format sets the stage for your professional narrative. Ensure it:

• Adopts the reverse-chronological format , placing your most recent experiences at the forefront. This format is ideal for those with relevant and up-to-date experience.
• Features a clear headline, making it straightforward for recruiters to access your contact details, portfolio, or current role.
• Stays concise, ideally spanning no more than two pages, focusing on relevant experiences and skills.
• Maintains its layout by being saved as a PDF, ensuring compatibility with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

Upload your resume

Drop your resume here or choose a file . PDF & DOCX only. Max 2MB file size.

Choose a functional resume template that offers ample space to showcase your unique no degree expertise.

Key sections to include in your no degree resume are:

• The header - with your contact details (like email and phone number), a link to your portfolio, and a headline.
• The summary (or objective) - highlighting the high points of your career so far.
• The experience section - limit yourself to six bullets per role to focus on specific results.
• The skills list - offering a balanced mix of your personal and professional talents.
• Education and certification - displaying your most relevant degrees and certificates for the no degree role.

What recruiters want to see on your resume:

• Relevant Skills: What practical abilities have you developed that are directly applicable to the job? This could include both hard and soft skills.
• Work Experience: Any work history, including internships or part-time jobs, can provide evidence of your capabilities and reliability.
• Certifications/Training: Non-degree education, like online courses, professional certifications, or vocational training can be important in some fields.
• Personal Projects: For roles such as software development or design, personal projects can demonstrate creativity, initiative, and technical capability.
• References: Especially without a degree, having positive references from previous employers or mentors can make a big difference in how a recruiter views your application.
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Here are some quick tips on how to curate your no degree professional experience:

• Always ensure that you quantify your achievements by implementing the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework;
• When writing each experience bullet, make sure you're using active voice;
• Stand out by including personal skills you've grown while at the job;
• Be specific about your professional experience - it's not enough to say you have great communication skills, but rather explain what your communication track record led to?

Wondering how other professionals in the industry are presenting their job-winning experience? Check out how these no degree professionals put some of these best practices into action:

• Developed and implemented a customer relationship management (CRM) system, resulting in a 20% increase in customer retention.
• Led a team of 10 sales representatives, achieving a 30% increase in monthly sales revenue.
• Streamlined inventory management processes, reducing costs by 15%.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to launch a new product line, generating $500,000 in sales within the first quarter.
• Implemented data-driven marketing strategies, increasing website traffic by 40%.
• Managed end-to-end recruitment process, resulting in a 25% decrease in time-to-fill for open positions.
• Developed and delivered comprehensive training programs for new hires, improving employee productivity by 15%.
• Implemented performance evaluation systems, leading to a 10% increase in employee satisfaction.
• Revamped the onboarding process, reducing employee turnover by 20%.
• Collaborated with HR team to develop and implement diversity and inclusion initiatives, resulting in a more inclusive work environment.
• Designed and developed responsive websites for clients, resulting in a 50% increase in website traffic.
• Implemented search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, improving client websites' search rankings by an average of 20 positions.
• Collaborated with graphic designers to create visually appealing user interfaces for web applications.
• Developed custom web applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, resulting in improved user experience and efficiency for clients.
• Provided technical support and troubleshooting for client websites, ensuring high uptime and customer satisfaction.
• Developed and executed social media marketing campaigns, resulting in a 30% increase in brand engagement.
• Managed the company's online presence through various digital platforms, growing the customer base by 25%.
• Analyzed market trends and competitor strategies to make data-driven recommendations for product positioning.
• Implemented email marketing automation, leading to a 20% increase in conversion rates.
• Collaborated with influencers to promote products, resulting in a 40% boost in sales.
• Managed a portfolio of 100+ clients, achieving a 90% client retention rate.
• Developed customized investment strategies based on clients' financial goals and risk tolerance.
• Conducted financial analysis and market research to identify investment opportunities for clients.
• Executed trades and monitored portfolio performance to maximize returns for clients.
• Provided regular updates and reports to clients on portfolio performance and market trends.
• Led a team of 15 customer service representatives, achieving a 20% improvement in customer satisfaction ratings.
• Implemented a customer feedback system, resulting in a 15% reduction in customer complaints.
• Developed and delivered training programs to enhance the team's product knowledge and communication skills.
• Implemented process improvements, reducing average call handling time by 10%.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to resolve complex customer issues, ensuring high levels of customer retention.
• Managed full-cycle software development projects, delivering on-time and within budget.
• Led a team of developers, testers, and designers to develop scalable and high-performance software solutions.
• Collaborated with clients to gather requirements and provide technical guidance throughout the project lifecycle.
• Implemented Agile methodologies, resulting in a 20% increase in project efficiency.
• Conducted code reviews and implemented best practices to ensure code quality and maintainability.
• Managed a portfolio of key accounts, achieving a 15% annual revenue growth.
• Identified upselling opportunities and successfully expanded business within existing accounts.
• Collaborated with product development teams to align client needs with product enhancements.
• Provided market intelligence and competitor analysis to guide strategic decision-making.
• Resolved customer escalations and ensured high levels of customer satisfaction.
• Developed and executed comprehensive marketing plans to drive brand awareness and increase sales.
• Managed social media platforms and grew the company's online following by 50%.
• Coordinated and executed promotional events, resulting in a 30% increase in customer footfall.
• Led market research initiatives to identify new target segments and refine marketing strategies.
• Collaborated with advertising agencies to create impactful marketing campaigns.
• Provided technical support to customers, troubleshooting hardware and software issues.
• Resolved customer inquiries via phone, email, and live chat, maintaining high customer satisfaction levels.
• Collaborated with the product development team to identify and report software bugs and suggest improvements.
• Assisted in creating user documentation and knowledge base articles for self-service customer support.
• Delivered product training sessions to customers, ensuring smooth adoption and usage.

Quantifying impact on your resume

• Include the number of projects you have successfully completed to demonstrate your ability to deliver results.
• Feature the size of the teams you've worked with, as this can indicate your collaboration and leadership skills.
• Mention your years of experience in relevant fields, illustrating your expertise and commitment.
• List any quantifiable savings or revenue increases you contributed to, showing your direct impact on a company's bottom line.
• Highlight the number of times you've been promoted or given additional responsibilities, showcasing your potential for growth and reliability.
• Indicate the number of industry-relevant certificates or courses completed, pointing to your dedication to self-improvement and learning.
• Note down the volume of clients or customers you managed or interacted with, reflecting your people skills and customer service abilities.
• Present the percentage improvement in efficiency, satisfaction, or other key metrics due to your efforts, underlining your problem-solving capabilities and performance-driven attitude.

Tips for no degree newcomers launching their careers

Lacking extensive experience for that no degree role? No worries.

Sometimes, hiring managers go for the unexpected candidate when they see potential.

Here's how to convince them you're the right fit:

• Opt for the functional skill-based or hybrid formats to highlight your unique professional value.
• Always tailor your no degree resume to emphasize the most critical requirements, usually listed at the top of the job ad.
• Compensate for limited experience with other relevant sections like achievements, projects, and research.
• In your no degree resume objective, pinpoint both your achievements and how you envision your role in the position.
• Resume Without Work Experience
• Resume Job Description

Use the SOAR (Situation - Action - Results) method for each of your no degree experience bullets. Reflect on specific challenges you've addressed, the actions you took, and the outcomes. This approach also preps you for potential interview questions.

Hard skills denote your technological proficiency and expertise in specific tools or software. These skills are often validated through certifications and hands-on experience.

Soft skills , on the other hand, reflect your interpersonal abilities and how you navigate workplace dynamics. These skills are cultivated over a lifetime and can be more nuanced.

Why the emphasis on both? Hard skills demonstrate your technical competence and reduce training needs. Soft skills suggest adaptability and cultural fit.

To optimize your skills section:

• Forego basic skills like "Excel" in favor of more specific proficiencies like "Excel Macros".
• Highlight core values and work ethics as soft skills, indicating what you prioritize in a professional setting.
• If relevant, create a distinct section for language proficiencies.
• Balance hard and soft skills by crafting a strengths or achievements section, illustrating outcomes achieved through both skill sets.

To assist you, we've curated a list of skills highly sought after by recruiters. Ensure you integrate those that resonate with your expertise and the prospective employer's needs:

Top skills for your no degree resume

Technical Aptitude

Physical Stamina

Basic Computer Skills

Equipment Operation

Sales Experience

Hand-Eye Coordination

Manual Dexterity

Customer Service

Maintenance Knowledge

Time Management

Adaptability

Communication

Problem-Solving

Attention to Detail

Self-Motivation

Reliability

Sometimes, basic skills mentioned in the job ad can be important. Include them in your resume, but don't give them too much space.

Your resume education section can be a treasure trove of skills and experiences relevant to the role. Here are the best practices when it comes to featuring it on your resume:

• Highlight advanced qualifications, detailing the institution and duration.
• If you're currently pursuing a degree, mention your expected graduation date.
• Consider omitting unrelated degrees.
• If your academic journey boasts significant achievements, especially in research, elaborate on them.

What's more, shocasing relevant industry certifications can bolster your credibility, even if you lack extensive work experience.

To effectively present your certifications:

• Place pivotal industry certifications prominently in a dedicated section.
• If a certification is particularly impressive, consider featuring it near your name or within the header, summary, or objective.
• Provide details, where relevant, to underscore alignment with the role.
• Recent certifications should be given advantage, as they show your up-to-date knowledge.

Both education and certification sections highlight your commitment to professional growth, a trait valued by employers. Below, explore some of the most current and sought-after no degree certifications to enhance your application:

Best certifications to list on your resume

I'm sorry but I can't generate the list you're asking for without a specified job title. Please provide a job title so I can give you the relevant certifications.

Remember, certifications can be woven into various resume sections, like experience or summary. Detail how a particular certification enhanced your performance or opened new opportunities.

• Expected Graduation Date Resume
• Activities Resume for College

Many no degree candidates ponder whether to include a resume summary or objective.

Here's a breakdown:

• A Resume objective outlines your career aspirations. It tells recruiters why you're applying and the value you can bring.
• A Resume summary offers a snapshot of your significant achievements, giving a quick overview of your expertise.

New professionals might lean towards an objective, while seasoned experts might prefer a summary. Whichever you choose, ensure it's tailored to the role.

For inspiration, review examples from established no degree professionals.

Resume summary and objective examples for a no degree resume

• Software engineer with five years of experience in Python, C++, and Java. Pioneered a machine learning algorithm that increased efficiency by 30% at ABC Tech. Seeking to apply my technical proficiency to a challenging new role.
• Data analyst with a decade of experience using SQL and Tableau for transforming raw data into clear insights. Developed a predictive model that saved XYZ Corp over $2M annually. Eager to leverage my analytical skills in a dynamic environment.
• Experienced project manager in the construction sector, aiming to pivot to software development. Self-taught proficient in Python, C#, and agile methodologies. Looking forward to leveraging my leadership skills and passion for coding in my next challenge.
• High school teacher with an aptitude for data analysis. Gained proficiency in R, Excel and Power BI during various educational projects. Excited about transitioning into a data-driven role where I can utilize my excellent problem-solving abilities.
• As a recent graduate, I've developed solid foundational knowledge in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS through academic projects. While I am just starting my professional journey, I am highly motivated to learn and grow within a collaborative tech-oriented team.
• Holding a bachelor's degree in English literature, I'm now eager to step into the digital marketing realm. I've obtained Google Analytics and AdWords Certifications and have a keen interest in SEO. Driven to contribute fresh ideas and creativity to a forward-thinking marketing team.

To further personalize your no degree resume, consider adding sections that reflect your unique qualities and achievements.

Popular choices include:

• Projects to showcase significant work achievements.
• Languages to indicate proficiency levels.
• Awards to celebrate industry recognitions.
• Hobbies and Interests to share personal passions.
• A clear resume layout helps present your info well.
• Use all main resume sections to show how you fit the job.
• Detail specific skills or tasks and their impact.
• Show your personality through interests or hobbies.
• List certifications to back up your technical skills.

Looking to build your own No Degree resume?

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How to Write a Great Resume With No Education (Or No Degree)

Aug 8, 2022 | Resumes

No degree on your resume? No problem! You can still write an impressive resume without including any formal education. Here’s how.

By: Reem Abouemera | Contributor for Let’s Eat, Grandma

If you’re wondering how to write a resume with no education or college degree, don’t worry! A lack of traditional education doesn’t have to be a death sentence for your job prospects. No matter what your educational background has been like, you can still craft an impressive resume.

All you need to do is focus on emphasizing your skills, accomplishments , and any other relevant experience you have. That way, you can still show employers that you’re a qualified candidate, even without a formal education.

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Here’s a guide on how to do exactly that:

6 Steps to Write a Resume with No Degree or Formal Education

1. ​​determine what kind of education you can list .

It’s still recommended to put unfinished or in-progress educational experiences on your resume, if they’re relevant to the job description. Photo by  javier trueba  on  Unsplash

Sometimes, people think they can’t list any education on their resume if they don’t have a completed college degree. However, that’s not true! There are still a few items you can list in your Education section, even if you don’t have a degree yet.

For example, if you took some college courses but didn’t finish your degree, you can include that experience here. Just be sure to include how many credits you completed, as well as the name and location of the school. For example, 

Coursework completed toward Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration or Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, 120 credits completed

Alternatively, if you’re in the process of getting a degree, you can specify that too. Just include the degree type and your expected graduation date. For example:

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, expected May 2023.

You can also list any professional development opportunities or certification courses you’ve taken related to your target job. These types of courses show that you’re dedicated to learning and self improvement, both of which are qualities employers value. They can also show you have key skills required for the position. You can list these in a section titled “Professional Development,” “Certifications,” or “Training.”

Pro Tip : It is a best practice not to list your high school diploma on your resume, even high school is the highest level of formal education you have completed.

2. ​​​Carefully Read the Job Posting

If you don’t have education on your resume, it’s important to scrutinize every job posting to make sure you meet the minimum qualifications. Photo by  Vadim Bozhko  on  Unsplash

Next, take a close look at the job posting. This should always be your best friend, since you should be tailoring your resume to every job . In most cases, you will easily be able to find the education requirements for the role in the posting.

This step is important because it will give you a better idea of your qualifications for the job. For example, if the job posting says “Bachelor’s degree required,” you know you won’t be selected for an interview if you have no degree on your resume. 

Of course, you could still try to get a referral to the job through your network, but it’s probably not worth applying without a referral since you don’t meet the minimum qualifications.

However, if the job posting only mentions “preferred qualifications” or states that a degree is “preferred but not required,” you may still be able to apply even with no education on your resume. And the posting may not even require a degree, which is great for you!

In those cases, you know you’ll need to put extra focus on your skills and experience, rather than your educational background. Doing so boosts your chances of getting your resume noticed and landing an interview.

3. Organize Your Resume Sections in the Right Way

If you’re writing a resume with no degree, it’s often best to put your Education section at the bottom. That way, you can focus on highlighting your more relevant experience and qualifications first without shedding too much light on the lack of formal education.

That said, you should never try to fake your degree or hide the fact that you don’t have a degree. Doing so will give the wrong impression to employers and may even get your resume tossed in the virtual trash. This is why we generally advise against a “functional” resume format , which is designed to downplay employment gaps and other “red flags,” is a major no-no in this case.

4. ​​​Write a Powerful Summary Section

.Once you know what educational experiences you can list in your resume and where to include them, it’s time to start writing! The first section is your Summary of Qualifications, and it’s one of the most important parts of your resume if you have no education to list. Why? Because it’s  the first thing employers will read, so you want to make sure it’s captivating and packs a punch.

When writing your summary section , always keep your target audience in mind. In this case, that means focusing on the skills and experience that will make you the best fit for the job. 

For example, if you’re applying for a software engineering job but have no degree on your resume, you’ll want to focus on your knowledge of common coding languages and the projects and jobs where you’ve proved your skills. 

Remember to keep things short and sweet (75-100 words for a standard summary and 100-175 words for an executive-level summary ). The goal is to give employers a snapshot of your qualifications, not tell them your life story.

Pro Tip: If you’ve been using an objective statement on your resume, it’s time to ditch it! Objective statements are outdated and, in most cases, won’t do you any favors since they’re self-centered rather than employer-focused.

5. Emphasize Your Transferable Skills

It can be useful to highlight your transferable skills if you don’t have a completed degree on your resume. Photo by  LinkedIn Sales Solutions  on  Unsplash

In your “Professional Experience” section, focus on the skills that are most transferable to the job you’re applying for. This is the one of the best things you can do to prove that you have the knowledge the job posting is asking for, even if you have no education to list on your resume.

Transferable skills are skills that you learn in one job and can be applied to another. So, for example, if you’re applying for a tech support job, but most of your experience is in retail sales, you can still highlight your customer service skills.

So even if you don’t have any formal education or direct experience in the field you’re applying for, you can still emphasize the skills you’ve acquired in other roles that will make you successful in this one. 

Some examples of transferable skills include:

• Communication
• Time management
• Organization
• Customer service
• Problem solving

But to avoid sounding like you’re just regurgitating a list of skills, focus on using bullet points with concrete examples and accomplishments to show that you’ve actually used and mastered these skills in your previous roles.

For example, rather than simply saying “excellent communication skills” in your Skills section you’ll alsowant to say something like, “Successfully resolved X number of customer complaints per month, with an average satisfaction rating of Y%.” This is the kind of hard evidence employers are looking for and is often more valuable to them than your education!

6. Leverage Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter is extra important if you don’t have formal education on your resume. Photo by Malte Helmhold  on  Unsplash

Cover letters are prime real estate for you to position yourself as the best candidate for the job, even if you have no degree to list on your resume.

In your cover letter, you can use your own voice to elaborate on your skills and experience in detail and give employers a better sense of who you are as a professional. Use specific stories to explain the lessons you’ve learned throughout your career and how they’ve made you the strong candidate you are today.

Remember, the goal is to show employers that you have what it takes to excel in the role, even if you don’t have a formal education. So take the time to sell yourself and let your personality shine through!

However, don’t apologize for or dwell on the fact that you don’t have a degree . This will only make you seem unsure of yourself and could damage your chances of landing the job. Instead, focus on the positive and let your qualifications speak for themselves.

Pro Tip: Your cover letter isn’t meant to be a rehashing of your resume . Instead, think of it as an opportunity to tell your professional story and fill in any gaps your resume might have.

The Takeaway: You Can Still Write a Great Resume with No Degree or Formal Education

While having a degree is a plus, it’s not always necessary to land the job you want. By following the tips above, you can write a great resume with no education or no degree and make yourself stand out from the competition!

All it takes is for you to really zoom in on what you bring to the table and present it in the most positive light possible.

So don’t let your lack of formal education hold you back—use it as an opportunity to show employers that you’re a unique candidate with a lot to offer!

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How to Create a Resume with no Education

Chose not to go to college? You’re not alone. With ever rising fees and a world of incredible, high-quality free learning resources online, thousands are choosing to bypass the traditional route and enter the workforce straight from school. In doing so, they get to start earning straight away and save thousands in debt. 

In fact, some of the biggest companies (from Google to Amazon) have publicly stated that they’d be perfectly happy to hire someone without a traditional college degree. 

How do you write a resume with no education?

Writing a resume without a degree or high school education is all about minimising what you didn’t do and maximising what you did instead (or can do!). Here are our tips:

Whilst your friends spent four years in a lecture hall, what direct skills were you acquiring?

Perhaps you spent 3-4 years working in a corporate role or hospitality. This means you’ve had extensive experience acquiring directly relevant skills – such as dealing with customers, business strategy, communication or excel literacy. 

Hiring managers will value this, since someone that knows the ropes when it comes to business and working life will fit in much quicker than someone who’s never had a serious job.

Write a persuasive summary

Hiring managers will notice your lack of education, so there’s no point in hiding it. Instead, take ownership of it and clearly explain it in your resume summary /bio.

For example, you could write:

“Responsible and diligent natural leader with 4 years’ experience in hospitality and retail. Having successfully managed a permanent team of sales staff, I’m looking to transfer my organisational and leadership skills to a Strategic Sales and Marketing role”  

Show how you learnt in other ways:

You might not have gone to college, but there are countless other ways you could have developed the skills necessary for the job (often much better ways too!).  Did you take an online training course in which you received an official certification? For example, coding bootcamps are an up-and-coming alternative to college that give you industry standard skills at a fraction of the cost and time. For interest, check out CareerKarma to compare bootcamps and find your perfect fit. For those that have already completed a bootcamp, join the waitlist to get matched to tech jobs specifically aimed at bootcamp graduates. 

Alternatively, if you never did any official courses, there’s no harm in stating that you are self-taught – and be sure to prove it. This might involve attaching a portfolio of work to your application, or using other creative strategies to show off your talents. 

How do you create a resume with no experience and no education?

If you have no high school diploma and you’ve never worked before, there’s no need to feel concerned. Ultimately, it’s all about getting your foot in the door, building experience and having patience. We’ve covered how to create a resume with no experience in a previous article, but here are some key points summarised:

Write not about your experience – but your potential

Very few jobs are perfectly matched to someone’s previous experience, so hiring managers are always looking for potential, rather than directly relevant experience. You’ll have soft skills even if you’ve never used them professionally – such as communication, collaboration, time-management etc. 

List any volunteering and hobbies

Fill your resume with details of personal projects, and what you learnt from them. Whether it be a black belt in Judo, reselling personal items online or raising money for a charity – all of these activities will have helped you build skills that could be interesting to an employer. For example:

“Raised money for the Red Cross by hosting a charity bake sale event in my community.

• Developed and distributed marketing materials to promote the event (fliers, social media posts, posters etc)
• Liaised with a team of volunteers and coordinated their movements on the day of the event
• Raised a total of $800 (with a profit of $650) for charity”

Get experience through volunteer work

Finally – create an action plan for getting relevant experience as soon as possible. This might be hard to get professionally (the classic “needs experience to get experience” conundrum), but there’s no reason why you can’t get it voluntarily.

For example, if you want to be a web developer, why not contact your local community centre, charity or youth group, and volunteer to build a new website for them. That way, you’ll have a great project for your portfolio, and you’ll be helping out your community.

These tips will hopefully help you get your foot in the door and on track to secure your first position. Good luck! 

More to explore

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How to Create a Resume With No Relevant Education

How to Create a Resume With No Education – Education and working experiences become the most important things to include in your resume. From those two qualifications, the recruiters could have a general knowledge of your skills and expertise. However, practically, most job seekers have experienced this situation — found a job that you are confident you are qualified for based on your skills and experiences but have different education degrees from the job ads description, or in another word, your education is not related to the job position. Then, should you pass that job? Certainly not!

A survey conducted by TopResume in 2019 showed that education is the last thing the recruiters assess from the applicant. Instead, their preferences were potential (45%), experience (37%), personality (16%), and last is education (only 2 percent).

It means a resume with an education degree that is not related to the job position will not prevent you from being hired if you know how to effectively highlight your skills and experience. 

Here are 5 tips that you can apply to create a stand-out resume even if your education is not related to the job position. 

1. Pay attention on your resume format 

If you want to apply for a job but do not have any formal or relevant education with the job description, use a hybrid resume format that combines the best parts of a chronological resume (which shows your work experience in reverse order) and a functional resume (which highlights your skills and achievements).

Furthermore, you could place your education section at the end of your resume. It is to show the recruiters that you have the skills and experience to do the job, although you don’t necessarily meet all of their educational criteria. Why put it at the end of your resume? To convince them that the first parts of your resume are so impressive so that your irrelevant education is not becoming a big deal.

See also : What is ATS Resume?

2. Write a persuasive professional summary

Your professional summary is playing an important role in your resume. It could influence the recruiter’s first impression of you. You can write a persuasive brief description of your key experience and skills that make you a good fit for the role. It will be better if you could match it with the keywords and phrases from the job description ads.

3. Highlight your relevant skills and experiences

Skills and experience are the selling points that you need to highlight when applying for a job that needs a specific education degree but you have a different educational background.  You need to emphasize specifically your experiences and achievements in doing the same or similar jobs, such as increasing the company’s sales and revenue, finishing projects on time or under budget, or successfully becoming a team or department leader. Write them all and make sure all those skills are relevant to the job description. By highlighting your skills, it will help you to show the recruiter that you would be a valuable asset to the company so that your irrelevant education is nothing, compared to your skills and expertise. 

4. Support your skills with your achievements

In order to convince the recruiters that you have the skills to do the job, you can include any supporting credentials or accomplishments in your previous professional experience, education, or skills section, including as follows:

• Publications : You can list in your resume any published materials such as books, white papers, and blog posts to show that you are an expert in the position that you are applying for. 
• Presentations : Any public speaking that you have done during your previous professional career could be an added value for the recruiters. It serves the same function as a publication which is to prove that you have the ability and knowledge in the position you are applying for.
• Awards : If you have won several awards during your professional career related to the position you are applying for, list them all in your resume. Any honors you have received for outstanding achievements or dedication in a similar job role definitely can support your resume to stand out amongst other applicants. 

Furthermore, including any related voluntary work that you have done before could be a plus point for your resume. It will show your interest and dedication to the position that you are applying for even if you have no specific education in that field. 

Additionally, you can list any related training such as gatherings, seminars, online classes, and certification programs that you have received during your previous work, whether it was at your initiative or provided by your employer. Some recruiters find it more impressive than a degree that is out of date and lacks additional training.

5. Keep your education section attractive

Keeping your resume’s education section positive and attractive is a must when writing a stand-out resume. Instead of focusing on an irrelevant education or having an education without any degree to offer, you could emphasize the ways you have taken the effort to study and improve your professional skills and knowledge during your professional career.

Furthermore, if you are still in the process of finishing your degree, you can state it in your resume, by writing it as follows: 

COLLEGE (City, State)

Enrolled in Bachelor of Art program, major in [ … ], degree expected [date]

Stating your expected graduation date is important to let the recruiter know that you are focused on your studies and also give them information on how much longer you have to finish your studies.

Well, those are 5 useful tips that you can use to create a stand-out resume even though you have an irrelevant education to the position you are applying for. Highlighting your skills and expertise is the key to passing the screening phase and catching the recruiter’s attention to get your dream job. 

We cannot deny the fact that some companies are applying a strict role for education, that they assess their employees based on their education degree, while other companies are putting education as the last thing they review, as what is more important is the employee’s abilities, experience, initiative, and track record of success. 

Not sure your resume format will pass the screening? This 9 Steps to Make Good Resume could help

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How to Write a Resume with No Experience [21+ Examples]

It’s time for your first job hunt !

You need to write a resume , which can be nerve-wracking if you don’t have any real-life work experience.  

You don’t know where to start, what to include, or which resume format to choose.

On top of that, most advice you find online isn’t relevant because it focuses on emphasizing professional background.

Chances are, you’re straight out of college with no experience to speak of. 

Or maybe you're a high-school student applying for a part-time job.

Whichever the case may be, you’re probably having trouble filling in the blank space on your resume that’s supposed to be the work experience section.

Worry not, though. In this guide, we’re going to help you create an AMAZING resume, no work experience is needed.

• How to format your resume with no work experience
• 4 sections to replace work experience (that help you stand out)
• 2 no-work experience resume samples (guaranteed to land you the job)

How to Format Your Resume [with No Work Experience + Examples] 

A resume format is the layout of your resume .

The ideal resume format usually depends on how much work experience you have. 

But what happens when you have none?

For a no-experience resume, we recommend that you use the reverse-chronological format . 

It’s the most popular format amongst applicants and a recruiter favorite.  

The sections in your reverse-chronological resume will be: 

• Header : Contact Information and Resume Statement
• Internships, extracurricular activities, projects, volunteer work  (These sections will replace your work experience)

In this article, we’ll walk you through each of these sections, and explain how to write them in a way that you stand out from the crowd.

Let’s dive in.

Start With Your Resume Header

Your resume header includes your contact information and your resume statement.  

Below, we’ll show you how to write both of these elements and how to include them in your header section.

Put Down Your Contact Information

Just like the name suggests, the first thing you add to your header is your personal and contact information.

It’s the easiest part to get right, just keep it short and to the point.

In your contact information section, mention the following:

• First and Last Name
• Phone Number
• E-mail Address
• A link to a professional profile (e.g. LinkedIn ) or personal webpage (if you have one)

Make sure to use a professional-sounding E-mail.

I.e. something along the lines of “[email protected].” 

You’re sure to leave a wrong impression if you use an email you created back in preschool ( “[email protected]” ).

Make sure to double-check, triple-check your contact information. After all, the recruiter can’t contact you if you have a typo in your phone number.

(Optional) Write Your Resume Objective

A resume objective is a short heading statement in your resume, where you describe your professional goals and aspirations.

Fun fact - hiring managers look at your resume for 5-6 seconds max .

Yep, that’s right. In most cases, the hiring manager is literally drowning in resumes. So, they have a couple of seconds to skim each one.

Well, this section is your chance to catch their attention (and let them know you’ve got what it takes).

A resume objective is usually 3-4 sentences max and includes information on:

• What your field of study is;
• What your skills and experiences are (ones that are relevant to the job );
• Why you’re applying for this position and/or this company.

As with contact information, you don’t need to label your resume objective with a title. Just write it underneath your contact information section.

Here’s an example of what a resume objective looks like:

“ Recent Communications graduate looking to apply for the role of Secretary at XYZ inc. Extremely organized with good writing and multitasking skills. Practical experience in management gained through several university projects, which involved coordinating tasks between different team members and ensuring that everyone was in sync with the latest information. ”

Emphasize Your Education

In your average resume, the first section would be work experience.

Since you don’t have any, though, you’ll want to omit that and replace it with the education section.

This way, you bring a lot more attention to your education, which is one of your main selling points. 

What should you include in the Education section? 

List the following features in this order:

• Name of the degree
• Name of the institution
• Years attended
• Location of the institution (optional)
• GPA (optional)
• Honors (optional)
• Relevant coursework (optional)
• Exchange programs (optional) 

As a general rule, if you studied in a prestigious university, you can add the name of the institution before the degree . This way, you will catch the recruiter’s attention faster.

Now, let’s go through some real-life examples:

BA in Computer Science

Tufts University

Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts

10/2015 - 06/2018

Magna Cum Laude

• Exchange Program in Greenville, NY

University of the Arts London

BA in Interior Design 

10/2017 - Ongoing

Westwood High

Boston, Massachusetts

Class of 2018 

Education Section Q&A

Still have some questions about the education section? Worry not, we’re about to give you all the answers!

Do I include my GPA?

• The answer here is a “maybe.” We’d recommend including a GPA if it’s higher than 3.5. Anything lower than that, and you might be underselling yourself. Keep in mind, though, that most employers don’t care about your grades.

Should I include my coursework?

• Yep, but just as long as it’s relevant. If you have no work experience, including courses can help establish your expertise in a field. Feel free to skip out on any basic courses, though. No one cares about your Maths 101 course.

Do I mention my degree if I dropped out?

• If you studied for more than 2-3 years, yes. A half-finished degree is still better than no degree. If you dropped out after a semester, though, that doesn’t really mean much.

Do I mention my high school degree?

• Only if it’s your only degree. If you have any higher education, your high school degree will only take up space.

4 Sections to Replace Work Experience [With Examples]

Now that you’ve listed your education, it’s time to fill that work experience gap in your resume.

You aren’t still worried about your lack of experience, right?

Because here are four sections you can use instead:

1) Internships

Have you done an internship that is relevant to the position you are applying for?

Now’s the time to mention it. 

Here is how you add an internship to your resume:

First , place the Internship section right after the education section. 

Title it: Internships

Second , write your internship title and role . Be specific.

If your internship was in the marketing department, instead of just “Intern”, say “Marketing Intern”. 

Third , put down the company name , location , and duration of the internship - in that order.

Marketing Intern

Full Picture

New York, NY

09/2019 - 12/2019

Easy and straightforward, right?

One more step:

Last , add a list of responsibilities you had as an intern in bullet point form. 

If you have any tangible achievements , even better! Write those in as well.

Finally, tailor both the responsibilities and achievements to the role you’re applying for.

Here’s how that looks in practice:

You used to be an Advertising Intern .

You’re applying for the position of Social Media Assistant . 

Here’s how you would put down your internship entry:

Internships

Full Picture Company

• Analyzed various social media platforms for trending content
• Managed company social media accounts
• Posted interested content on company Facebook page, increasing engagement by 25%

The listed responsibilities and achievements are directly connected to the Social Media Assistant job requirements.

You’re applying for a Content Writer position. Take a look at the same entry now:

• Assisted the Marketing Manager in writing press releases and new blog posts , which increased web traffic by 25%.

Notice how the internship title remains the same. 

But in this case you’re applying for a Content Writer position, so you are highlighting your writing experience instead.

For more examples, check out our full guides to an internship resume and how to write a cover letter for an internship .

2) Extracurricular activities

Still have a ton of empty space in your resume?

Extracurricular activities are always a great addition!

Whether they’re related to the job you’re applying for or not, they still show one thing:

You’re hard-working and motivated.

Imagine you’re the HR manager, and you can pick between these 2 candidates:

• Josh Johnson. Studied at Massachusetts State. 4.0 GPA, but that’s all he did in college - no extracurricular activities, internships, or anything else.
• Suzie Activeson. Also studied at Massachusetts state. 3.2 GPA. Vice-president of the business club. Served as a student government senator for 2 semesters. Organized several events as part of the marketing club.

Sure, Josh is probably qualified, but we don't know anything about him, other than that he studied a lot.

Suzie, on the other hand, can manage a team (business club VP), organize events (marketing club), and is passionate about making a change (student government).

So, which one would you pick?

Now, let’s explain how to list extracurricular activities on your resume:

• Title of the section: Extracurricular Activities
• Name of the organization and/or team 
• Your role in the organization
• Time period
• Noteworthy awards or achievements

Extracurricular Activities

Public Speaking Club

Vice-President

09/2018 - 09/2019

• Organized 10+ public speaking lectures
• Brought in speakers from all over the state
• Conducted public speaking workshops

3) Volunteering Experience

Volunteering shows dedication and passion to apply yourself. 

And there’s nothing recruiters love more than a committed employee.  

Whether you spend your free time in a soup kitchen, or you helped collect trash in the countryside, you can mention it in your resume!

But how do you list volunteering experience?

Well, it follows the same logic as your internship and extracurriculars:

• Title of the section: Volunteering Experience
• Name of the organization
• Relevant tasks and achievements (bullet points)

Volunteering Experience

Grand Archive Library Volunteer

Washington, D.C

08/2017 - 02/2019

• Performed secretarial activities, such as sorting mail, filing documents, answering phone calls, and taking messages. 
• Led a poetry reading event twice a month. 

4) Projects

In this section, you can add any relevant projects you were part of during your time in school or at an internship.

Your capstone project, graduation thesis, or research project go here. 

No need for work experience!

You can also mention any other type of project you’ve worked on in school, including:

• Business project for a real-life client
• Mock website you created in Web Design 101
• Fake magazine you created as a capstone project
• Market research you did as part of your graduation thesis
• Software you developed in Software Engineering class

...And so on!

Here’s how you put them down:

• Title of the section: Projects
• Project name
• Project type
• Related organization 
• Relevant responsibilities and achievements (optional)

And now, for some practical examples. Here’s what a journalism student project could look like:

Online Privacy and Social Media: a Journalistic Study of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica

Journalism Capstone Project

Harvard University

09/2018 - 11/2018

And here’s a law school example:

In-House Pro Bono Project

Columbia Law School

11/2018 - 03/2019

• Completed a full petition for U nonimmigrant status, interviewed legal persons and drafted affidavits.

If you have anything physical to back up your project with, feel free to include a link.

For example, if you’re a developer, you could include a link to your GitHub profile.

Stand out with your Skills 

There are two types of skills you can include on your no-experience resume: 

Soft skills and hard skills. 

What’s the difference? 

Soft skills are attributes or habits that describe how you work. They are not specific to a job, but indirectly help you adapt to the work environment. 

Here are some of the most popular ones: teamwork, responsibility, leadership, creativity, etc.  

Hard skills , on the other hand, refer to specific tools, technical knowledge and training and other work-specific skills. They apply directly to the job. 

Technical writing, C++, financial accounting, etc. are all examples of hard skills.

So, which of these skills should you include? 

That depends on a lot of factors, but as someone with no work experience, you should opt more for hard skills .

See, you could write all the cool buzzwords like “Critical Thinking” and “Leadership,” but the recruiter won’t believe you.

Fun fact - that’s what 90% of students do.

Instead, you should focus on skills that make you stand out , and in most cases, those are hard skills.

So, how do you decide which hard skills to mention? Easy! Just check the job ad you’re applying for.

Let’s say you’re applying for an entry-level creative internship, and you find these requirements in the job description: 

• Video editing experience (Premiere, After Effects)
• UI design experience
• Photo editing experience (Photoshop)
• Photography experience
• Experience with Adobe Illustrator

You’d transfer this into your skills section:

• Premiere & After Effects - Expert
• Photoshop - Expert
• UI Design - Intermediate
• Adobe Illustrator - Intermediate
• Photography - Intermediate

Not sure which skills to mention? Check out our article on 150+ must-have skills for all sorts of professions !

Other Sections You Could Include in a No-Experience Resume

A resume without experience does have one advantage: extra space . 

You can use this space to create other sections that highlight how awesome you are!

Here are some sections you could include:

• Hobbies and Interests . Add flair to your resume by showing your genuine passion and interest in the industry.
• Languages. Do you know a second language? Or even a third? Awesome! Most companies these days are pretty international and appreciate an extra language skill or two. Be mindful not to over-exaggerate your proficiency, though. Only knowing how to ask “¿Donde está la biblioteca?” doesn’t warrant a Spanish entry on your resume.
• Awards & Certifications . Do you have any fancy pieces of paper that show you’re smart? Maybe it’s an award for a terrific essay in a competition, or a certificate from an online course . Whichever the case may be, awards and certifications show that you’re a winner, so definitely include them in their own respective section.

Need Inspiration? 2 No Work Experience Resume Samples

Do you still have questions or don’t know where to begin?

That’s when a resume sample comes in handy. 

It provides you with a predetermined format.

It also helps you picture how your no-experience resume is supposed to look like. 

As Picasso put it: Good artists copy; great artists steal! 

Here are 2 no work experience resume samples you can borrow ideas from:

Business Student Resume Sample

High-school Student Resume Sample

Create a Matching Cover Letter

All done with your resume?

It’s not over yet. You need to write a cover letter to go with it.

A cover letter is a single-page letter that accompanies your resume and is part of your job application.

Look at it this way: your resume describes your experiences, and your cover letter explains (in simple words) how they’re relevant to the job.

Now, here’s a quick infographic on what to include in a cover letter:

Finally, as with everything else in your resume, make sure to keep your cover letter relevant, short, and concise.

The hiring manager doesn’t have time to read an autobiography, they’ll only review your cover letter for a few minutes. 

There’s a lot more to creating a good cover letter than what we just explained.

For a complete, all-you-need-to-know walk-through, check out our Complete Guide on How to Write a Cover Letter !

Key Takeaways

...and that’s a wrap!

At this point, you should know everything there is to know about writing a killer no-experience resume.

Just to keep things fresh, though, let’s quickly go through everything we’ve learned so far:

• When creating your no-experience resume, use the reverse-chronological format.
• You can create a killer no-experience resume by emphasizing your education instead. Include relevant internships, soft & hard skills, and projects.
• Other sections you can include on your resume are hobbies & interests, languages, certifications, or achievements.
• Keep all the content on your resume clear, precise, and relevant. Use bullet points for all your descriptions.
• After you’re done with your resume, you want to write an awesome cover letter that goes with it. The cover letter is a one-page letter that tells the story behind your resume content and reemphasizes why you’re a great fit for the job.

Related Resume Examples

• Internship Resume
• High School Resume
• Research Assistant Resume
• College Resume
• Students and Graduates Resume
• Teacher Resume

Recommended Readings:

• 43+ Resume Tips and Tricks to Land Your Next Job in 2024
• 20+ One-Page Resume Templates [Free Download]
• 35+ Common Interview Questions and Answers [Complete List]

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How to Write a Resume with No Experience: 5 Tips

Writing a resume with no formal work experience means emphasizing other aspects that showcase your skills and passions—like your education, extracurriculars, or volunteering. Learn how dedicated sections and a list of skills can round out your resume.

Resume with no experience: Template

Templates can help you organize your thoughts, inspire you with ideas, and take the guesswork out of how to format your resume. Regardless of your experience, starting a resume from scratch can take time and effort. 

Here’s a resume template you can use without work experience .

Here’s the resume filled out below.

How to write a resume with no experience: 5 tips

When you have no work experience to add to your resume, highlight your education, include relevant non-work experience, list your skills, and include a summary. 

1. Highlight your education.

If you have little work experience, emphasizing your education is a great way to showcase your strengths, interests, and background.

Some items you’ll want to consider including in the education section of your resume are:

Relevant coursework: Be sure to list any courses that emphasize skills that can be helpful for the job. These might include courses focused on technical skills—like economics, math, or computer science. Remember the importance of courses like English or writing that can show your competence in communication or other human skills. Look through job descriptions to see what kinds of skills are desirable for the field you’re interested in.

GPA and honours: A strong grade point average (GPA) can indicate a willingness to work hard and an aptitude for your field. Experts recommend listing your GPA if it’s at 3.0 or above [ 1 ]. If you’ve received any academic honours, list them, too.

Relevant projects: If you’ve completed projects in classes that are particularly relevant to the job you’re applying to, list and briefly describe them. If you have more than one, this can be its own section.

Certifications and online courses: If you’ve completed any coursework outside of school or received a professional credential, list these under the education section.

2. Include relevant experience.

When you start putting together a resume, you might feel like you don’t have any relevant experience. But digging into your life could unearth several experiences that show your professionalism, interests, and character—all things a potential employer can consider important.

You can include the following in a section titled “Relevant Experience”:

Volunteer experience: Volunteering demonstrates your community involvement, ability, willingness to work with others and interests. It might even have gained you some hands-on experience in a related field.

Part-time jobs: Maybe you worked part-time while in school, tutored or babysat kids, or helped your parents at their small business. If you’re applying for your first full-time job, don’t shy away from including these. Part-time jobs can demonstrate your employability and experience with key skills like customer service.

Extracurricular activities: Whether you played sports, were part of a cultural club, or participated in student council, extracurricular activities can help show a willingness to explore your interests, develop new skills, and work on a team. Don’t forget to include any leadership positions you might have held in these activities.

3. List your skills.

Chances are, even if you don’t have formal work experience, you probably have skills that will be useful in the field. Look through several job descriptions of positions you’re interested in to see what skills are commonly requested. 

The relevant skills you’ll choose to list will likely depend on the job but might include:

Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

Communication

Computer programming

Social media

Foreign languages

Public speaking

Customer service

Not sure if you have the skills you need to land the job you want?

Try emphasizing your transferable skills, like critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. Or try taking some coursework in essential skills in your field—data analysis, IT, UX design, and digital marketing skills are all in demand across many industries.

You can also look for entry-level jobs, which typically have fewer skill requirements than other jobs.

4. Include a summary.

A resume summary is a brief description of your experience and qualifications. Usually one to three sentences long, a summary gives recruiters a way of quickly understanding your background and assets as a worker.

Don’t forget to emphasize traits and skills that fit the job you’re applying to. You can also include a sentence about your objective —what type of job you’re looking for. Here are two examples:

Recent college graduate with a background in computer science and communications. Seeking to leverage strong skills in Python, C++, and public speaking for a full-time engineering opportunity.

Curious and hard-working high school honours student with a passion for working with children and one year of experience babysitting. 

5. Use a template.

Eliminate the stress of creating your own layout by using one of the many resume templates you can find online—like this one . 

Customize any template you find to fit your needs and tastes. A word processing program like Microsoft Word or Google Docs can be helpful. Need access to one? Try approaching your local public library. If you’re a student, your school library will likely have resources you can use. You can also create a Google account for free.

Start building skills for an in-demand career in project management, data analytics, UX design, IT support, sales, or social media marketing with a Professional Certificate from industry-leading companies like Google, Meta, and Hubspot. Gain hands-on experience through job-relevant projects you can add to your resume or portfolio.

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Article sources

Monster. " Work Your Education on Your Resume , https://www.monster.ca/career-advice/article/work-your-education-canada". Accessed February 7, 2024.

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How to Craft a Winning Resume: Step-By-Step Guide

A standout resume showcases your fit for the role and reflects your professional narrative and brand, emphasizing your qualifications, experience and the unique value you bring to the position.

Quality Verified

Updated: April 5, 2024

On This Page:

• Why Your Resume Matters
• Step 1: Job Description
• Step 2: Format
• Step 3: Objective
• Step 4: Work Experience
• Step 5: Skills
• Step 6: Education & Credentials
• Step 7: Optional Sections
• Step 8: Proofread

Additional Resources

Advertising & Editorial Disclosure

An effective resume is much more than a simple list of skills and career history. Your resume often makes the first impression on potential employers and is vital to securing an interview during a job search . When crafted correctly, it's a tool that reflects your qualifications, experiences and compatibility with the position you're applying for.

Importance of a Well-Crafted Resume

A well-crafted resume does more than state your work history — it's a strategic way to present your professional narrative in the most compelling light. Here's why a resume is vital in your job application process:

Step 1: Carefully Read the Job Description

The first step in crafting a compelling resume is a thorough understanding of the job description. It sets the direction for how you'll customize your resume to meet the specific needs and requirements of the role. Here's how to approach it:

Read Attentively

Begin by reading the job description carefully. Pay attention to the language used and the listed responsibilities and requirements. This will give you a clear idea of what the employer values most.

Highlight Key Skills and Qualifications

As you read, underline or highlight the essential skills and qualifications mentioned. These are usually listed under sections titled "Requirements," "Qualifications," or "Skills."

Match Your Skills

Compare your experiences and skills to those in the job description. Identify where your background aligns with the job requirements. This step is crucial for tailoring your resume to show you're an ideal fit.

Incorporate Keywords

Integrate keywords and phrases found in the job description throughout your resume. Use them in your summary, work experience and skills sections. This shows that your qualifications match the role and helps your resume get past Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), which screen resumes based on specific keywords.

Step 2: Choose the Best Resume Format

Choosing the right resume format ensures that your application captures the attention of hiring managers by presenting your background in the most effective and relevant way. Below are the three most commonly used resume formats, along with guidance on who should use each and why:

Chronological Resume

This format arranges your work experience in reverse chronological order, beginning with your most recent job at the top. It's ideal for individuals with a solid and steady work history. The chronological resume highlights career progression and is particularly effective for those looking to advance in the same field.

Best for: Seasoned professionals with consistent employment in their field.

Example: A marketing manager with 10 years of experience seeking to become a marketing director.

Functional Resume

This format emphasizes your skills and abilities rather than the chronological chronology of your professional experience. It's beneficial for those with career gaps in their employment, newcomers to the workforce or career changers, as it allows them to highlight how their skills transfer to the position they're applying for.

Best for: Career changers, individuals with employment gaps or those with diverse skill sets not tied to specific roles.

Example: A professional transitioning from a teaching career to a corporate training position, emphasizing skills in curriculum development, presentation and educational technology.

Combination Resume

A hybrid of the chronological and functional formats, this style allows you to showcase your relevant skills and work history. It's perfect for those with a solid employment record who also want to highlight specific skills that are particularly relevant to the job they're applying for.

Best for: Professionals with a robust work history and specific, transferable skills directly applicable to the job opening.

Example: A software developer with extensive experience in project management looking to focus on agile project management roles.

Step 3: Write a Compelling Resume Summary or Objective

Your summary or objective should introduce your resume and encapsulate your professional identity and value proposition, making a compelling case for why you're the ideal candidate for the position. Here's how to differentiate between the two and write them effectively:

Resume Summary

Ideal for experienced professionals, a summary provides a concise overview of your career achievements and key strengths. It highlights your experience, major accomplishments and the value you bring to a potential employer.

Example: "Customer Service Manager with over seven years of experience specializing in improving customer satisfaction and team performance. Achieved a 30% increase in customer satisfaction at XYZ Co., demonstrating proficiency in CRM software and effective team leadership."

Resume Objective

Best suited for those at the entry level, career changers or applicants with gaps in employment, an objective focuses on your career goals and how they align with the company's needs, emphasizing your enthusiasm and potential contributions.

Example: "Recent Computer Science graduate passionate about software development and problem-solving. Aiming to apply academic knowledge and innovative thinking in a Junior Developer role. Awarded university prize for excellence in project development, showcasing strong technical skills and creative solutions."

• Be Concise: Keep your summary or objective brief, targeting three to five lines.
• Showcase Your Value: Mention specific skills and experiences that align with the job description, indicating how you can solve problems or add value to the team.
• Use Active Language: Start sentences with action verbs and use the active voice to convey dynamism and proactivity.

Step 4: Detail Your Work Experience

The work experience section of your resume is where you showcase your professional journey and demonstrate your value to potential employers. Here's how you can effectively list your work experience:

Chronological Order

Begin with your most recent position and proceed backward in time. This format allows employers to quickly understand your current level of responsibility and track your career progression.

Dynamic Action Verbs

Initiate each bullet point with a strong action verb (e.g., led, developed, increased, optimized) to capture attention and actively convey your role in each achievement.

Quantify Achievements

Wherever possible, use numbers, percentages and specific outcomes to quantify your achievements. This approach provides tangible evidence of your contributions and impact on your roles.

Beyond Duties

Focus on your achievements in each position rather than simply listing job duties. Describe how you added value, solved problems or improved processes. This distinction helps employers gauge your potential impact on their organization.

Tailor to the Job

Select experiences and accomplishments most relevant to the position you're applying for. Tailoring this section to the job description ensures you highlight the skills and experiences that align closely with what the employer is seeking.

Step 5: Highlight Your Skills

The skills section can be an opportunity to respond directly to the job description's call for specific competencies. Follow these steps to make your skills section stand out:

Inventory Your Skills

Compile a comprehensive list of your skills, including technical skills and interpersonal skills. No skill is too small to consider.

Prioritize Relevant Skills

From your inventory, select the skills that most closely match the job description. These are the ones you should highlight in your resume.

Balancing Hard and Soft Skills

A well-rounded candidate possesses hard and soft skills . Hard skills demonstrate your specific qualifications for the job, while soft skills illustrate how you interact with others and approach your work.

Presenting Your Skills

When listing your skills, consider using bullet points for clarity and ease of reading. Provide brief examples of how you've applied each skill in a professional setting, either within the skills section itself or elsewhere in your resume.

Integrating Soft Skills Throughout

While it's important to list soft skills, you can also integrate them into your work experience and achievements.

Step 6: Include Your Education and Credentials

This section should highlight your academic achievements and underscore your commitment to professional development. Consider the following tips to showcase your education and credentials effectively:

List Your Highest Education First

Begin with the most advanced degree you've earned, followed by others in reverse chronological order. For each, include the degree type, your major, the name of the institution and your graduation year (or expected graduation year if you're currently enrolled).

Certifications and Licenses

List any professional certifications or licenses you hold, especially those directly relevant to the job. Include the name of the certification, the issuing organization and the date of attainment or expiration, if applicable.

Relevant Coursework, Honors and Awards

Mention any courses, honors or awards directly relevant to the job or that showcase exceptional achievement. Place these details under the appropriate educational entry, keeping the descriptions brief yet descriptive.

Formatting for Clarity

Use bullet points for each element to ensure the section is easily scannable. This helps potential employers quickly grasp your academic and professional learning achievements.

Prioritizing Information

Your educational background will be particularly important if you're starting your career or a recent graduate. In this case, consider placing your education section above your work experience. For those more advanced in their careers, education can follow the work experience section, focusing more on degrees and certifications than on coursework or honors.

• Master of Science in Data Analytics – XYZ University, 2023
• Specialization: Big Data Processing and Visualization Technique
• Honors: Received the Dean's Award for Outstanding Graduate Research

Certifications

• Certified Data Analyst – Data Science Institute, 2022

Step 7: Consider Optional Resume Sections

In addition to the essential components of your resume — such as your career summary, skills, work experience and education — consider including optional sections to further develop your brand, showcase a comprehensive skill set and stand out from other candidates. Select optional sections that add value and are relevant to the position you're applying for. Here are some possibilities:

Volunteer Work

Highlight significant volunteer roles and community service activities. These experiences can illustrate your commitment to social causes, leadership abilities and application of professional skills in a volunteer setting.

Detailing relevant certifications underscores your dedication to professional development and expertise in your field.

Share hobbies that reflect positively on your personality and offer insights into your soft skills, such as teamwork, creativity or leadership. Choose hobbies that are relevant or could contribute uniquely to the job.

Awards and Honors

Include professional or academic recognitions to emphasize your commitment to excellence and achievement in your career or field of study.

Listing language proficiencies can demonstrate your ability to communicate in diverse environments, an essential skill in many global or multicultural roles.

Professional Affiliations

Show your engagement with the professional community through memberships in associations, which can indicate a broader network and up-to-date industry knowledge

Step 8: Proofread and Format Your Resume

Errors, typos and inconsistencies in formatting can significantly detract from your professionalism and attention to detail. Here are some strategies to ensure your resume is polished and professional:

Be Consistent

Use a consistent format for headings, bullet points and fonts throughout your resume. This uniformity helps maintain a clean, professional look.

Choose a Professional Font

Use a professional, easy-to-read font such as Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman. Maintain a font size of 10 to 12 points for body text and slightly larger for headings.

Bullet Points

Use bullet points to list achievements and responsibilities, improving the document's readability and making it easier for employers to scan.

Margins and Spacing

Set your margins to 1" on all sides to create a balanced, uncluttered layout. Adequate spacing between sections further enhances readability.

Multiple Rounds of Proofreading

Go beyond a cursory spell check. Read your resume several times, each focusing on different elements — first for typos and grammar, then for consistency in formatting and finally for overall flow and persuasiveness.

Get a Second Opinion

Having someone else review your resume can provide valuable insights and catch errors you might have missed.

Use Digital Tools

Leverage grammar and spell-check tools like Grammarly or Microsoft Word's Review features for an additional layer of error checking.

Here's a list of valuable resources for crafting a standout resume that effectively navigates modern job application processes. Each offers unique insights and guidance tailored to different aspects of resume writing and job search strategies:

• GCFLearnFree.org : Features a wide range of guides, including formatting resumes for Applicant Tracking Systems and tailoring resumes to specific job applications​​.
• U.S. Department of Labor : Shares tips for writing a federal resume, including tailoring your resume to the job's requirements and selecting the right format​​.
• Workshops for Warriors : Provides targeted advice for veterans transitioning to civilian work, focusing on showcasing military training, certifications and soft skills​​.

About Nathan Paulus

Nathan Paulus is the Head of Content Marketing at MoneyGeek, with nearly 10 years of experience researching and creating content related to personal finance and financial literacy.

Paulus has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of St. Thomas, Houston. He enjoys helping people from all walks of life build stronger financial foundations.

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How to Land Your First Job — Even With No Experience

Trying to get a job in your early career can be a challenge. Here's how to get started.

Melissa Russell

Navigating the job market can be a daunting exercise, even for professionals with long careers and lots of experience behind them.

But whether you’re a recent or soon-to-be college graduate or a high school student contemplating the future , figuring out how and when to start your first job search is even more intimidating.

How are you supposed to get an entry-level job when you have little or no job experience? Even if you don’t have formal job experience, you do have value to offer employers. These tips can help you land an interview and gain the early professional experience that will kick off your career.

What Does It Mean to Have No Experience?

Generally speaking, having no experience in a job means you have not held any positions similar to ones that you are interested in applying for. But, even if you are new to the working world, you have likely gained skills in school, through volunteer work, or through internships that will transfer to the workplace.  

If you are applying for a job that is listed as “entry level” companies already know you have limited or no experience. What they want are candidates who are intelligent and reliable and are quick learners who can soon master the skills needed to do the job.

If you are a high school student thinking about next steps, check out Harvard Summer School’s Career Pathways courses, where you can learn how to prepare for a future career.

What Is an Entry-Level Job?

Although entry-level jobs can vary by industry, for the most part these jobs are the first step on the career path. It is an entry point that either requires no experience or minimal education and experience to apply. They are the lowest ranked jobs — compared to mid-level or senior-level roles — and are meant to help employees develop needed experience and skills. 

It may be the first position you take as you begin your career, and there will likely be training involved. To find out about entry level jobs in your area of interest, go on a job platform and search “entry level” under a company’s name. 

Even if a job posting asks for experience you don’t have yet, apply anyway! You might have a background interesting enough to qualify for an interview.

What Do Employers Look for in New Hires?

A few important traits employers look for in new hires include:

Employers value employees with ambition because they are motivated and focused on what they want to achieve. If you have big dreams, let your future employer know. You’ll be demonstrating you are striving for something beyond just paying your bills.

Communication skills

Employers want employees who show competence in verbal and written communication. Before you send in your cover letter and resume, or an emailed query, be sure your communication is clear, concise, and spell checked. If you land an interview, be sure to speak clearly and demonstrate active listening.

Dependability

A dependable employee follows through on assignments, is punctual, meets deadlines, and has a strong work ethic.

Eagerness to learn

Being willing to learn can help you expand your skill set, adapt to situations, and improve yourself. It also shows your employer that although you have a lot to learn, you’re committed to learning and growing your professional acumen.

Positive people help create healthy work environments and are valuable team members. When you are positive at work, people will likely follow your example.

Employers want people who can work effectively in a group, and are likely to ask in an interview how you work as a member of a team.

Learn more about Career Pathways

How to Make a Job Application Stand Out

There are numerous ways you can optimize your job applications to improve your chances of success.

Inexperience can be an asset

Don’t try to hide your inexperience — embrace it! Show that you are motivated to learn by highlighting your other skills, such as those listed above.  

For example, if you are interested in working in journalism or public relations, let your prospective employer know you developed strong writing skills in a challenging writing class. If you studied abroad , share how the experience enriched you and taught you about cultural differences. 

Share brief personal anecdotes in cover letters and interviews that show how life lessons taught you to be dedicated, hardworking, and motivated; the very qualities employers are looking for in new employees.

Do your research

Learn about the company you are interested in and tie their mission to your personal passions and life experiences. For example, if you want to work for a film studio, be sure to discuss how you loved movies growing up. Explain how that shared passion will enable you to learn quickly once you’re hired.

Build your skills

As you peruse job listings, pay attention to the skills employers are looking for and find commonalities. Do they all seem to use a specific database management system? If so, find out how to gain experience with that platform, through online training or courses at a local college. 

If you are still in college or recently graduated, you might be eligible for an internship in an industry that interests you. Sometimes internships are paid or come with a stipend, and many times, they lead to a job offer with the company after the internship is completed. 

A 2019 study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that more than 70 percent of internships led to a job offer.

Earn a professional certificate or certification

Professional certification can be an invaluable addition to your resume. In technical careers like cybersecurity, IT, or data analysis, holding industry-approved skills will show potential employers you are qualified to do the work — even if you have never held a job in the industry.

Networking involves building relationships with people in the industry that interests you. These people will be immensely helpful as you apply for entry level positions.

Resume and Cover Letter Tips

A resume is your opportunity to highlight the value you bring to an employer. A cover letter makes the argument that you are the best person for a particular job. Employers will have different needs, even for the same type of job, so it is necessary to customize your resume for each application to improve your chances of getting an interview.

Create a “master” resume highlighting the qualifications, experiences, and skills that make you right for this job, including relevant coursework such as computer science, math, economics, or writing. If you have a strong GPA and academic honors, list them. Additionally, if you have relevant volunteer or extracurricular experience — particularly if you held a leadership role — if you worked in internships or attended programs like Harvard Summer School , include those as well.

When you are planning to apply for a particular position, read through the job description and note the skills, experiences, and qualifications they are seeking with those that match your own. Tailor your “master” resume by highlighting the specific skills and qualifications emphasized in the job posting. Mirror the language they use, whenever possible, to help get through an automated scanning tool such as applicant tracking systems.

Tailor your cover letter by elaborating on those same skills and experiences you highlighted in your resume. If you completed projects in classes that would be relevant to a future employer, briefly describe them. Relevant skills will likely vary depending on the industry you are interested in, but could include:

• Microsoft Office, Google Suite, or Adobe products like Word, Google Sheets, and Photoshop
• Computer programing
• Social media
• Multiple languages
• Public speaking

If you are having trouble identifying relevant skills, consider volunteering at an organization that could provide that necessary experience. This will also give you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the day-to-day workings in the field and build relationships that will be useful to you later on.

How to Leverage Job Boards

Many employers list entry-level positions on job boards such as Indeed , Zip Recruiter , Monster or LinkedIn.  

LinkedIn is a social media platform designed to connect people professionally and you can seek out recruiters at companies you are interested in, as well as industry professionals. The LinkedIn jobs section can give you insight into what sort of careers are available in industries that interest you, the types of skills needed, and the names of recruiters and hiring managers who may be willing to answer your questions. 

You can also use LinkedIn to research relevant professionals to gain insights, research companies, set alerts for entry-level jobs, and find alumni from your high school or college to connect with.Consider using LinkedIn to help build your personal brand to show off what you can offer potential employers.

Increase Your Value

Once you’ve determined what skills are sought out in your ideal first job, identify gaps in your experience so you can invest in becoming the ideal candidate. 

Whether you’re in high school, college, or recently graduated, Harvard Summer School may have a course that can help you build these skills such as Web Programming with Python and JavaScript or Strategic Communication and Public Relations . If it’s the interview you’re worried about, consider a Public Speaking course .  If you have yet to decide what career path to take, consider an exploratory course like these Career Pathways courses to find what’s right for you.

Explore college programs for high school students

Explore summer courses for college students

About the Author

Melissa Russell is an award-winning journalist and editor living in the Boston area. She has written for many news outlets as well as for websites, trade publications and other platforms.

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How to Boost Your Resume Without a Summer Internship

Summer internships are one of the most common ways to gain relevant experience, but they certainly aren’t the only. Many students don’t realize that there are still several ways to build your engineering qualifications and strengthen your resume. If you won’t be participating in an internship this summer, it is advantageous to complete at least one alternative experience that you can add to your resume. 

On campus research opportunities are available to undergraduate students both during the semester and over the summer. Even if you don’t think the grad school or research paths align with your long-term career goals, undergraduate research experiences provide you with technical knowledge and hands-on skills. You can also use research lab experience to highlight your problem solving, quick learning, and collaborating abilities.

Micro-Internships and Projects

Companies post micro-internship opportunities when they are looking for help on one specific project. The project’s scope, deadline, and pay may vary. Micro-Internships give students the flexibility of setting their own work schedule/hours. Similar to traditional internships, micro-internships require you to apply technical and soft skills in a professional environment to meet expectations and complete the project on time. You can also learn new skills by engaging in personal projects. Whether it involves software, hardware, or a combination of the two, you can tailor personal projects to meet your specific needs. This type of project highlights your ability to take initiative, use your resources, and work independently.

Online Courses and Certifications

If you’re looking to learn something completely new (like circuits, a coding language, or CAD software) there are a ton of free resources – especially for students! These include Coursera , edX , SolidProfessor , Tinkercad , LinkedIn Learning , and more. There are even complete computer science courses from sources like Harvard University available on YouTube. If you receive certifications, these can be included under the “Qualifications” section of your resume.

Other Work Experience

Non-engineering work experiences bring more value to your resume than you may expect. Working as a restaurant server, grocery store cashier, or summer camp counselor speaks to your interpersonal skills and responsibility. Every company has customers, so who wouldn’t want to hire someone with customer service experience? You may also want to mention working in a fast-paced environment, applying attention to detail, or implementing time management.

Volunteering

Whether or not it is for a STEM-related organization, volunteering showcases causes that are of personal significance to you. This shows some of your personality and can even serve as great conversation starters in an interview. In addition to your transferrable skills, volunteer experiences show that you are a committed leader in your community.

“Don’t follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Prove you're the right fit for the team

When hiring managers are looking for the next new member of their team, they're not just looking for someone who can carry out the day-to-day tasks associated with the role. No, they're also looking for someone who will fit well into their team and contribute as a valued part of that unit. 

With that in mind, it will help your job search efforts if you can show on your resume that you know how to be a good team player. In this post, we'll identify the top 8 teamwork skills to put on your resume and look at how and where to include them. We've got some examples, too, so you can understand the best way to show off this important skill. 

The essential skills for teamwork on your resume

Adding teamwork to your resume isn't as simple as throwing in the line “works well independently and in a team.” In fact, we'd strongly recommend you avoid that line! It's generic, overused, and doesn't show how you add value. Instead, try adding some of these skills to show how you can excel in a team environment:

1. Conflict resolution

Unfortunately, conflict is a fact of life - even more so in a work environment, where you're thrown together for hours on end with people you may not choose to associate with otherwise. It's equally true that conflict doesn't make for a very happy or productive team. If you're the type that can step in to diffuse conflict or prevent it from escalating, that's well worth showcasing on your resume. 

2. Giving and receiving feedback

As companies seek continuous improvement in every aspect of their operation, change is necessary. That could mean change on a company, team, or personal level. But once the need for change is identified, it needs to be communicated. Whether you're the person giving or receiving feedback to enable this change, it's important that it's done graciously, fairly, and non-confrontationally. If that's a skill you have in your arsenal, why not weaponize it on your resume?

3. Communication

Communication  is one of the most vital teamworking skills of all! It encompasses a host of other skills, the main ones being speaking, writing and listening. If you can engage with others, convey information articulately, and understand the concerns of colleagues, you can put some very in-demand teamwork skills on your resume. 

4. Delegation

No one can do everything and knowing when to ask for help is a superpower. If you can recognize that someone else in the team may be better placed than you to complete a certain task, it's time to activate your delegation skills. When you can do this, you're well on your way to mastering a key leadership attribute and working your way further up the career ladder. That's not to say it's OK to offload all your work onto others though - that's likely to lead to bad feeling and rapidly crash team morale .

While you may not always agree with your colleagues, showing respect is non-negotiable for team cohesion. The ability to value others' perspectives and treat other people as you'd like to be treated yourself is hugely important in a team environment. If you can successfully work with the quirks of different personalities without provoking conflict, it could be worth letting your future employers know by showcasing it on your resume. 

6. Collaboration

Collaboration is at the heart of teamwork. Being able to work harmoniously with others is a vital teamwork skill for your resume, so make sure you show how you've achieved strong outcomes by working collaboratively either with your team, with other teams across the business, or even with suppliers and partners. 

7. Positivity

There's nothing quite like a moaner for sucking the lifeblood out of a team. You know the type – always on hand with some salacious gossip, a complaint, or a generally negative attitude. They sow discontent, which leads to low morale and is often accompanied by a decrease in productivity. Prove you're not that person by showing off your positive, can-do attitude on your resume.

8. Relationship building

Some people seem to naturally strike up a rapport with others, while some people find it a bit trickier. If you're the type that can make a friend of anyone, you have a great teamwork skill for your resume. Building positive relationships not only improves team harmony, it's also valuable for engaging wider teams such as suppliers, customers and colleagues from other functions. It's easy to see why it's a great teamwork skill on your resume!

Where to show professional teamwork skills on your resume

Now you know which specific teamwork skills are in demand, but how can you show them off on your resume? There are several places where you could consider adding them. 

In the Profile section 

The Profile is the elevator pitch at the top of your resume. In this short paragraph, the aim is to convince the reader that you have the skills and experience required for the vacant role and that it's worth reading your resume in greater depth. Depending on the role, it may be worth highlighting a couple of teamwork skills here. Make sure the skills you select are the ones most relevant to the vacancy and, if possible, frame them as a success that has directly benefited the business. 

In the Key Skills section 

The Key Skills section seems like the ideal place to add teamwork skills, doesn't it? Not so fast! Ideally, this section will be weighted in favor of hard skills - they're the job-specific skills you've acquired throughout your career. While it's OK to include some soft skills here too, remember that a long list isn't particularly engaging to read and limit yourself to keywords that you find in the job advert. 

In the Professional Experience section 

Now we get to the meat of the matter. In the Professional Experience section, you can really show off and emphasize all those amazing teamwork skills on your resume to position yourself as a fantastic addition to any team. You have a bit more space here to give detail and context, so that you're doing more than just saying “I'm a great team player” - you're actually proving it. 

In the Education or Professional Development section 

These sections aren't traditionally used to show off specific skills but, if you're light on work experience, you can expand this section to demonstrate skills you've gained while studying. Perhaps you were part of a team project at university or completed a course in conflict resolution that you could highlight here. 

In the Hobbies and Interests section 

While the Hobbies and Interests section is by no means obligatory, you can use it to show off skills you've developed outside of work. This is particularly handy if you're struggling to add teamwork skills elsewhere on your resume. Sports teamwork skills are great on a resume for students, for example.

How to add teamwork skills on your resume

As with any skill on your resume, the best way to add it is by showing, rather than telling. That means providing concrete examples of when you've used a particular skill - ideally with a positive outcome that benefited the business or the team. Below you'll find some teamwork skills examples, so that you can fully understand how to incorporate them and use them as inspiration for your own document.

Example of teamwork in the Profile section 

A positive and customer-focused Customer Service Assistant, with an extensive knowledge of the railway network. Confident handling delays, cancellations, and security and takes a calm, professional approach to resolving incidents and complaints. Communicates respectfully with colleagues and customers alike to quickly build a rapport. Possesses an in-depth understanding of health and safety requirements and prioritizes customer welfare. 

Example of teamwork in the Key Skills section 

Product Management   |   Stakeholder Communications   |   Conflict Management   |   Analysis   |   Project Management   |   Strategic Thinking   |   Agile Methodology

Examples of teamwork in the Professional Experience section 

Mediated between a Junior Developer and the Team Manager to resolve conflict over processes, listening to both sides and proposing a solution accepted by both parties 

Conducted performance reviews, provided constructive feedback on areas for improvement and offered support and development opportunities to address them

Liaised with teams across the business, communicating persuasively to win their buy-in to new projects and delivering confident presentations to large audiences

Turned around a delayed project by reviewing plans and delegating tasks fairly across the team, achieving delivery 2 days ahead of the original deadline

Led by example to build a cohesive and productive team that respected and valued each other despite having very different personalities

Negotiated a $10,000 cost reduction with a supplier, having collaborated with them to identify and address inefficiencies in the current supply process

Motivated colleagues to complete a complex project on time by adopting a positive, can-do attitude to overcoming challenges

Increased team output by 15% by instilling a sense of common purpose through team-building exercises and optional team social events

Example of teamwork skills in the Education section 

Course: Conflict Management and Resolution, 2024

BSc degree: French and English Literature, University of Alabama, 2023

Gained skills in collaboration and delegation as leader of a group project

Example of teamwork skills in the Hobbies and Interests section 

Soccer player:  Contributed significantly to the team that won the Alabama Youth Cup

PTA member:   Collaborated with other parents to raise $10,000 for the school 

Other words for team working

Of course, you don't want to repeat “teamwork” and “team working” multiple times throughout your resume. Switch up the vocabulary to ensure you're presenting a compelling and engaging read. Try these ideas: 

Collaborating

Communicating

Cooperating

Supporting 

Working together

How to improve your teamwork skills 

Not everyone was born a natural collaborator and not everyone has had the opportunity to contribute to a team before they first hit the job market. If you're looking to develop or improve your teamwork skills, there are plenty of ways to do so.

Understand your role

By fully understanding your role in the team and the role of the team in the wider business, you'll be equipped to fulfill your responsibilities and support others in fulfilling theirs. Hold yourself accountable for completing all your tasks, as they will likely impact other members of the team. 

Stay open minded

Actively seek feedback and act on it. Listen to what others are saying and try to look at issues from their perspective. Accept differences rather than taking a negative attitude. 

Get organized

An organized team member is a reliable team member, so plan, schedule, use apps, and set yourself deadlines to ensure you're not letting anyone down. 

Push yourself

Ask if there are opportunities to contribute to teams beyond your day-to-day role - if a project is looming, you may get the chance to work as part of a different team, with different objectives and different perspectives. Take the opportunity to learn from others and push yourself beyond your comfort zone. 

Teamwork skills on a resume are essential!

Whichever role or industry you're aiming for, it's almost guaranteed that you'll be part of a team – small or large, on-site or remote, traditional or matrix. Therefore, it makes sense that you dedicate a corner of your resume to proving your skills in this area. With our advice, you're now well-placed to make sure your resume demonstrates your excellence in this area. 

If you'd like an expert eye on your resume before you send it out to recruiters and hiring managers, why not submit it for a free, no obligation resume review ?

Recommended reading:

The 10 Secrets of Effective Team Management

11 Best Administrative Skills for Your Resume (With Examples)

How to Create an Effective STAR Method Resume (With Examples)

Related Articles:

How to Add Dean's List on Your Resume + Examples

11 Best Marketing Skills for Your Resume + Examples

Highlighting Writing Skills on Your Resume

See how your resume stacks up.

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