Adding a qualification to your CV is like showing off your spots.
Get your qualification/s noticed
While not every position requires a qualification and it is true that they mean less and less nowadays, most vacancies or online job adverts state the requirement of some sort of formal and recognisable study.
Qualification sections on CVs are best added straight after your personal details or introduction section. Companies want to get the boxes ticked and out of the way, so for example if you require a degree for a certain vacancy, this is needed right at the start of your CV or application so that the recruiter can easily scan through and see whether or not to read further. Never put qualifications at the end of your CV.
Add it right, sell it tight
Adding qualifications to your CV must be done right. It must be written in the shortest possible way, yet still show clearly all the relevant details attributed to it. And, if possible, sell you through some achievements you may have earned along the way. Generally, a qualification is added in the following way or order:
- Name of the qualification – This must be the recognised name. It’s worth doing some research on what employers are calling it. Also, provide an English translation is necessary.
- Educational institution – where you studied is often important, not only by name, but to help understand the qualification obtained
- Date – this really should contain months and years, not just years. The reason is that some people hide information
- Completeness – State if the qualification is complete or not and don’t lie on your CV! If you aren’t ever going to finish it, don’t write “In progress”, then just say it is “Incomplete”. If you don’t write anything, it will be considered complete and if not, companies will take this as a bad sign that you are hiding other things. Not putting down months is also often seem as hiding something on your CV.
Don’t use bullet points, rather add the qualifications under a heading and use two lines, one with the degree and name of institution and the second line for the date and whether complete or not.
You could also write one line with spacing to state the name, institution and date all in one go.
Some candidates argue about the order of the qualifications list, however my belief is that the most recent (usually very relevant in any event) is best left at the top and the rest listed chronologically underneath.
Only relevant qualifications, please
Don’t add every certificate you have received since primary school. Just put down those most relevant to your work and career. You could also have two or three CVs with a different focus where certain qualifications and experience are listed differently. But leave out anything that would make your CV cluttered and reduce your chances for an interview due to an recruiter not being able to find what they need in a quick CV scan.
Just writing “Schooling complete” or “MBA 2016” obviously isn’t going to cut it. You need to add a qualification to your CV in a short, succinct and complete manner. Use the above formats and advice to clean up your the qualification section of your CV and get yourself noticed right away.
