When choosing a place for the education section of your resume, there are several things that need consideration:
o Breadth of your experience
o Professional accomplishments versus educational qualifications
o School where you studied or obtained your most relevant degree
New Graduates
New graduates are not expected to have significant work experience, unless previously employed. The education section for a new graduate can stay at the beginning of the resume.
o List activities that you have undertaken at school and honors or scholarships earned separately.
o List the subjects or courses that you have studied. If required, you can emphasize any course you took separately, over and above the regular requirements of your school.
o If you passed out with a high GPA or class ranking, do not forget to mention these as well.
Experienced Attorneys
Experience takes importance for an experienced attorney. Unless you have earned a law degree very recently and you feel that your education needs to take precedence, place it towards the end of your resume.
Transferable Skills: If you are thinking of a career change, you need to emphasize your transferable skills within your experience more than your education. For example, if you hold a degree in business administration but want to take up a legal career now, placing your education section at the top of your resume does nothing to tell a prospective employer about your abilities to do well as an attorney. Instead, take your transferable skills and list them prominently towards the beginning of the resume. You can move your education section all the way down in this case.
High Relevance of Education: If your education is very relevant to the job you are seeking, consider placing it on top, before the experience section. This way, a prospective employer can see that you are trained for the work at hand. Together with your experience this will enable you to hit the ground running, significantly cutting down on training time, effort and money for your employer.
Inconsistency in Education: In case of inconsistencies in education, like a deferred degree or a course you are currently pursuing, it helps to place the education section towards the end of the resume. If you have applied for a particular degree or are undergoing training that will result in a degree at a later time, you can specify these details together with the expected time of graduation in a month-year format.
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