It doesn't help that so many people still put their Education section at the very top of their resumes -- even people who have been in the working world for decades.

I can't understand the mentality there. No matter where you went to school, your work experience is vastly more important once you've had a couple of jobs in your chosen profession. When you've first graduated, sure, list your college info at the top of your resume, and bury your work experience at Subway and the campus bookstore below that. But as soon as you have relevant work experience, move that to the top, most recent first, and put the Education section after *all* of your work experience.

I've struggled in recent years to keep my resume to a clean two pages (and I have an even leaner one page version), and I'm only 27. My "Summary of Qualifications" goes at the top, followed by Professional Experience starting with my most recent, down to the oldest work experience, which was my first industry job when I was 18, with the last few jobs pared down to one sentence. Then Additional Experience, covering non-professional but still applicable experience. And only *then*, at the bottom of page 2, do I list my Education, and again, I keep it very brief.

My experience has been that with my professional credentials front and center, that's what potential employers talk to me about during interviews, not what classes I took in college, much less the year I graduated. Which is as it should be: they're hiring me for my most recent work experience, not the Sociology classes I took a decade ago.

Sounds like your resume is in great shape, Ryot! And you're absolutely correct, education should not be prioritized as the first thing an employer sees unless you've just graduated.

I'd always been told to put the Education section first since your doctorate pedigree is looked at first. Career centers for my professional affiliations suggested that even if you have relevant work experience, the ranking of the school and who your advisor was is what matters most to employers hiring PhDs. They also said that you shouldn't limit what you have on you resume to a certain number of pages, especially with most resumes being submitted in text file at the company websites. Perhaps this is just for my field though.

actually it can be a bit tricky but I work at a top foreclosure law firm in the state of Texas, but I do data entry and I would say there is possibly eighteen people in my section but I would say that fifteen of us are under the age of twenty. I have plenty of co-workers that are young, I would say at the starting positions we have people as young as sixteen. It's more a matter of who you know. Because most of us teenagers have parents that work for our company.

I think it's inaccurate to make sweeping generalizations about the one and only way to correctly write a resume. goatimpact makes a great point about why the education section should be at the top for his/her field. I know I still keep mine at the top even though I've been out of college for a long time because in the town I'm in, the fact that I have a BA and it's from a reputable college puts me well ahead of most of my competition. That and the fact that I'm trying to get out of my career field and move in to another make the way my resume is set up make sense.

Yea, I know that's how they tell my age too. I have quite a lot of experiance for a 21 year old, but they can't seem to get past how young I am.

Never put your graduation year, amature mistake!

I have different versions of my resume, depending on what type of job I am applying for. Since I graduated college when I was 26, I have never and will never put my graduation date on there; the employer will always think I am younger than I really am.

Hi,

As an older baby-boomer '60s guy, I'm not your typical Sugar blogger... but I did see your item about age on resumes. As a Certified Advanced Resume Writer with over 15,000 clients, I hope I can add to your discussion.

Many of the comments are right on, but one thing I really want to caution you all about... When you delete age-related items from your resume, say by not putting your graduation year, you could be hurting yourself more than helping.

For example, I've had clients in their late 30s & early 40s who did this, and got very few responses for one big reason... the folks who read their resumes looked at the lack of dates and actually assumed they were in their 50s or even 60s!

So, each project I write for is on a case-by-case basis and a strategic decision has to be made as to how best to portray their background.

Thank you for letting me comment in your group!

Grant

Good insight, grant cooper. I never thought about that response to the lack of a date.

While I've had good responses to my resumes and portfolio's being sent around, I've often been blackballed simply because I look a lot younger than I am and dont' even look legal at times.

I'm so relieved to see that this is becoming a trend! I plan to omit my graduation date - which hasn't actually passed yet (it's next year) - when I start applying for work after graduation. For me, it's because 1.) I'm in my 30's, but 2.) I've been able to land jobs in my field already for the past few years, even before I re-enrolled in school. Up to this point I've been totally honest with my employers, but now that I have some experience, I'd like to establish a don't-ask-don't-tell policy for myself when applying. I figure it helps me look like a more traditional-track professional, the person who went to school, graduated, and then ammassed some entry-level work in the field. So thank you, trend-setters, for validating my practices!

I am happy to learn this! I have struggled on dozens of interviews of the last year with employers DIRECTLY asking me my age. I try to think of polite ways of saying "mind your own business" but I can never think of any, so I rely on the truth, which seems to hurt me. Some people tell me to say "a lady doesn't reveal her age" or to respond back asking them their age and then telling them if you are older or younger than them. I haven't tried those. I was 19 when I graduated with my bachelors degree, an honor student my entire life. Now at 23, viewing me as a professional with 5 years of full time work experience is a tremendous hurdle for employers to cross. Once they hear my age, I see it in their eyes that I am no longer considered. It is so unfair because employers all say they don't discriminate, but it is extremely obvious and unfortunate.

I do think it's a good point that every industry is different in terms of how a resume should be organized and of course, what information would be pertinent to employers. By pointing out the age removal trend, along with any others for that matter, is to show there is no one perfect formula for everyone.

Ageism makes me sad.

I really think a lot of job hunting comes down to who you know and a little luck. I've broused hundreds of resumes at my work and really, they all tend to look the same after awhile. I know a guy who got hired by a well known company and (by his own admission) was selected because he had mountain biking in common with the guy doing the hiring. I myself was once hired because I was a varsity swimmer in high school and I swam the same stroke as the guy doing the hiring at the place I was applying to. These past experiences weren't even job related. Now on the other hand, I've applied to places that I was a certain shoe-in, perfect fit (per their employment description and necessities advertised) yet never got so much as a phone call from them. The bottom line is, no one knows what a certain employer truly wants, it's all a shot in the dark and the only thing you can do is do your best and keep at it.

The reality is that older workers with much work experience mean companies will have to pay a higher salary. And as companies look to forever minimize their operating costs they are willing to risk not having experienced workers and instead want to underpay young workers and work them to the bone. In addition, most companies, especially tech firms, who haven't already outsourced 85% of their jobs overseas are looking for the highest educated youngest people they can find to pay low salaries just for the opportunity to work for them. So, if you're not 24 years old with an MBA and bi-lingual, willing to work for $45,000/year, or if your not a Senior Software Engineer, you're SOL no matter what you put or don't put on your resume. At age 42 with a B.S. in Business from 1995 and having worked since 1981 (age 16), I'm now at a point where unless I can find a friend to walk my resume into any given employer, the likelihood that I can get a job is slim to none given the kids in their 20's with MBAs our there. If my husband, god forbid, is laid off, I don't know what we will do. And on top of all that, I can't even get a job in retail or food service because I'm both over- and under-qualified at the same time. Just try, for an example, filling out an online resume and questionnaire for Target or CarQuest or even Google. By the time you're finished with the questionnaire you are made to feel a complete idiot. Even temporary agencies have more candidates for jobs than positions available, so employers are taking the youngest people with the highest education willing to work for the lowest pay possible. If you don't have a friend to walk a resume in, or if you aren't young with an MBA, and if you're not applying for CEO/CFO level jobs, GOOD LUCK finding one regardless of your resume's text.

In response to "taralynne" who has had prospective employers ask her directly what her age is. They are NOT permitted to ask you that question. Anytime they have asked me, I simply say "you are not allowed to ask me that question". They usually go in another direction. I am "age sensitive" the other direction!!

All should be aware that a lot of Companies are now useing agencies
for there new hires. The agency can ask for your age because they are private consultants. They them pass this info to the employer.
Your info is there and should they desire you will not be hired if you do not fit what they are looking for in terms of age.

I say, 10 Year Rule!

Reason: After 10 years, you and your former employer will have gotten rid of any record of your existance, except for Hire/End Dates and possible salary rate (IRS TAX CODE) tucked away in some forgotten storage location. Which if needed they would have to dig up...

For that matter, Same with Schools....

Seasoned Workers should just listed Two Lines for any thing outside of 10 years ~ Company Name & Job or ~ School & Degree-Certificate* No DATES Ever!

*Dates really don't add value to any entry (Honestly in this market - does it really matter anymore?)

The rest is a wash...But, one thing is true - what you can't fake is experience. And in a 100 years - will anyone really care?

I just had my annual review (two months late, mind you) at my job and one of my bosses told me that I will not get a raise until December. I was a little disappointed, but I understood. Then he went on to tell me that I am paid a lot for my age as it is. I left the meeting incredibly annoyed because he did not say that I was paid commensurate with my experience (over three years), becoming certified (which is a big deal in my field), or my education (over six years), but rather that I make too much for my being 24 years old. It is a horrible view that I have encountered since I started living in the South and since starting my career.

Not everyone is 22 the year they graduate from college. I was 27.

Also, cltaylor, I'm not in your situation, but I definately hear what you're saying. I think most people get hired for THE DUMBEST reasons, and I might argue that pretty much everyone has a really hard time finding a job unless they have a friend, as you say, walk their resume to an employer. I don't even want to imagine how many intelligent, qualified, hard working people get passed over for a job b/c a friend of a friend was in the right place at the right time, which is stupid, but just how the world works.

I removed my graduation date from my resume and had no problem at all finding a fantastic job this past winter.

I really agree that the type of resume you construct is very dependent on the field you are trying to work in.

The reasoning that the employer will know when you were 22 doesn't hold. Not everyone who attends college is a traditional student straight out of high school. Many are returning students.