CV Builder

Video Transcript: Education

Narrator: In this video employers discuss the importance of including an education section on a CV.

Sarah McNulty, Director of Customer Value, Homeserve: Is education important on a CV? Yes, I’d say it is. However, experience can be more important especially if you’re looking for a specific type of role.

Dan Harris, MD, 1st Place: Education on a CV is an interesting point with the area I recruit for because many sales directors have come from the University of Life and been very successful. I, though, am a graduate employer so education is very important for me. In terms of advice for someone writing their CV the best thing to do is if education was the last thing you did lead with your highest level of academic qualification first; don’t go into detail about how many ‘A’ levels you got and the specific grades, certainly don’t add your GCSEs in there or the cookery course that you went on.

Chris O’Connell, Co-founder, Timothy James Consulting: I believe education is very important, particularly in the public sector. It is dependent on the type of role you’re applying for, but particularly with the likes of the PCTs and the health authorities it is definitely a prerequisite to have things like a masters in public health if you want to go down that road. So qualifications and education are extremely important in terms of the money or the budget you have sign-off for; it’s very important that you understand the nuances of where that money goes and how it’s spent. So if you haven’t got a good education or qualifications in that particular area then it does diminish your opportunity, definitely.

Natasa Patterson, client Services Manager, Call Britannia: I think education is quite important, but unless you are a doctor or a civil engineer in which case it’s extremely important obviously, but for non-specialist jobs I’d say it’s important in a way because it shows a lot about a candidate: it shows their commitment, how well they can manage their time or how passionate they are about their personal development. So whilst their degree may not be relevant at all to the job they’re applying for it does give an employer a further idea of what kind of person they are in addition to what they already have done and what kinds of interests and hobbies they have. So I’d say it’s not a deciding factor necessarily, but it does help a lot.

Gary Festa, Director, HFM Columbus: Current examinations absolutely! Studying, additional bits and pieces – they’re really important. If it’s current, no more than three, four or five years old, then yes. Beyond that I wouldn’t.

Sarah McNulty, Director of Customer Value, Homeserve: For new grads where their main experience is actually their university life what I would say is put more in about the sort of things that you’ve done on your course, the types of things that you’ve enjoyed and the achievements that you’ve got. That will stand you out from the people who just put in “this is the course that I did and the grade I achieved”.

Gary Festa, Director, HFM Columbus: Rather than just putting down the obvious “I got a 2:i in something”, if I could get an idea that would just explain about why you did it, the thoughts behind it, why you thought it would help you in this particular field and some interesting bits that came out of it: maybe you passed some bits along the way and the first year you got an honours or you won an award. Let’s expand rather than just putting the obvious down. Big thing with a CV is that we’re trying to find out who you are; if we can find out about who you were as far as the examination side of it [is concerned] why you did these things.

Narrator: So including education on your CV is important, for some roles more than others; if you’re short on work experience you can use your achievements during your time in education to demonstrate your capabilities; it could also showcase some positive attributes such as commitment, organisation and passion, but make sure you only write about your more recent qualifications.

Audio Transcript: Details

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