Resume Layout: Where to Place Courses for Maximum Impact
If you’ve put the time, money and effort into taking courses for your career, it’s only fair that they have a prime spot on your resume. Experience, education and certifications are extremely important and can set you apart from other applicants.
Table of Contents
What Are Relevant Courses on resume layout?
Three factors determine how much coursework should be in your resume:
- The blank space you have
- The number of relevant courses you have
- The details of your resume
Relevant courses should be included if this is your first job in the industry after graduation. While you’ve been working hard in the classroom, your real life or clinical experience suffers, and courses can make up for that. For example, if you received a nursing degree, you probably spent time in hospitals and clinics doing clinical work, but that isn’t reflected in your education section. Adding relevant coursework allows you to expand on what experience you gained while you were studying for your degree.
The education section can also draw attention away from the experience section if this is your first job in the industry. You may even choose to create a separate section for relevant courses if you have no experience, and we’ll show you how to do both.
Choosing Relevant Courses For Your Resume
If you’re wondering which relevant courses you should put on your resume, consider the details of the job description. As you adjust your resume for each job, think about what the company lists as important, and where you learned those skills.
For example, if you have a degree in accounting with a minor in psychology, and you’re applying for a forensic accounting position, it’s a good idea to include your minor classes because they show your understanding of the human brain and how it functions. If you have an accounting degree and you have an exercise science minor, and you’re applying for an accountant position with a bank, there aren’t likely any course from your minor that are relevant.
Adding the right relevant courses means doing an in-depth analysis of each job description before you apply. You may need to change the section for every job.
Read more: SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM 2024, Delhi State Legal Services Authority latest by 30th May 2024
Read more: Google Recruitment 2024– Apply for the Business Analyst position | Fresher Jobs
In the Education Section
The first place to consider putting relevant coursework is in the education section of your resume. You can just include a heading titled “Relevant Coursework” under the degree name. Separate each course with commas. If you have the space, you can even use a bullet list to highlight your relevant courses.
If you choose to put relevant courses in the education section, only include the names of the classes and limit details. If you want to go into more detail, it’s better to put it somewhere else on resume layout.
Putting the coursework in the education section may look something like this:
Degree Name
College Name, City, Graduation Date
Relevant Coursework Course 1, Course 2, Course 3, Course 4, Course 5
It can also look like this:
Degree Name
College Name, City, Graduation Date
Relevant Coursework:
- Course 1
- Course 2
- Course 3
- Course 4
- Course 5
Create a Relevant Courses Section for better resume layout
If you have the space, it may be beneficial to list coursework on your resume through a relevant course section to highlight what you studied. This is in addition to the degree you received and should highlight specific things you learned and how they make you more qualified for the job.
Some courses don’t stand out with a Bachelor’s degree but may come from your minor. There’s no way to highlight this on your resume without a long explanation, so listing relevant courses under your degree may not make sense.
When you create a separate section for your relevant courses, you can go into more detail about your courses. Use detailed descriptions about what you learned in the courses and what skills you gained from them. Only use courses that are relevant to the position. You may need to adjust this section each time you apply for a new position.
This may look like this in its most basic format for best resume layout:
Bachelor’s in Psychology
College, Town, Year of Graduation
Relevant Coursework: Behavioral Psychology, Biopsychology, Cognitive Psychology
Here’s a more detailed example with bullet points:
Bachelor’s in Psychology
College, Town, Year of Graduation
Relevant Coursework:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Biopsychology
- Cognitive Psychology
Here’s an example you can use if you have a lot of space on your resume:
Bachelor’s in Psychology
College, Town
Date Completed
Relevant Coursework:
Behavioral Psychology
- Include details about coursework here
- Include details about coursework here
- Include details about coursework here
Biopsychology
- Include details about coursework here
- Include details about coursework here
- Include details about coursework here
Cognitive Psychology
- Include details about coursework here
- Include details about coursework here
- Include details about coursework here
Read more: Top 15 Free Online Courses from Google, IBM and Meta.
When to Exclude Relevant Courses for better resume layout
If it’s been a while since you got your degree, your courses may not be relevant to the job anymore or they may be outdated. In this case, you want to leave the specifics off your resume.
If you don’t have enough space for relevant coursework without adding another page to your resume, leave it off. It’s better to keep the resume to one page without it than to add another page with it.
There are other resume sections that may be more beneficial than courses. These are based on the job and can include:
- Volunteer work
- Passions/skills/interests
- Extracurricular activities
- Projects
Maximize Space on Your Resume
It can be a balancing act to include the right information on your resume while keeping it short and sweet. Courses can be eliminated if your resume is full, but they provide great filler if your experience is lacking. As always, proofread your resume and adjust it to every job you apply for.
