You’ve quite literally dedicated years of your life to your university degree, so you understandably want to do this justice on your CV.
However, knowing the best ways to present your degree on your CV, how much detail to include and where to position this information isn’t always second nature, particularly if you’re new to the world of work.
So, if you’re looking for the best way to showcase your degree and impress recruiters, this guide is for you. Below, we’re going to share with you some proven and effective ways to write your degree into your CV.
Add your degree after your name
One of the simplest ways to include your degree on your CV and to let the recruiter know right away that you’re qualified is to add your degree after your name.
But of course, you don’t want this to take up a lot of room or to look too ‘clunky’, which is where standardised abbreviations come in.
In the UK, there are several types of degrees you can study, and therefore you need a way to demonstrate and differentiate these. The standardised abbreviations are:
- Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD)
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- Master of Arts (MA)
- Master of Science (MSc)
- Medical Degree (MD)
- Bachelor of Science Honours (BSc (Hons))
- Bachelor of Science (BSc)
- Bachelor of Arts Honours (BA (Hons))
- Bachelor of Arts (BA)
- Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
To add these to your CV, simply put your name at the top as you normally would, followed by a comma and your relevant abbreviation, for example, Joe Smith, PhD.
If you’ve got multiple credentials that you need to add, you should do the same but list these in ascending order, for example, Joe Smith, MSc, PhD.
Where to include your degree on CV
As well as putting your qualification next to your name at the top of your CV, there are a number of other places you can highlight this.
You can mention this in your personal profile, stating your course name and given grade if you’ve already graduated.
But perhaps most importantly, you need to include your degree in your education section. This is an essential part of your CV as it is a formal summary of your qualifications. In this section, you will list your qualifications in reverse chronological order, so your degree will come first. You should include the name of your course/degree, followed by the university you study or studied at, and the dates you attend(ed).
The other details will depend on whether you’ve already graduated or you’re still studying.
Student/School leavers
If you’re still a student and you haven’t got a grade behind you yet, there are several ways you can support this section. Instead of including a final grade, you can include the degree you are studying for, to show you are working towards it
You could also include details of any exams you have taken and how you scored on these and possibly even your predicted grade if you know it.
Experienced candidates
If you’re a more experienced candidate, you might prefer to save space on your CV to discuss your career history, but your degree could still be very attractive to employers, so don’t forget to include it.
You could add your degree initials next to your name and mention it briefly in your education and CV profile
Where to put your education on your CV
Something else that you have to consider when writing your CV is how you’re going to structure it. There are a number of different ways you can do this depending on the role you’re applying for; for example, is it an academic role, a graduate role, etc.?
However, there is a standard structure (also known as a chronological CV) that most job hunters tend to use, and this goes as follows:
- Header – containing your name (and possibly credentials) and contact information
- Personal profile
- Core skills
- Work experience/employment history
- Education
- Hobbies and interests – optional
Here, you can see your education section is placed towards the bottom of your CV.
However, if you’re a student or fresh graduate with no experience you might wish to prioritise your degree by putting your education section above your employment history.
This might also be the case if you’re applying for a graduate role or if the employer has placed importance on education over experience in the job description.
How to write first-class honours degree on cv
If you’ve achieved a first-class honours degree, you should be very proud of yourself, and you need to make sure you shout about this throughout your CV.
When adding this to your personal profile, you might wish to abbreviate your credentials to ‘1st’ or simply leave it as ‘first class’ – ultimately, it’s up to you which you prefer.
So, for example, you might write
‘I am a talented marketing professional with a first-class honours degree in Digital Marketing’.
Alternatively, you could choose to write:
‘I am a skilled tradesman who achieved a 1st class honours degree in Welding Engineering’
When it comes to including your degree in your educations section, the same rules apply. However, if you’re looking to save space at all costs, you might prefer to use the abbreviation of 1st – after all, every little helps.
How to include an unfinished degree on your CV
How to write 2:1 degree on CV
If you achieved a 2:1, this is also great news, and there are multiple ways you might wish to show this on your CV. Although 2:1 is the most common way of writing your degree, 2.1 is also an acceptable version in the UK.
“Junior designer with 2:1 degree in Graphic Design from the University of Brighton”
These two (1st and 2:1) are both classed as upper-division honours degrees. If your grade was lower than this, you might wish to simply characterise this by your degree type and name rather than including the lower grade.
For example, you can open your profile by saying, ‘I am a Graphic Designer with a degree in Design Studies, ’ avoiding giving an actual grade.
In conclusion, whether you’re still studying, you’re a recent graduate, or you’ve been a part of the workforce for several years now, highlighting your degree on your CV is so important. Using our tips and advice above, you can carefully write your degree into your CV to show your passion for your industry and that you’re qualified for the role.