Extra grad credits on resumes

[Ideas]

Say a job applicant has 3-18 grad credits in the field, plus a Masters in an unrelated field and a Bachelors in an unrelated field. 

How do they list it on their resume? Should they leave it out if it's only a few credits and they're not enrolled? 

How does this look to hiring managers? Assume the managers prefer a related Masters, but could hire someone with only a related Bachelors.

My question is not only for academia. In academia, they'd be used to 18 credit bundles and not accepting less. Most employers wouldn't know how to decide "equivalency" of the grad credits, so it would be kind of arbitrary?

[videogamesrock]

If you have room it doesn’t hurt. Let’s say you are on page two and your education is for example:


MA in Liberal Arts - 18 credits in Business
BA in Social Science - 31 credits in Accounting

This would be helpful if you are going for a business type job.

[burbuja0512]

In my field (Int'l Sales) I wouldn't be impressed with the credits unless you knew how to show value. So if you have credits in a related field, I would talk about how it relates to the job.

If it truly doesn't relate to the job, then I would mention something about making learning a life-long hobby. You can really play on the love of learning, especially if you get to an interview. Then you don't want to overdo it, but talk about how you'll dive in and as a quick and enthusiastic learner, you'll get to know the job and the company, and find ways to maximize efficiency, increase growth, or whatever it is that you think they're looking for. As a lifelong learner, you know how to learn and you do it well.

[sanantone]

I don't think an employer would care if you completed three or six credits in a field. If they want a master's degree in a related field, then they're likely not going to see a couple of courses as being enough to make you qualified.

I wouldn't list 30+ credits in a field either because it shows that you were well into a master's program, and you failed to finish for some reason. You can list the school as a separate entry, but you'll have to indicate somehow that you didn't graduate; the credits can go next to the school/program from which they came. If you want to show specialization without getting a whole master's degree, then I think it's best to get a graduate certificate.

There are cases where employers will require specific courses. For example, I saw forensic science jobs with the state government that wanted three credits each in microbiology, genetics, etc. In that case, I wouldn't list that I completed five credits of a microbiology program on my resume because they're looking for specific courses. The school would already be listed on the application, and a transcript would be uploaded to prove that the specific courses were completed.

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This is how a former classmate of mine lists a doctoral program he didn't finish.

XXX State University, Doctor of Public Administration 2009-2009

He could add a note below, so that it looks like this.

XXX State University, Doctor of Public Administration 2009-2009
Completed nine credits in public policy analysis.

[Ideas]

I agree a grad cert is better. But I'm not sure if I'll spend the money. I want to have at least 18 English grad credits, but from 2-3 sources.

If I have enough ENG grad credits, I wonder about skipping the undergrad in English. But the undergrad seems like it has more breadth, especially if my grad credits are heavy on poetry.

[cookderosa]

Not saying this is right- but on my CV, I have 2 education sections. The first for my degrees and the second for "Additional Education" which includes selected continuing ed, adult ed, grad credit, undergrad credit, certificates, diplomas, and the like.
I have a master list on my computer of the zillions of extra education programs I've done that haven't resulted in a degree, and I curate the 4-5 best ones depending on the situation. I have a culinary set, a nutrition set, a health set, a teaching set, a wine set, and even childbirth education. If you keep a list, you can easily pull from them if you need (or leave them off too - when I apply for kitchen work I NEVER list my degrees after associate degree)