Does Relevant Coursework on a Resume Matter?

What is relevant coursework? When should you include it on your resume? How does it fit in with your other resume items? We’re here to answer all your relevant coursework questions.

You can find even more information on including relevant coursework on your resume here.

What Is Relevant Coursework?

Relevant coursework has been defined as “various courses you took at school, alongside the academic experiences that actually apply to the job position.” Subjects, class names, and special projects can all be considered relevant coursework.

To determine whether an item is relevant and should be included on your resume, ask yourself, “How does this relate to the job I’m applying for?” Relevant coursework equips you with knowledge of a pertinent subject or shows skills in a certain area.

Here are some examples of relevant coursework:

• For a job as an accountant, a class on economics
• For a job as a chef, a class on culinary arts

While certain courses may have been elective and not necessary to obtain your degree, they may still equate to relevant coursework for the job at hand.

Relevant Coursework Can Flesh Out Your Resume

If you’re new to the workforce, you may be looking at a resume with little or nothing in the “Work Experience” section. Including relevant coursework on your resume can help flesh it out, filling out the necessary one-page. In fact, if you’re a student entering the workforce for the first time, you might include your overall coursework – a brief overview of the classes you’ve taken. This can show you are hardworking and knowledgeable.

Relevant coursework can also reveal hidden skills to your employer, as we will discuss next.

Relevant Coursework Can Reveal Hidden Skills

Sometimes, you may be applying for a job that your past experience doesn’t fully match. This may be the case if:

• You’re a recent graduate entering your career field for the first time.
• You have a different degree than the one the job requires.
• You’re making a mid-career change.
• You’re applying to a job that has some of the same responsibilities as your current position, as well as some divergent ones.

In these cases, including relevant coursework can be your secret weapon. Your job descriptions may not display all the skills you need, but with relevant coursework, your education section can. When your coursework matches the field or position you’re applying to, it builds your credibility as an applicant.

Relevant Coursework and Resume Keywords

Including keywords on your resume is like creating good search engine optimization (SEO) for a website. How so?

When you type a search term in Google – “chocolate cake recipe,” for example – Google looks for websites that include the words “chocolate cake recipe” in the title, headings, body text, tags, and picture descriptions.

Something similar happens with your resume. Today, companies often receive hundreds or thousands of responses to a job posting. Instead of engaging in the time-consuming task of looking at each resume individually, they use software called Applicant Tracking Systems or ATS.

The job of the ATS is just like Google’s job – to look for keywords in the documents. The more relevant keywords your resume contains, the higher the software will rank it. The highest-ranked resumes will then be reviewed by a human hiring manager.

So, what does all this have to do with relevant coursework? Including relevant coursework in your resume section is a good way to slip in some keywords that might not fit in elsewhere.

Consider an example. You’re looking to make a mid-career change. You would like to take a job as a product photographer for a local company, but your prior work experience doesn’t involve photography. You hold a degree in business management. But, you’ve had an interest in photography for years. In college, you took elective courses in film photography, digital photo editing, portraiture, and commercial photography. Including these relevant courses provides keywords and shows that you have the necessary skills.

Where to Find Resume Keywords

You can find resume keywords in the job listing for the position to which you are applying. Look for soft skills and qualities like patience, focus, problem-solving skills, etc., as well as hard skills – technical abilities, software, equipment, techniques, and more.

Additionally, pay attention to any educational requirements.

Another place you can look for keywords is on the company’s website, especially the vision or mission statements.

How to Include Relevant Coursework on Your Resume

Relevant coursework should be listed as bullet points following the degree, school, location, and date in your Education section. You can put the words “Related Coursework:” as a heading between this information and the bullet points. Or, if you have coursework in several relevant categories, you can use these as headings (“Public Relations,” “Finances,” “Sales Management,” etc.) At each bullet point, list the name of the course with a brief description.