Not sure, this is the right forum for this, but I am interested in some resume opinions... and there's a bunch of resume questions right next to this so: My education is a detriment to my resume (no degree: 2 years, aeronautical engineering - couldn't finish; some CS at night community college). I've been in the workforce for 12 years now. Do you think I can drop the education portion of the resume, or would that be a mistake?

IMHO you are fine to drop it. After someone has even a year of professional experience, education is often just a single line at the bottom of a resume (compared to a college grad where the education is the resume.)

Specific case: at my previous employer we hired a senior level programmer who had 8 years of relevant experience. His education wasn't listed on his resume, and I didn't even ask/find out until we were doing internal surveys many months later because it was quite obvious he could do the job.

On the flip side, it might be in your best interest to put in a single line for education, listing the place and what you studied, but obviously not putting down a particular degree (or lack thereof.) In bigger companies, HR drones might bin the resume for not having 'something relevant' listed for education. In mid-sized and smaller studios though, most resumes go straight to the relevant manager without the HR cull or only pass through an HR manager who will spot what you bring to the table, as far as experience goes.

Quote:Original post by frob
It is certainly something that would be asked in an interview.

Indeed. I don't have any problems discussing or explaining it, or even defending past choices. I've just had problems in the past getting past the HR drones. Hiring managers tend to be a lot more forgiving since they can actually evaluate talent.

Give it a line on the resume.