I went to a big state school that ends in “Tech.” Its official name is a 10-word “blah blah blah polytechnic institute blah blah blah university” that nobody that hasn’t gone to the school recognizes. On a resume, do I put the more informal “___ Tech” as in “Georgia Tech” or “Virginia Tech,” which people will recognize, or the full-length crazy version?
Are you looking for a job in a field that your school is known for? In that case, definitely the full name.
Actually, I’m leaning toward the full name no matter what jobs you are applying for. You could try to put the full name in the place for the name of your university, and then later on in the resume, sneak in the colloquial name, for example:
Education: Blah blah blah polytechnic institute blah blah blah university, BS
Honors: ____ Tech Honor Society
Unfortunately, this doesn’t work as well if you are past the point in your career where it is reasonable to include your college honors. In that case, you could put it in a cover letter (if you feel strongly about it), such as "My interest in <this field> began at ____ Tech, and led me to a position at Such and Such Company, Inc.
Not American, but I use both. I went to the Instituto Químico de Sarrià - which many of those who know it know by its initials IQS (as a matter of fact, the full title in my diploma is “Ingeniero Químico IQS”, a historic leftover from when it was a private title that you had to revalidate in another school). If the person reading my cv happens to know the school well, they appreciate getting the whole thing; if they know it but haven’t worked with it/studied there, they recognize the initials… and if they don’t recognize the initials, they’re going to be the kind of person who asks “oh, that’s one of those new majors, isn’t it?” (I studied under the 1954 government-approved ‘plan’ and the title has existed in Spain since the 192x)
I’m not sure how I’d go with this. If anyone in the state university majoring in the OP’s field would have been a student in the tech institute, then it seems kind of redundant to mention it. For instance, if my undergraduate degree were from UCLA, I wouldn’t put “College of Letters and Science” (the main undergraduate school within the university there), and I don’t put Revelle College on my resume, even though that was the division of UCSD that I attended.
But in this case, the whole institution ends in Tech, so I don’t think he’s referring to a division.
A resume is a formal document and I would err on the side of formality and spell it all out. Of course, I also put A.B. and A.M. for my degrees since that’s what the school calls them, potentially leading people to think I got associate’s degrees rather than Bachelor’s and Master’s.
I can answer this one (I work in University education)!
University of the really long name (Tesla-coil Tech) 1998
B.A. Int’l Political Economics
You can put your GPA on the second line if it is higher than 3.0 and you are under 10 years in your field. Otherwise your experience counts more than your degree and attention should be paid to that.
-Tcat
Things may be different in the US but here in Australia it would make little or no difference. Most selection panels I have sat on, if we have lots of applicants, your CV won’t even be looked at unless you have satisfied the selection criteria. If you haven’t clearly showed that you met them you’re culled, if you have showed that you met them, and where you were educated is of any significance, it will probably have been mentioned in addressing the selection criteria. If not, I may flick back and have a look, but it won’t help…I have already given you a pass.
Wow. I Googled “selection criteria” and it does turn out to be an Australian thing. Routinely here you are expected to show how you meet the “selection criteria” for an advertised job. No-one wants to trawl through CVs weighing the relative merits of applicants, so job ads list the essential requirements for the position. For example:
*Demonstrated experience in establishing and delivering successful community partnership and educational programs, including organising and running volunteering groups and programs.
Previous experience working with community at a grass roots level to achieve long-term and sustainable community links and networks.
Demonstrated leadership and change management capability with an ability to influence and motivate others to achieve good outcomes.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, interpersonal, negotiating and networking skills.
Demonstrated project management skills with the ability to multi-task, determine and prioritise critical business activities.
High level of computer literacy in the Microsoft Office suite.
A relevant degree qualification in social sciences and/or a community development discipline, or equivalent experience.
Knowledge and understanding of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
Knowledge and understanding of Ethical Practice
Knowledge and understanding of Ethnic Affairs Priorities Statement (EAPS)
Knowledge and understanding of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)*
In addressing the criterion “A relevant degree…” you would mention where you received the degree or your equivalent experience or you would be culled.
For that I’ve gotten “do you know there’s a typo on your resume?” (followed by “no, that’s actually right.”)
Even having said that, more people probably know the full length crazy version than you think would. Go with that.
Apparently, things are very different in the United States. I’ve never heard of anything like a “selection panel” except in the case of someone who wants to become a university professor (“lecturer” in non-U.S. terms).
In most cases in the private sector, there is one person empowered with hiring decisions for a particular unit and the first (and often only) thing that will be looked at in order to confirm “selection criteria” is the resume.
What “selection criteria” are there that you won’t understand by looking at the resume? I can’t think of common selection criteria other than job experience, educational qualifications, and relevant skills, and those are exactly the types of things listed on a resume. Whatever’s not clear on the resume can be expanded upon in the cover letter (and the common advice in the United States is to limit cover letter and resume to one page each, except for some very specialized circumstances).
And in the United States, which university you attended isn’t usually part of a formal selection criteria. Many employers might have a requirement that states: must hold a bachelor’s degree in X, but very few (if any) employers are going to have a requirement that states: must hold a bachelor’s degree in X from Harvard. They’ll look to your resume to confirm you have the requisite degree (most employers don’t bother with official confirmation from the university). But ensuring they recognize the university as Harvard might just give you an edge over a candidate whose degree is from, say, X County Community College.
Is there any reason this has to be kept secret? (Maybe you’re just being modest.) I mean, anyone who is familiar with American universities in general is going to be able to figure this one out.
My undergrad and grad degrees are from long-named schools. I also worked at a school that used to brag that it had the longest name of any institution in the United Sates (10 points if you can guess what it is - 8 words, and each one is a long one more or less), Depends if you are concerned about space. If you’re in that spot, try:
Goober State Institute of Highly Esteemed and Really Very Complex Technology (Goober Tech)
and subsequently refer to it as “Goober Tech.” If it’s a big school, people will be happy with (and know) the abbreviation or nickname.
Personally, I like the long-assed names of my schools, so I never abbreviate. But I’m in academia where we’re allowed to have multiple-page CVs…
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry ? "ESF has the longest name of any college or any university in the United States. "
Go Stumpies!
Huh, guess the folks at my former school were misinformed. Still, it’s pretty close, only two words shorter and 12 characters less… Hint - it’s on the West Coast, and nobody calls it by its official name. It actually was parodied on a SNL episode in the 90s.