How bad is it to omit the education part in your resume?

I have a friend who has been in the business for close to 20 years.

She is extremely intelligent, hardworking, loyal, etc. Everything you would look for in an employee.

In her 20 years she has been promoted to Director, which is the 2nd highest title you can get.

The problem is that she never went to college.

Started as an intern right out of HS and just kept getting promoted, transferred laterally, and then moved up and up.

No one ever went back and questioned her education because of the stellar job she did.

Now she is considering looking for a new job but she is worried about what to write on her resume.

Would you omit it altogether or just put it in and explain that your experience should speak for itself?

Re: How bad is it to omit the education part in your resume?

If she doesn't have a college degree, how would she omit this on her resume exactly? The lack of any school under the "Education" section pretty much gives it away..

Since she has 20 years of experience, I would just tell her to leave it out. Have her resume focus on her work achievements and employment- and completely leave out any 'Education' field ..and not volunteer any info unless specifically asked at an interview.

Re: How bad is it to omit the education part in your resume?

Re: How bad is it to omit the education part in your resume?

If she has 20 years experience, I would say it's fine. In most fields, unless you are a recent grad, employers are more interested in experience than education, anyway.

In fact, even if she had gone to college, it might be better to omit it rather than taking up valuable real estate on a one-page resume. I think the better strategy is to focus on the work experience and highlight key achievements and skills, as others have suggested.

If asked, she should obviously be honest about it, but I don't think it looks deceptive to omit "Education" altogether, as may people with that level of experience would do the same.

Re: How bad is it to omit the education part in your resume?

I agree - leave it out. Your resume doesn't have to be your life's story - it's a marketing tool and should only highlight your strengths as you want to show them off.

Omitting the Education section on your resume is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. If I'm looking at a resume and see 20 years of great, transferrable, work experience I don't really care where or if the person went to college.