Conducting research in the field is an educational experience.
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College degrees are often paths to entry when seeking employment in a career field and industry. However, earning a bachelor's or master's degree alone does not comprise the complete educational experience. Employers commonly encourage and support employee career development, which includes academic coursework and opportunities for gaining additional skills above and beyond undergraduate and graduate education. When a job application asks for your educational experience, you want to be as thorough as possible to make a positive impression on the hiring manager.
Types of Educational Experience
Educational experience isn't limited to what's printed on your college diploma. Internships and cooperative education with companies are often integrated into college degree programs, but people who are not enrolled in college can still apply for internships, too. High school and college students participate in dual-enrollment programs, studying at more than one school at a time and even learning abroad. Military training is also considered an educational experience, as public and private universities often convert that training into earned college credits that go toward a degree. Conducting research funded by scholarships or grants is an educational experience, as is some types of travel - a trip to France, for instance, to gain cultural knowledge or polish foreign language skills.
Application Instructions
Employers create their own versions of application forms, differing significantly from company to company. If the instructions aren't clear about how to input your educational experience, take a moment to read the entire form, beginning to end, to determine how it is structured. Sometimes "Military Training" is listed separately from other educational information on the application. For example, the "Education" section might have spaces to enter the high schools and colleges that you attended. Then below this information, the employer might create a free-form space to describe your educational experience, possibly in detailed paragraph form.
Related Reading: How to Answer Interview Questions on Computer Experience
Preparation
Create a detailed fact sheet to ease the process of explaining your educational experience on the application. Hiring managers and human resources professionals use this data to determine your qualifications for a job opening, and you don't want to understate your academic and training background. At a minimum, type and print out a table that includes the names of schools, street addresses, degrees or certificates earned and dates of attendance. You can also obtain detailed transcripts from the academic institutions that you attended. If you are filling out applications on the spot at job fairs or at a company's headquarters, you want to be prepared.
