PART 2 OF 2
- Education (You could even rename this section "Continuous Learning and Professional Development". You're probably wondering WTF did this dude put in your education section, right? Listen, not having certain levels of education is NOT the end of the world. I do not think you need to go back and get your high school. If you've managed to use your brain to get a wealth of experience, and to achieve some amazing things, you are going to go far with it buddy!! How many times do we hear stories about the immigrant with no education, or the corporate CEO without a university education, or the entrepreneur without high school who nailed it - and then some - in the business world. You've done such a great job, and frankly, I really am proud of people like you. Own that experience.
The shitty reality is there are some people who just can't see beyond a line on a resume. But there are ways to compensate for that. There is something out there called a MOOC, Massive Open Online Courses.. They are done online and there are many MOOC providers out there. MOOC providers basically go to some of the most reputable universities on the planet, ask them to offer the public their courses online for a small fee to the public, and allow anyone to do them from home. EdX and Coursera are two of the most famous ones, but there are others like Udacity or Udemy and more. The cost is usually quite small, and you get a verifiable certificate issued by both the MOOC provider and the university once you finish and pass the course.
You can even do follow courses for free (called “auditing”), and decide later if you want to pay to get the certificate (with a payment deadline 1/3 of the way through the course, so you have to decide early). But it’s best to pay in my opinion (1) to have something to frame and show for your efforts, allowing you to say on your resumé that you earned a certificate , and (2) so MOOCs and universities have revenue to continue to offer the world such great programs.
Universities using MOOCs have now moved beyond just offering courses and are now offering various programs made up of several courses, called Professional Certificate Programs, sometimes Micromasters (about 15% of an actual real master's program, covering a specific interest sector, along with credit), and even full degrees (but the degrees do cost close to normal amounts). You do NOT need any prior education to take these courses or programs. I've taken MOOCs, and some of them are amazing.
If you really bust your butt every evening, a MOOC can be completed in 1/5 of the suggested time. You'll see I stated "6 months, via EdX" for one of the MOOCs. You can conceivably whittle that down to just 6 weeks if you work really hard, including the capstone project in which fellow online students offer peer reviews. Frankly speaking, having a MOOC from Harvard, or Stanford, the London School of Economics, or Wharton (one of the world's best business schools), and taught by some of their most renowned professors, does look pretty good. And you learn some great stuff... AND (the best part in my opinion), it show's you're a go-get'er who seeks to raise the bar, with attention paid to self-improvement and knowledge upgrading.
If you have time to wait before you start applying for jobs, why not take two MOOCs over the next 1-3 months. If you have 4-5 months to wait, then maybe take 3 (max). It might make a difference for the caliber of job you can secure. I mean, look at it on the mock resume I did for you... It does look pretty damn good (and there's no lying at all... I made sure to write "via EdX" or "via Coursera"). It makes for great conversation at interview (and the whole goal of the resume is to get you that interview so you can shine).
Normally with other education a person doesn't need to put their high school degree on a resume. But it could lead to questions if you have nothing for an education section. However, if you put some some relevant and rather impressive looking MOOCs on your resume, they probably won't even ask about high school (and will just take it for granted you completed high school 15 years ago or something).
But if you can't wait to do a couple of MOOCs (even one) before your job hunt, I personally wouldn't put an education section on your resume, and would just let your experience and achievements speak for themselves (They can always ask you at interview if they're super curious, and they just might not ever ask. You never know).
Wanting to help you, I did some looking, and here are some current MOOCs which are open to enrollment which may be directly pertinent to your career (And remember, the time frames can be shortened to anywhere between 1/5 to 1/3 if you really work your butt off every evening for a few hours). And they're from some pretty great universities with a prestigious factor that can only help:
--- MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): MicroMasters Program in Supply Chain Management (18 months, via EdX)
https://www.edx.org/micromasters/mitx-supply-chain-management, $1500
--- Univ. of Maryland: Professional Certificate in Product Management (6 months, via EdX) https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/usmx-product-management $890
--- MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Certificate in Supply Chain Design (4 months, via EdX) https://www.edx.org/course/supply-chain-design $300
--- Wharton Business School, Univ. of Pennsylvania: Professional Certificate in Strategic Management (6 months, via EdX)
https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/wharton-strategic-management $535
--- UC San Diego: Converting Challenges into Opportunities (One week development course, via Coursera)
https://www.coursera.org/learn/converting-challenges-into-opportunities (Free until May 21, $300 after)
--- London Business School, Univ. of London: Managing the Company of the Future (6 weeks, via Coursera) https://www.coursera.org/learn/company-future-management Free until May 21, $300 after)
--- Louvain University (France): Supply Chain Management, A Decision-Making Framework (3 months, via EdX)
https://www.edx.org/course/supply-chain-management-a-decision-making-framewor $50
- Volunteer and Community Involvement: Why did I add this? At the beginning I stated that one of the things this resume was going to concentrate on (to detract from and to make up for the lack of a HS diploma or other education) was the "you-heavy factor - as someone who is a great guy and would be a wonderful corporate fit to have in the office.". When a person gets to a certain age, employers like to see they're hiring an engaged, pro-active, fits-well-in-the-community individual. You're no longer a 21 year old who the organization feels they can mold into their image. And so they want to see what kind of a molded person they're going to get. If you've been engaged (perhaps volunteering with your kids sports teams, or if you belong to associations as a volunteer member, or anything), it can make them say "Hey this candidate seems like they're just an all-around great person, even without their excellent experience. I betcha there's a chance they'd really fit in here with us and would be enjoyable to have around. Let's call them to interview". It doesn't hurt... just 2, 3, maybe max 4 community involvement blurbs. You don’t have to put dates on them (that way you can list stuff you did even many years ago), and just run with it. Is also good stuff which can keep the interview conversation flowing to develop even more rapport in the interview.
These are just some thoughts from a guy who wants to lend a hand. Feel free to take and use any of this, or reject whatever you feel doesn't sit right for what you're trying to achieve. But at least it gives you more to ponder.