If you were applying to my biz for a job, I'd want to see something like, "attended" blabbedy-bla college for one year from-date to-date, and leave it at that.

Like rdmcurator I'm an employer, and like him, I'd rather see something like that there than to see the time left blank. It wouldn't be the determining decision maker, but it would be taken into consideration, if for no other reason than to have something to answer and explain in an interview, i.e., "Did you drop out, flunk out, or were were you run-out?"

However, if memory serves me correctly, your are from southern Alberta... Taber district... right?

I happen to know something about the attitude of that province in general, and about your region in particular. It's very big-business corporate, and it's very "Dutch-Reform", and I know that in that part of the world, strict codes of resume construction are seriously abided by to anal extremes...

... whereas I'm writing from the perspective of a small business employer operating from a rather radical part of the continent where lots can be seen through as long as you can bloody-well get the work done to standard and on time.

That being said... I still think it's better to say something like "attended whatever college from from-date-to-date" and leave it at that... as dry and clinically stated as possible.

One year in college, degree-uncompleted, still looks better than a mysterious lost year.

I recommend stating that you 'attended' said school and the year attended (like 2009-2010 shows the term) and list your crufty certificates under the schooling. It's honest, and it shows you continued education in a non-formal manner.

As an employer, I would want to see the education, but only in passing. If you've done 15 years time and can discuss the topics of your work confidently in an interview, it wouldn't be the gamechanger to hiring you.

Cheers!

A good approach would be to mix a bit between your job experience and the education history. First of all i would suggest you to list from the most recet to the oldest order (both, education and job), but since you would want to make more emphasis on your job history, i would start listing that one and then the education, but begin that second list with the time period you attended to the last educational institute and be specific about the knowledge you aquired there that was usefull at your work career but keep it at a couple lines. i.e.:

University of XXXX
Engineering XXXXXXX (The degree you were aiming at the moment)
From 2001 - 2003
--- Always a good idea to be honest so including the term "Partial Degree" or something similar is recommended ---
Skills learned: Network management ..... etc.

Final tip: Never ever lie about your educational status, but give it importance as you actually learned from that and it helped you on your work.

You don't spell it out.

Under the heading of 'Education' you list your universities, the particular collage/school within, and then the date range.

For example:

Education

Boston University, College of Liberal Arts, 2001-2002
University of Vermont, College of Agriculture, 1999-2000
University of Colorado, College of Arts & Sciences, 1995-1999
James Woods High School, Quahog, RI, 1994

I would indicate the number of credits and list down the names of the relevant courses you took with their corresponding credits. If it's an eyesore on your resume, you can include it on your cover letter. I think either way will greatly aid your application especially if Unix 1 and 2 and your "ancient" certifications are applicable to the job. Some of those old certificates required deeper skills that many employers today can use.

I know a lot of Computer Science graduates that don't really know how to program, so I wouldn't be so worried if you can really program. If a company doesn't value your work experience, then that company doesn't really need a programmer.

I think you've got two sub-questions here... "Do I mention it?" and "If so, how?"

The answer to whether you mention it at all may depend on the details of what kind of work you are going after, and where you went to school.

First thing... in the tech world dropping out of school to go be part of a startup is certainly no disgrace at all. :)

If you went to a good school, I think you definitely want to mention it. The very fact that you got into a good school tells people something. Or at least they think it does. :)

What it tells them is something about your general intellectual ability more than your programming skills. i.e. They will think you are probably an all-round pretty smart guy, rather than "just" a competent programmer.

The ancient certifications might be less relevant, but might be worth mentioning if for example you haven't worked with Unix for a while, it's going to part of your future job, and you want to underline that you do have some experience.. If you capabilities are amply demonstrated by your work history then mentioning old certifications might not make much difference either way.

As for *how* to mention it... I think if you do mention it, you want to get over three points...

- The school and the program you were enrolled in (i.e. Let people know "I'm smart enough to do a Comp Sci degree")
- Any qualification you got for your part-completed course - sometimes you get diplomas and such
- The reason you dropped out early (i.e. Let people know you were doing fine at school but had other fish to fry)

> What would you, as an employer think, if you saw a resume with no formal education

From your work history I would probably be in no doubt that you are a competent professional programmer. But if the job requirements were for more than that, I might have some questions I'd want answering before I was convinced.

> I have no plans on ever completing this education, as it is becoming less and less relevant

Well.... there are Master's level courses for people with lots of practical experience that want to expand their range... these kinds of things....

http://mse.isri.cmu.edu/software-engineering/web1-Programs/index.html
http://www.softeng.ox.ac.uk/
http://www.msse.umn.edu/

Formal education is not required for entry if you have solid professional experience.

Not saying you should do anything of this kind... but not all courses are irrelevant to established pros.

Your resume is meant to communicate your skills and eduction to potential employers, so it should be there, but the order in which you present it is up to you. Over the years resumes have become less about narrative describing the work you have done and more a series of bullets with the sparse facts. But you need to choose the wording for each bullet point very carefully. You can't assume people will understand what a job is simply by it's title, so some explanation is necessary. If you use acronyms, spell the whole thing out at least once.

It is common to list education first, but that doesn't guarantee that it is noticed. (A dozen years ago I was, I thought, in the running for a job in another city. I stopped by the office where the job was located one day, and they hadn't heard of me and interviews were already scheduled. I went to the employment office, and the sweet young thing at the front desk, after looking up my name, announced "you need to have at least an associate's degree for that job." I told her I had a master's degree. 'Oh, well, let me put that on the top of the form," she volunteered. I pointed at the first item on the list, under my name, and there it was. A fat lot of good that degree did me! It was too late to get back into the queue for that job.)

I would suggest that you limit yourself to one page, if you can, and make a series of categories and/or paragraphs, not more than about an inch to 1 1/2 inches maximum length down the page (I know, it sounds silly, but our attention spans are shorter and reading long paragraphs makes people's eyes glaze over). Don't choose a fussy font, keep it clear. Bold or all cap the category, like "CURRENT EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE" and then "RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE" and "EDUCATION AND TRAINING" and lump the online, conference, continuing ed together, using bullet points under that heading, and then a line about how many semesters you studied what subjects at the university. If you don't have a diploma, then you simply don't make a note of a degree.

The amount of personal information included has changed over the years, also. No social security numbers, and you shouldn't in many instances (in the U.S. in particular) need to say anything about spouse, children, etc. Above all, your resume is probably a continuation of your social self, so think about what else you have out there for the world to see and if you want to pointedly include it here.

You'll be listing your email address, postal address, phone numbers. Prospective employers might well be able to check out your facebook page, blogs, myspace, etc., so if they are representative of what you want a new employer to see, then include links in a "for more information" section. I would also suggest that you set up an account with someplace like "LinkedIn" (http://www.linkedin.com/) and make the social media end of things really work for you.

http://www.coachwithjeremy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/linkedin11.jpg

From Wikipedia:
>>>>a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of 8 April 2010, LinkedIn had more than 65 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The site is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.<<<<<

Good luck in getting this all pulled together. You might keep a folder with several versions of the resume, depending on what you want to emphasize for any particular job for which you're applying. You don't need to have one size that fits all, if it isn't convenient or doesn't let you let each particular employer see what in your background might be most important to them. I think it is safe to say that we all have it in us to do several types of jobs, so you might as well have several types of resumes, if your work search is over a broad number of categories. (I realize you simply asked about writing the resume, but visitors to this question in the future may have more questions about the process, so that's why my answer is a little more broad than your question.)

Good luck!

Agreeing with Omicron on this one. Different countries have different thoughts and standard forms/formats to adhere to. As an employer, I do would like to know you attended that year of school. I'd also be curious about any continuing education related to your years of work experience. Have you done any educational seminars, obtained any certifications, completed any training for particular softwares? If so, definitely include those.