Many students underestimate the importance of date conferred or expected information in a job application/a higher education program. This article will explain their role, how to include them in your CVs, and benefit from them.
Quick question!
What aspect of your educational background impresses the recruiters?
Yeah, you are right! High GPAs, awards, projects, a fancy major in a prestigious institution. We all know about them.
But does the term ”date conferred or expected” come to your mind?
Hmm, they are just a date, you might think.
Well, then let us convince you of its importance by explaining their roles in your applications, how to conclude them in your CV, and benefit from them.
Table of Contents
What Does Date Expected Mean?
Date expected or anticipated graduation date of a degree is the date you are supposed to complete your program. It can tell how old you are when you graduate college.
For a current undergraduate, it is highly recommended that the students include their expected graduation date on their resumes when they apply for jobs or any working/intern program. This date can show your recruiters how far along you are in your program. It also provides them more information about your time flexibility so they can schedule your working time.
How To Conclude The Date Expected In Your Cv?
Calculate your current GPA
We have read thousands resumes and we firmly believe that high GPA will help your CV stand out. Although listing GPA is not required, if your GPA is 3.0 or above, we highly recommend you write it down. Your GPA can show the employers how you perform academically and the effort you put into your studies. If your GPA is under 3.0, you should improve it and wait for a better report.
Write down your institution location.
You should also write down your educational institution along with which state it is located. Remember to keep it concise; one line is enough, and place it where the recruiters can easily see.
Estimate your expected graduation date
You should include your expected date at the end of the sentence. You can write ”expected to graduate in… ” or simply put the date in parenthesis.
Format your degree on the resume
There are several ways you can list your degree information but always stay consistent with all your education entries. Some people would abbreviate their degree to keep the information short and easy to read. For instance: BS for Bachelor of Science, “M.A.” for Master of Arts
Now some complete examples:
“Youngstown State University, Ohio State: Candidate for B.S. in Computer Science, GPA 3.6, expected to graduate in June 2022.”
“BS in Biology – Pennsylvania State University – Pennsylvania, GPA: 3.8 (Expected graduation date: June 2024)”
“BS in Economics and Math – Colby college – Expected graduation: June 4, 2025.”
What Does Date Conferred Mean?
The date conferred, or conferred date, or conferral date, is when a graduate or postgraduate student is awarded their degree.
It is when your educational institution confirms on your record that you have completed all the program’s academic and administrative requirements. For example: passing all the classes on your degree plan sheet, paying tuition fees, returning materials to the schools, etc.
You should not mistake the date conferred with the date of your graduation ceremony or the day you receive your diploma via emails.
To ensure whether your degree has been conferred or not, you can look up your transcript or call the registrar’s office and ask for your status. If it is said ”in progress”, ”completed”, ”conferred” (or ”awarded), hurray! You officially have a degree.
There Are Two Ways You Can Obtain A Conferred Degree:
- Traditional degree: You finish all the degree requirements, then attend the commencement date, get the diploma, and there you go with a conferred degree.
- Honorary degree: As the name suggests, this degree is given to people who have outstanding achievements in a particular field.
For instance: Kanye West received an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago contributions across music, performance, film, and fashion design.
How Does Your Conferred Date Help You In Your Job Application?
When your degree is conferred, it means you officially have a degree.
First, it gives you pride and confidence; you dare to apply for any dream job and confidently answer the interview questions.
Second, you earn your recruiters’ trust, and they are likely to give you a job that requires expertise or significant responsibilities. Completing the degree requires hard work and resilience. The recruiter trusts that this journey has taught you to work under pressure and develop leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork skills. Plus, be wise to apply some momentous tips and tricks and you can ace most interview questions in an interview!
Tips On How To Benefit From Your Date Conferred Or Expected
While In Your Institution
Maintain Good GPAs
Many students underestimate the importance of GPA as they think their extracurricular activities or personalities can speak about them. But that is an incorrect commonly-held assumption. With young people who just start their careers, GPA is one of the few ways the recruiters can evaluate and trust your ability. Maintaining a good GPA throughout four years requires so much resistance and hard work, and these are virtues that recruiters look for in their potential employees. Plus, an undergraduate with a good GPA will not be underrated than a recent graduate with an average GPA.
Participating Extracurricular activities
Besides focusing on your academic performance, you should spend time on activities that help develop your knowledge and build up essential soft skills such as leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, etc. Taking an internship, building an app, doing research with professors can earn you good experience and reputation. We can’t emphasize how useful it is for young graduates or undergraduates to get high-qualified jobs.
Complete All The Administrative Work Needed
Many students have their degree delayed from conferring because they have not finished all the administrative requirements, such as not paying tuition fees or returning materials to the school. You should always ask your registrar’s office for any uncompleted work and try to finish them soon to get your degree conferred.
However, you should not wait until your degree is conferred to apply for your dream jobs or a higher education program. You can update it when you finish all the paperwork.
Shorten Your Study Time At University
If you put a lot of effort into your studies, you can shorten your time attending college. Isn’t it impressive to see an applicant expect to graduate within two years or three years? A few tips are taking many AP credits when in high school, planning and knowing exactly how many credits you must take each semester, and then finishing it. However, it is a very rough and painful process; therefore, it is not recommended for everybody.
During The Job Interview
Emphasize Your Specialized Skills
Obtaining credentials certainly equips you with considerable practical and theoretical skills; therefore, make sure you mention what you have acquired during your job interview and focus on specialized skills such as financial analysis, programming, designing, etc. Mastering skills that other candidates may not have can help you shine and nail the job. Never forget
Mention Relevant Experience
To earn the recruiter’s trust, you should always mention what you have learned and experienced while in your university, then associate that knowledge with the company’s or department’s effort. You can tell them your previous achievements, from your internship to the research you have done with your professors and a project you have worked on with your peers. Don’t forget to tell them your final project at the end of your education program – this massive work can demonstrate a lot about your learning growth.
Use The Star Method To Answer Interview Questions
Before going for an interview, you should start practicing some popular questions related to your educational background that recruiters might ask.
A few questions we recommend:
- How does your education relate to your career? (reflection on your study)
- Tell me about your final project or a project that helped you succeed professionally. (experience during your study)
- Does your grade reflect your potential? (reflection on your academic performance)
Yes, some of the questions might panic you at first glance; however, with the STAR answer format we provide you here, you will answer with more confidence:
- Situation: Quickly describe the event or situation that you might be in. For example, I enrolled in a programming club.
- Task: Explain the tasks you had to complete, highlighting any goal or specific challenges you had. Think of this as telling a story with Who, What, Where, When, Why, etc.
- Action: Describe how you worked to tackle the challenge. Be very specific, listing the steps you took to solve the problem. That is what employers want to hear from you. Most significantly, just ask the right questions in your job interview, never beat around the bush!
- Result: Close with the results of your project. You should explain the impact you made or the lessons you learned.
Here are a few tips rooted from the date conferred or expected that could help you ace your university and job application.
Yes, a date might not be so important, but it can speak about your educational background and indicate if you have a plan for your education or not. Thus, we hope that you will pay more attention to it.
Whether you are a soon-to-graduate or recent graduate student, Jobandedu wish all the best to your study and job applications.
