Example Answers: “What is Your Educational Background?”

By Nilda Melissa Diaz, Career Advice WriterLast Updated: April 11, 2024

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Interviews often give skilled recruiters the opportunity to hint at the answers they’re looking for, especially with questions about your educational background. Whether asked directly about your degrees or more broadly about your schooling, the key is to focus on how your education has equipped you with relevant skills for the job, rather than listing the schools you attended. For instance, if you only completed high school, discuss the skills you developed there and how they apply to the position. This approach shows that your education, regardless of level, has prepared you for the job.

Additionally, ensure that the skills section of your resume aligns with the job requirements noted in the job advertisement. If you’re preparing applications for other roles, consider using tools like our Resume Builder to effectively tailor your resume’s skills section and other parts to meet specific job needs.

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How to answer: ‘What is your educational background’

1. Be honest about your achievement

If you left some of your schooling uncompleted, or if you never attended college, you may be self-conscious about sharing these details with an employer. Telling the whole story is important, though, and leaving out details can lead to awkward clarification. Instead of shying away from or misrepresenting these facts, briefly tell an interviewer the history of your education and offer any explanation you feel is appropriate. They will likely care more about how you discuss your education than how much of it you have.

Interview questions such as “discuss your educational background” are looking for more than just an overview of the schools you attended. Never make the mistake of hiding your education or representing it falsely to an employer. They will either find out or expect you to have experience you cannot fake.

Pro Tip: Find the best resume template to showcase your education if it’s one of your strongest qualifications.

2. Discuss the greater context of your education

An interviewer who asks you to “discuss your educational background” wants to know what knowledge and experience you have. While information about your high school and college performance are relevant, details about your course of study and what classes you took are more relevant. You should be able to tell a recruiter how your education relates to the position you are applying for.

Even if you did not study anything directly related to the field, you can tell him or her how you gained skills that may be necessary for the position. This places your education in a context that increases your value as a candidate and keeps your abilities at the forefront of the conversation.

Pro Tip: See how professionals in your field use their entire resume to communicate learnings on our best resume examples page.

3. Discuss your education’s past, present and future

If you have been out of school for years or plan to attend school again in the future, you may think you lack relevant information to answer this with. On the contrary, discussing your educational background should involve mentioning your past, present and future endeavors. This shows interviewers that you are committed to continual learning and it’s also an opportunity to discuss your goals.

You should answer interview questions such as this with an emphasis on the connection between your educational aspirations and the position at hand, too. This solidifies the skills you have that are relevant to the job. See our college student resume examples for guidance on effectively discussing your credentials in your resume.

We also recommend checking out our interview training tools, which can help you prepare to describe your education and professional background in your next job interview.

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Example answers: ‘What is your educational background’

The job description noted that there are certain educational requirements, and the rest of the posting indicated the position necessitates excellent time management and communication skills. My educational background includes my high school diploma and some time in college, where I studied business management. I completed three terms of higher education, and in that time, I honed my communication and time management skills in classes such as marketing and English. The knowledge I gained in these and other courses would be directly beneficial to this position, and I plan to continue developing these skills in both my education and work by taking more classes and pursuing new challenges in the workplace.
My educational experience includes a recently completed college degree, which contributed greatly to my development of skills such as sales and teamwork. I noticed that the job posting listed these as essential skills for the position. The classes I took and projects I completed were for a marketing major, and they imparted many of the concepts necessary to understanding good sales techniques. I also often worked to complete presentations with classmates, and this helped me hone my ability to collaborate constructively. My educational background has prepared me well for this position and for a successful career path. I also plan to pursue further coursework in the future in order to keep learning and gain the qualifications to advance in this field.