Should I list well-known professors on my resume?

A reader writes:

"I graduated with my degree in the Arts, and I am unsure if it would be helpful to include the names of the well-known professors whom I took relevant courses with? If so, how would I go about including that?"

Generally, you would not list professors on a traditional resume, even if those professors are well known. Honestly, most employers just don't place a high value on who taught a class you took because it doesn't really add to making you a stronger candidate for a job.

You might want to work the name of a well-known professor into your cover letter if--and only if--you had a valuable experience with that professor aside from just going to class and turning in assignments.

For example, if you did a research project, independent study, or otherwise were able to build a professional relationship with that professor, you would drop their name in the context of the valuable experience.

So, name dropping famous professors for the sake of name dropping is not really appropriate for your resume. But, it may be fair game when you have had a relevant experience with that famous professor.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.