When you start building a resume for the US job market, the education section often trips people up more than expected.
Should you keep your Korean university's name as-is in English? How do you translate your major? Do you need to convert a GPA on a 4.3 or 4.5 scale into the US 4.0 scale?
If you've also done an exchange semester at a US school, it can be confusing whether that belongs in your Education section too.
The short answer: having a degree from a Korean university doesn't call for any special format.
What matters more is presenting it simply and accurately, so a US recruiter can understand it quickly.
Use your school's official English name
Rather than translating the name yourself, check the official English name your university actually uses.
You can usually find it on the school's English-language website or on an official English transcript.
It's also good to list the location — for a university in Seoul, you can write "Seoul, South Korea."
Below that, list your degree, major, and expected graduation date.
If you're still enrolled, you can note something like "Expected May 2027."
In the US, eligibility for internships or entry-level roles is sometimes tied to your graduation timing, so stating an expected graduation date clearly can matter.
You don't have to convert your GPA to a 4.0 scale
Korean universities often use a 4.3 or 4.5 scale.
Some people run their 4.3-scale GPA through an online converter to get a 4.0-scale number, but unless it's specifically requested, there's no need to convert it yourself.
For example, if your GPA is 3.9/4.3, the clearest way to write it is exactly that — "GPA: 3.9/4.3."
If an application specifically asks for a 4.0-scale GPA, follow that company's instructions.
A GPA isn't strictly required either. It can help students and new grads, but it tends to matter less on a resume as your career goes on.
How do you list a double major or a minor?
If you double-majored, you can list both.
But there's no need to explain Korea's academic system to a recruiter at length.
A resume's purpose isn't to record your entire school life — it's to quickly show the information relevant to the role you're applying for.
If you're applying for a data role, you can highlight the major or coursework related to it — statistics, computer science, industrial engineering, and so on.
On the other hand, listing every course that has little to do with the role can bury the information that actually matters.
How should you list exchange-student experience?
If you spent a semester or a year as an exchange student at a US university, you can add it to your Education section.
But there's one thing that matters most.
Don't write it in a way that makes it look like you earned a degree from that US school.
Under the school name, clearly note "Exchange Student" or "Study Abroad," along with the actual dates you attended.
If you took major coursework, did research, or worked on projects during your exchange period, that can be a great experience to talk about in the US job search process. (Though in practice, some application forms don't even have an "exchange student" option.)
Things you don't need to include on a US resume
If you're used to Korean-style resumes, a US resume can feel surprisingly bare at first. (I cut mine from four pages down to one.)
A typical US resume doesn't include a photo, and information like date of birth, gender, or marital status usually isn't included either.
Instead, most of the resume is used to show what you did and what the result was.
Instead of simply writing "Analyzed customer data," it's much better to show what data you analyzed, what tools you used, and what improved as a result.
Using numbers — how much you cut processing time by, how much data you analyzed — lets you convey the experience far more concretely.
A resume isn't a document for recording everything about you
When you first build a resume, you want to pack in as many activities as possible.
But a US resume is less a record of every experience in your life and more a curated set of experiences relevant to the position you're applying for.
Rather than worrying about the fact that you went to a Korean university, it matters more to show what you studied, what projects and internships you did, and how that experience connects to the role you're applying for.
And a resume isn't something you finish once and never touch again. As the role you're applying for changes, the experience you should emphasize can change too.
If you're preparing for the US job search, build a basic resume alongside your LinkedIn profile first, then revise it gradually as you look at real job postings.
In the end, a good resume has a simple goal: making a recruiter, in a short amount of time, think "I'd like to talk to this person."