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I'm looking for some advice on whether or not to include my grade point average on my resume.
Here's my situation: I went college, graduated, and went to grad school straight away. I've been out of grad school for about 18 months and working in my current position for about 13 months. My grade point average in my master's program was 3.39. As an undergrad it was 3.48; 3.66 and 3.67 in my respective majors. I feel like my academic record is pretty strong, but I'm just not sure it's still that relevant.
First of all, your GPA isn't that high. Sorry, but you were a slightly-above-average student. If your GPA were a 4.0, or maybe 3.8 or higher, that might be something to brag about. All your GPA says is that you got an almost even split between As and Bs. That's not bad, but its not great either.
Second, you should have more to recommend you by now than your GPA. There are a few fields, like law, where GPA is a mandatory entry on a resume, but outside of that, the only people who should be putting a GPA on their resume are new graduates who have nothing else like work experience to put on the page. At this point, someone reading your resume would just wonder why you are including it and what you are trying to compensate you for. Breaking down your GPA into four separate numbers especially seems like overkill.
If you don't include it, they won't hold it against you. If you do, and other applicants list a higher GPA, it could knock you out of the running. So I wouldn't. I think ignorance is bliss in this situation.
First of all, your GPA isn't that high. Sorry, but you were a slightly-above-average student. If your GPA were a 4.0, or maybe 3.8 or higher, that might be something to brag about. All your GPA says is that you got an almost even split between As and Bs. That's not bad, but its not great either.
Second, you should have more to recommend you by now than your GPA. There are a few fields, like law, where GPA is a mandatory entry on a resume, but outside of that, the only people who should be putting a GPA on their resume are new graduates who have nothing else like work experience to put on the page. At this point, someone reading your resume would just wonder why you are including it and what you are trying to compensate you for. Breaking down your GPA into four separate numbers especially seems like overkill.
Thanks - that was my gut, but I wanted to get some other takes on it too. I think my academic record is pretty good, but not of the exceptional quality that it would make a difference a couple years out. Plus my work experience isn't half bad.
Didn't have any plans to break it down in to four different numbers - just wondering if it was worth including it in any fashion. Even I have the sense not to put it on there four times!
Thanks again.
Last edited by bluepepper; 06-17-2010 at 09:57 AM..
Reason: typo
If I don't see it listed for somewhat new grads I assume it was bad.
She's been out of grad school and working for a year and a half. At this point her work experience is going to carry more weight than a good but not exceptional GPA.
She's been out of grad school and working for a year and a half. At this point her work experience is going to carry more weight than a good but not exceptional GPA.
I agree 100% that her work experience will cary more weight. That doesn't change what I wrote.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6
I agree 100% that her work experience will cary more weight. That doesn't change what I wrote.
If the GPA isn't exceptional, then wouldn't it be more advantageous to just leave it off versus giving a prospective employer an easy reason to screen you out?
If I don't see it listed for somewhat new grads I assume it was bad.
I've heard this can be the case, but I wondered if that would the case given that I have an MA, since clearly my undergraduate record was good enough to get me in to a master's program.
As for the master's program itself, I imagine I was pretty solidly middle of the pack there. Since you had to get a 'B' to pass a course, and professors were trying to avoid grad inflation, it was pretty rare to get a straight 'A', and I'd venture the vast majority of grads we somewhere between 3.2 and 3.6. Ergo, I don't know if it's something I want to point out.
If the GPA isn't exceptional, then wouldn't it be more advantageous to just leave it off versus giving a prospective employer an easy reason to screen you out?
Pick your poison. Put a not exceptional GPA down or possibly have the person looking at the resume assume it was poor.
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