GPA on resume

[classy]

Sadly, no one really cares.

That is true. No one really pays attention. But it also might depend on the field of study.

 

[Obsy]

I don't see what's wrong with listing your GPA, if it's good. If you have work experience, too, why can't you list both? Do they look at your exceptional GPA and go "Oh, this person did well in school! Pass."?

 

[Bignate603]

I don't see what's wrong with listing your GPA, if it's good. If you have work experience, too, why can't you list both? Do they look at your exceptional GPA and go "Oh, this person did well in school! Pass."?

I have to agree. I don't think you need to make it huge and draw attention to it. For my next job it will be gone because I'll have better experience that will be more important.

 

[TuxDave]

I would say getting through almost any engineering program, shows that you are more then willing to apply material correctly...Meaning that engineering is so broad and complex that you will learn how to apply the specific subset that they need you to apply to.

Then again, there are times when I need to double check the resume to make sure it said EE based on the terrible responses I'm getting to my questions.

 

[KeypoX]

For my major(chemical engineering) and the jobs( siemens, intel, exon, etc) they require gpa or they dont even consider you.

Also since the averages on most test are usually around 50ish, not everyone can get a 4.0 and they setup such that each grade is about 10 percent of the class, usually about 10 percent of the class fails. Shitty how hard some classes are and that they fail people like that though.

 

[Gibson486]

Then again, there are times when I need to double check the resume to make sure it said EE based on the terrible responses I'm getting to my questions.

hey, this EE just got laid off and is more than willing to answer your EE questions.

To answer the question, if you are out of school and the job posting has a GPA requirement, then put it down if you meet the requirement.

Some jobs require it, some do not. It depends on the company.

 

[KeypoX]

I can only speak for my major (EE), but putting GPA definitely matters. I was told by one of the advisers unless you have 3.7 or above don't put your GPA. I went to the career fair with my resume w/o a GPA the next morning and spoke with 5 large companies. Each of them asked me what my GPA was and when I said 3.4, three of the five asked me why I didn't put it on there. One even said basically they usually assume no GPA assumes -> <3.0 GPA -> move along we're not interested.

yeah thats engineering, gpa is most important, and interns/coops


so glad i jsut got hired lol

 

[Obsy]

I have to agree. I don't think you need to make it huge and draw attention to it. For my next job it will be gone because I'll have better experience that will be more important.

What if someone has a 3.9 GPA? I don't see why that person should leave it out, unless if he/she has work experience so "perfect" that a 3.9 GPA can actually be detrimental, because he or she screwed up once and got a B+.

 

[DougoMan]

What you put is magna cum laude, honors or whatever.

 

[DrPizza]

What you put is magna cum laude, honors or whatever.

I just thought of that when I saw the thread title again, and was coming back here to post exactly that. You don't need to say "3.92":
"B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude 2009"
is sufficient.

 

[Juked07]

Perhaps it is different for the particular fields you guys are giving advice about, but for the jobs I have applied to, GPA on the resume is a must coming out of college. In fact, not having it means you almost certainly got less than a 3.0. (This is for on campus recruiting at a heavily recruited school for banking/consulting/tech).

 

[Obsy]

I just thought of that when I saw the thread title again, and was coming back here to post exactly that. You don't need to say "3.92":
"B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude 2009"
is sufficient.

So, putting "3.92" would be detrimental, and it's better to be professionally simple? Like, be simple with details, but somehow imply that you did damned well.

 

[Bignate603]

What if someone has a 3.9 GPA? I don't see why that person should leave it out, unless if he/she has work experience so "perfect" that a 3.9 GPA can actually be detrimental, because he or she screwed up once and got a B+.

I don't really understand your question. I think you should put it on for your first job, but you don't need to make it huge or draw attention to it. After your first job you don't really need it on there because your experience matters more than your GPA. After you've been out of school a few years nobody cares what your GPA is, that's ancient history.

 

[alkemyst]

just put "Over 9000"

 

[Obsy]

I don't really understand your question. I think you should put it on for your first job, but you don't need to make it huge or draw attention to it. After your first job you don't really need it on there because your experience matters more than your GPA. After you've been out of school a few years nobody cares what your GPA is, that's ancient history.

Yeah, but if I put it anyway, it wouldn't be disadvantageous? Just an academic question.

 

[Bignate603]

Yeah, but if I put it anyway, it wouldn't be disadvantageous? Just an academic question.

I personally think that it would be tacky for somebody that's been working for a while to include their GPA unless specifically asked. It makes you sound like you're digging for things to make yourself look better that don't really matter. If you graduated summa or magna cum laude I would leave that though. It means much the same thing, but it looks much more professional.

 

[ioni]

Agreed. Nor have I ever hired anyone that puts their GPA on their resume.

Was it because their GPA was on their resume?

 

[TecHNooB]

That's the thing. "The material" in school is barely relevant to the real world. The internships are applying the material. School is just teaching you effective way to cram for exams.

i find a lot of the fundamentals do apply. and for hardware engineers, certainly any project design courses would apply.

 

[edro]

just put "Over 9000"

Yeah! Put a random number so the employer feels stupid because they haven't heard of the new system.

 

[halik]

High end job interviews generally ask for GPA and/or screen resumes based on GPA. I've got my grad school gpa on my resume.

I did get asked about it during an interview as well, since the number was a bit odd (3.97 or something)

 

[Avalon]

Sadly many jobs for people directly out of college want your GPA now.

When I got out of college about 4 years ago, not a single company cared what my GPA was. Has it really changed in just a few years?

 

[TecHNooB]

When I got out of college about 4 years ago, not a single company cared what my GPA was. Has it really changed in just a few years?

is your job highly technical?

 

[bignateyk]

What? Are you a super genius I guess? It depends on the school/field, classes you choose, etc. It can be very hard to get a good GPA in college, depending on what you do, and unless you're in the top 3% of your class, you aren't getting a 3.8 GPA in any tough field. Again, rules don't apply if you're a genius.


I'm glad you must be a genius, do you just punch any applicants that don't have a good GPA in the face when you do their interview and tell them they should thank you?


that is if you are even involved in the hiring.

If I have two entry level candidates with no experience, you can damn well bet I'm gonna look at their GPA. Getting a 3.0 in any field of study isn't that difficult. If it is, you're probably in the wrong field.

Experience always trumps GPA, but if experience is non-existent or equal, GPA is definitely good to look at, especially at near entry-level positions.

 

[Gibson486]

If I have two entry level candidates with no experience, you can damn well bet I'm gonna look at their GPA. Getting a 3.0 in any field of study isn't that difficult. If it is, you're probably in the wrong field.

Experience always trumps GPA, but if experience is non-existent or equal, GPA is definitely good to look at, especially at near entry-level positions.

well of course...

GPA really does not matter...

However, when it comes to new grads with 0 experience, what else are you going to look at?

 

[Gibson486]

is your job highly technical?

It does not matter.

It's depends on company policy and the interviewer.

I have been on interviews where they asked my gpa and interviews where they didn't.

Generally, companies that ask fro it are the big ones. They have no choice but to do it to new grads. If they didn't, how else will they sort through the resumes? They gets thousands of them.