Leaving GPA off Resume

Does leaving your gpa off your resume immediately raise flags. I have over a 3.0, which is tyipcally the cutoff where if its not higher you leave it off, but I still do not think its very good. If I have good work experience and are involved in clubs is there any reason why I wouldn't get interviews next year. If they like all the other stuff on my resume, but I don't list a gpa, why wouldnt I get an interview? It seems that banks, amongst other firms/industries put so much emphasize on gpa, but should they really?

 

GPA is a measure of how well you did in your classes. There are lots of other things that can help make up for GPA, but I've heard over and over that if you leave your GPA off, recruiters assume it's terrible and toss your resume.

 

If your GPA is bad, I'd suggest leaving it out. If other parts of your resume shine, they may be curious about you and actually shortlist you for an interview. It's then up to you to spin a story during the interview and explain away the bad GPA, and impress them face-to-face.

If you leave a 3.0 GPA on the resume, some banks will just ding you at the screening stage, without even giving you a chance to explain in person. It's better for you to leave it out.

For some banks (e.g. Lehman), it doesn't matter whether you leave it in/out because you will have to fill in a candidate information sheet which asks for your GPA.

 
Best Response
Delirium2:
If your GPA is bad, I'd suggest leaving it out. If other parts of your resume shine, they may be curious about you and actually shortlist you for an interview. It's then up to you to spin a story during the interview and explain away the bad GPA, and impress them face-to-face.

If you leave a 3.0 GPA on the resume, some banks will just ding you at the screening stage, without even giving you a chance to explain in person. It's better for you to leave it out.

For some banks (e.g. Lehman), it doesn't matter whether you leave it in/out because you will have to fill in a candidate information sheet which asks for your GPA.

exactly why you should put it on there if you have a 3.6...banks are going to assume its bad if you leave it off. if your experience is stellar, you can explain the gpa in interviews. 3.6 isnt terrible anyways, don't sweat it so much.

 
giocatoredoro:
Just make up your own. Then explain in person why you lied. That way you at least get the interview...

above is a prime example of why people shouldn't simply trust everything they read on the internet. the person who posted this is a retard.

 

Please dont go around attempting to offend posters. Look, at most schools that banks recruit at (excluding top 5 schools) their 'cut-off' is 3.5GPA. This is a fact. Banks, especially BB, do this because they can. Because the demand for the analyst positions far outweigh supply.

Lying about it is not the most honorable thing to do, but it is probalbly the ONLY thing to get an interview. Trust me, your chances of getting a job when you don't even interview are impossible. At least if you lie and you have a good explanation of why/how you did the way you did, you at least have hope.

 

I would leave it on the resume. Anything above a 3.0 is good and should be left on. From my interviews with design firms and analysis firms, they typically look for above a 2.8 and a lot of circulars. My friend just graduated Mechanical Engineering with a US Coast Guards Unlimited Horsepower Engine License, Captain of a Sports Team, President of the Engineering Chapter for our School, among plenty of other things and only had a 2.4 gpa. He got a job as an engineer in NYC and is making 100k right out of college. It needs to be balanced. I have a 3.3 right now and I've been told that they prefer people with a 2.8-3.5 with extra curricular, then a 3.5+ with no extra curricular. They said that although the person in question may be smarter on paper, their social skills/ability to work with others might be lacking.

 

I would label it major GPA, but other than that, I don't seea problem. That said, a 3.4 cumulative GPA is a strong GPA - there's rally no need to be embarrassed by it. If, howevr, you are more comfortable listing just your major GPA, I don't see it as a problem.

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I disagree, you should not list a 3.0, unless it was like 2.95. That would be untruthful. But you should list your GPA, otherwise they'll think you're totally not passing.

 

I had this situation until my gpa improved substantially last semester. I talked to many alums in finance and they said if your major gpa, post 1st year gpa, etc. is above 3.0, put that and leave the cumulative off. If you have sub-3.0 any way you slice it, then I would put it on so that they don't assume you have a 2.0 as said previously.

Of course, it should go without saying that you should bust your ass to bring the cumulative gpa above 3.0 to avoid this situation in the future.

 

First, are you certain your GPA was the primary, if not sole, reason for being rejected from a few positions – if not, you should fully evaluate yourself instead of hunting down a scapegoat. If it is the reason, then not putting your GPA on your resume probably won’t help, as they will probably just ask you what it is, and, possibly in that case, why you didn’t put it in on your resume.

Personally, I would leave the GPA on my resume. If the employer has a hard cutoff for the GPA, then they should ask you what your GPA is during the interview anyway (and then probably ask why you’ve left it off of your resume). If they don’t have a specific cutoff, then they may not ask (and probably wouldn’t care if they saw it on your resume anyway, as a 3.0 or so isn’t terrible), or they may ask just because they may be curious just how bad it is if you’ve left it off, or they may just assume it is terrible and expect you to shine in the interview to compensate.

The most important thing for you to do is to become comfortable with your GPA and be able to explain why it slipped below that 3.3-3.5 mark. If you are comfortable (and the hard cutoff isn’t present), they shouldn’t give a damn if it is a 3.1 or a 3.3, because you have sold your candidacy in general. If, however, you are really uncomfortable with your GPA, then just keep it off your resume, because otherwise you will just dwell on it and worry that they will ask about it during the interview, which could actually make you perform worse. You want to be relaxed in the interview, and if you can’t do that with your GPA on your resume, then take it off. That said, I’d probably leave it on as taking it off can sometimes lead people to believe that it is far worse than it actually is.

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Great advice. That makes a lot of sense, especially the last paragraph.

BankonBanking:
First, are you certain your GPA was the primary, if not sole, reason for being rejected from a few positions

My mistake, "dinged" was a poor choice of words. I meant that I did not get first-rounds at a few places because of gpa. At these firms, my contacts at the firm explicitly told me that it would be tough for me to get an interview because HR is strict on that stuff.

You are right about being comfortable with it. I made it to the final round of a top BB and was doing well until they grilled me about gpa... i was sputtering excuses and im sure it was clear that I was very insecure about it. In that case, I did get dinged, probably not because of my gpa itself but because of the way i handled the question.

Thanks again for your help

 

Going to a target doesn't mean they're impressed with you to the point where you can omit your GPA. Recruiters will compare you to other students from your school, and not evaluate you relative to their entire applicant pool. Omitting your GPA just raises red flags

 

Typical successful resume (copied verbatim and resulted in 5 internship offers):


Todd Blankenship

Dartmouth College

What's up now????


Yes, your GPA should be on your resume. By the way, GPA doesn't show smartitude, it shows your work ethic. They probably already do know that you're smart, but that doesn't matter nearly so much as the ability to handle the crushing workload.

 

My cumulative is shit since I was a varsity athlete for two years, so I took my 3.1 off. I had a great semester after I quit sports and fluffed that up under my education since it gave me another scholarship. I still received several interviews from Citi's S&T team, William Blair, and a few asset management firms. I recently accepted an Asset Management SA position, so I would say it payed off. If you have a connection with a firm or have a great recommender, then the GPA doesn't matter if its at least above a 3.

 

If it's on their website you should absolutely put it. On a resume you could also put things like your major gpa, or gpa for the past 2-4 semesters (etc.), to show if it's lower due to a bad semester. You could also briefly address it in a coverletter.

 

I think "other" and "N/A" are only applicable if your school grades on a pass/fail basis or something like that. Most online apps require you to list your GPA, so not listing it/inflating it will prob get you in trouble. Not having your GPA on your resume sends red flags, but if they never ask you about it then you're not technically doing anything wrong.

 

Well I never had it on my resume the first time I sent it through career services at my school so I though perhaps I could leave it off. I feel as though putting on would make me a straight deny, but maybe listing "other" until I get my fall grades and then update it might be better in my case?

 

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