Very poor GPA -- how to deal with resume, interview
Hello.
I'm a rising senior student at a top target (HYPSM), but due to nothing other than being a huge slacker and missing assignments due to disorganization, I have a horrible GPA.
I'm not talking like 3.4 horrible. It's sub 3.0. My major GPA isn't much better, it's still sub 3.0.
Even if I were to get 4.0 during my senior year, the best it could go would be 3.1 at the best.
So my questions are.
- Do I even bother writing my GPA on my resume?
2a. If I don't write my GPA and interviewers ask me why, what should I say?
2b. If I do write my GPA and interviewers ask me why it's so low, what should I say? I don't want to pull out sob stories like 'oh I had a bout of depression and it affected my GPA' although that is true to an extent
I'm aiming for investment banking though not at a toptier bank like Goldman/JPM. Thinking more of mid-markets and boutiques, seems to be more within my possibility zone.
Help?
Get that 4.0, and maybe stay an extra semester in order to bring it up even more?
Nice, one less HYP student to worry about as serious competition.
Network.
Wait, at HYPSM with a sub 3.0? That's possible? Wow. (Well, maybe MIT, but the others seem really surprising. Especially Harvard).
It's possible to get sub-3.0 at Stanford, I would expect, depending on your program. I know sub-3.0's at MIT who are now placed into rather good jobs (algo trading, etc.) but they are also STEM majors, so probably slightly more lenient. HYP (esp. H) seems to do grade inflation like hell though, so you must have slacked off a lot.
I also had a shit GPA my first few years of college. Not sub-3.0 but comparable given my college. It's no one's fault but your own, and you're going to have to overcome it on your own; there's no magic words we can feed you to give interviewers. Get that 4.0 your senior year; improvement is better than nothing. Take easy classes within your major to boost that major GPA, and make sure that goes on your resume along with your cumulative (I'd put it before your cumulative, actually).
You will be fine if you are engineering and have good internships.
Don't write it, try to write our resume tomdrawmattention away from education section.
When asked, say you felt like it wouldn't represent yourself very well. Say you did wtv in the side. Say you got straight as in Econ but no interest in gen Ed's. Talk about how you taught yourself something impressive but didn't focus in classes. Talk about how you won a lot of competitions or did an ass load of community service.
People look at grades because there is really nothing else to look at. Give them something to look at that's more important than grades. Prove to them you will add value to the firm and you'll do it better than anyone else at a better deal for them.
Who would hire a slacker?
My guess ibanking is off limits for you now, furthermore, if you didn't have what it takes to get good grades you probably lack organizational skills and attention to detail that investment banking analyst job requires. Analyst job is NOT about how smart you are it is about how productive and error prone you are after 100 hours of work/week and high GPA does have a high correlation with that particular skill set.
My advice would be to go and do sales/trading or research or consulting and then go to bschool and only then go for the associate position if you still have the inclination to do so. It is not because you don't have the brains, it is because you don't have the self discipline as evidenced by your grades to be a good banking analyst and you will be miserable, will get fired never to come back to wall street again. Btw ibanking is no longer the highest paid area within a bank so may be you are not missing much.
Ace one entire year of college, and just put that year's GPA on your resume. Talk about a rising trend. No lie, it's going to hurt you.
If you have a sub 3.0, don't put your GPA on your resume. Coming from a top target with a sub 3.0 GPA will make things very difficult for you, but not necessarily impossible. You will have to do other things right (ie. IB related internships, networking) in order to stand a chance. Even then, you are still fighting an uphill battle.
If you are asked about your GPA, simply state that you did other things while in school which took away from your focus on classes, realize your stupidity now for not focusing more of your efforts on doing well in classes, but have excelled in other areas (ie. internships, leadership positions in clubs, etc.). State that your poor GPA isn't reflective of your work ethic which is why you didn't include it and use examples to back up that (ie. you did 4 internships, did good work at all of them, theyall wanted you to return and offered a return offer)
Once again, it's definitely possible to do it with a sub 3.0 from a top target, but you need to do ALOT of networking to even stand a chance...good luck.
Don't write your GPA on the resume, network like a mofo, be part of extracurricular activities (IB/ Investment club), ... join a sports team (football/soccer/basketball/baseball)- but I think you are too late for this Join the army, volunteer in Africa to help poor kids (and I'm not joking!)
Golf.
Get Stellar results next year.
That way you will prove that you have the ability to succeed.
It's true that IB don't like slackers, but i think they hate dumb guys even more.
If you "prove" yourself next year, at least you'll show that you can do it.
Don’t put it on your resume but also don’t lie about it because you will eventually have to show documentation for this.
If you can network like mad and can interview and present yourself well you will have countered your GPA.
Source: 2 family members working in BB.
Good luck mate
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