To prospective employers, your GPA, or grade point average, provides a quick indication of your achievements at university or college. It's no small feat to ace your courses semester after semester, so when it comes time to share your resume with employers, a high GPA can be a strong selling point.
If you are currently in college or will soon be graduating, these tips can help you determine whether or not to include your GPA on your resume, as well as show you where and how to properly include it.
Should I put my GPA on my resume?
The decision whether or not to list your GPA really depends on what your GPA is, other school achievements, and the career field you are looking to work in. It's best to only list a GPA of 3.0 or above. Alternatively, if you excelled in some classes as part of your major, but didn't do so well in other classes, you could choose to calculate only your major GPA, rather than your overall GPA.
A low GPA isn't the only reason to leave your GPA off your resume. If you've graduated with Latin honors (such as cum laude), your GPA is implied, so you may decide to leave it off. However, as some universities calculate Latin honors differently, some experts suggest listing both the Latin honor and GPA to avoid any confusion.
Once you've been in the workforce for a few years, your work experience becomes more important than your GPA. After two or three years of full-time work, it will no longer be necessary to include your GPA on a resume, unless you are working in career fields like education and research.
Where to put GPA on a resume
Place your GPA in the education section of your resume. If you have not achieved any honors, put your GPA next to your major. If you have Latin honors, put your GPA in a separate honors subsection, beside these achievements.
The correct formatting for your GPA
In most cases, list your GPA as follows: GPA 3.5. If you are listing your major GPA, as opposed to your overall GPA, make sure to label this clearly. You can list your overall and major GPA if they are both outstanding.
If you are listing your GPA beside honors, place it in parenthesis. For example: magna cum laude (GPA 3.6).
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