Do employers care whether you include GPA on your resume?
According to a dozen hiring managers, career advisors, and employees the answer is typically no.
For the vast majority of job seekers, GPAs have little to no impact. But for those still early in their careers, applying for internships, or seeking employment in certain STEM careers, a good GPA carries more weight. In fact, there are some industries that won’t consider your resume unless it includes a grade point average.
This guide covers when to add GPA on a resume and how to format it.
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You’ve probably seen conflicting advice on including GPA on your resume. Many will say you absolutely need it, especially if you’re early in your career.
Others will disagree. Just look at this Reddit thread:
According to Masoud Ardestani, co-founder and CEO of recruiting platform Rapha,“GPAs don’t matter whatsoever.”
Lynda Spiegel, human resources professional and career coach, turns the question around, “Why would you put your GPA on your resume?”
Unless it’s asked of you in the job description, you’re better off without it.
“As a human resources professional, I can tell you that GPA tells me only one thing: how good [of] a student you were. That means little about how good [of] an employee you would be.”
Still not sure? Here are the four factors to consider when determining whether or not to include GPA on your resume:
Your GPA is far more relevant in industries like government, education, engineering, science, or other STEM-related professions. Even then, it’s highly dependent on the organization’s policy and your specific role.
For example, your GPA may matter more when applying to teaching positions than for IT roles in the same district. As a teacher, the school would want to confirm competency in a subject.
Teachers in some states are required to submit the transcript for their coursework and certifications to the state education department and human resources with their prospective employer.
Some defense contractors require no less than a 3.5 GPA for entry-level positions.
Government is a toss up. You will likely find that about half of the government jobs you apply for require college transcripts with your application and want to see GPA on your resume.
Some programs and internships span several years and are meant to lead to permanent positions within the company, so they’re strict on GPA maintenance for students.
Generally, they’ll require a GPA above 3.0, as you can see from these popular internship programs:
Typically, if it dips below the 3.0 GPA requirement, you’re given a semester to rebuild. If you can’t get it back above the minimum, you’re relieved from the program.
Early career positions are the exception to the rule.
Because you have limited work experience, employers have a harder time judging whether or not you can do the job. Fair or not, they may look at your GPA as an indicator of work ethic.
In this case, employers will simply want to see your GPA is respectable and that you meet all of the basic requirements for the position. Once you’re past that initial check, they’re unlikely to ask about your GPA in interviews.
If you have a very high GPA (3.5 or higher) and you’re new to the workforce, you may be eager to add it to your resume.
Unsurprisingly, most hiring managers believe adding a GPA lower than 3.5 to your resume is a mistake.
Sief Khafagi, a Facebook recruiter, advises to “leave your GPA off, unless it’s near [the] top of your class.”
He goes on to mention you can replace your GPA and other education details with technologies you’re comfortable with, as long as you don’t go overboard.
Caitlin Proctor, a certified professional resume writer and career expert at ZipJob, believes there’s more to lose than gain from including your GPA on a resume:
“My advice would be to leave your GPA off. Ultimately, the exclusion of your GPA from a resume isn’t going to make or break your job search. However, including it could absolutely cost you an interview.
By the time you get to the interview process, you should be able to develop some kind of narrative around why your GPA is lower.
If it’s a factor that may remove you from the list of applicants, you can offset it with references, a good school, internships, and letters of recommendation. If those internships have given you a good basis of work in the field, you can use that to demonstrate your knowledge and experience as well.
Ultimately, skills trump grades in the corporate world, according to Proctor:
“While most companies would rather see achievements that demonstrate skills like teamwork and leadership, the ones who care about GPA will ask you about it.”
You’ve probably started browsing resume templates and examples of resumes on Google images or Pinterest, and you’ve seen so many different ways of listing your education on your resume.
Unfortunately, as flashy and visually appealing as some of those resumes are, they’re not always readable. ATS systems- which automatically check your resume against the company’s job listing- aren’t always able to read resumes that aren’t formatted correctly.
For reference, this is what the average education section should look like on your resume:
Below you’ll see where to place your GPA on your resume, and how to format your education section if you have more than the average qualifications.
After you graduate, your GPA should sit at the bottom of your resume alongside your major and college, in one of the most important parts of a resume for new graduates, your education section.
However, if you’re a recent graduate, you’ll want to include your education section, including your GPA, at the top of your resume, just beneath the professional statement.
Student applying for graduate school example
Where you put your GPA on your resume and the best resume format to use depends on whether you’re still a student or if you’ve graduated.
If you’re still in school, add your education details at the top of your resume, just under your contact details and resume summary.
The amount of information you add varies, depending on if you:
Your GPA looks best when kept simple and neat, with only the most basic information included.
If you have additional credentials you’d like to add, such as a college program or dean’s list, you’d list the information in this order:
If you’ve had some incredible achievements while in school, you might want to include them. Consider the following examples:
If you don’t have a lot of experience on your resume, additional achievements, credentials, and awards can help to offset that inexperience.
It can also help to offset a lower GPA, if you’re required to add it to your resume.
Some resume templates shift the years of attendance and your GPA to the right side of the page, separating it from the rest of your education section.
This may have some implications on the readability of your resume by applicant tracking system (ATS) software, which scans for resume keywords and qualifications that help recruiters find the best candidate matches.
