Should you put your GPA on your RESUME?

When you're in high school, and even more so in college, your grade point average (GPA) can seem like the one-and-only measure of your success. But how important is your GPA after graduation? Should you put it on your resume? Do employers really care if you had a 2.8 or a 3.0? Can a low score ruin your chances of getting hired? The answers may surprise you.

Just so we're all clear, GPA is a cumulative average of all the grades you've earned in your four (or so) years of classes. In most cases, a perfect score is 4.0. The average score is around 2.8 (depending on variables such as grade inflation).

Yes or No? Before I go any further, this advice is only for new grads. Once you have a few years of professional experience, your undergraduate schooling diminishes in importance. If you're still bragging about your GPA when you're 40, it might seem a little odd.

So what are the general rules of thumb?

1. Only put your GPA on your resume if it was 3.0 or higher.
2. If your total GPA was under 3.0, but the GPA in your major was higher, put THAT on your resume.
3. Relevant summer jobs or internships will strengthen your resume more than just a high GPA, so don't laser-focus on grades.

Don't forget, employers can ask for copies of your transcripts, so it’s important to be truthful about your GPA, if asked.

Do Employers Really Care?

Just how important is your GPA in the real world? A recent Harris poll conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder asked 3,147 hiring managers and human resource professionals about this topic, and you may either be heartened or disappointed to learn:

62% require no minimum GPA;
31% require a 3.0 or above;
and 11% require a 3.5 or above.

I think that's actually good news for grads on both ends of the GPA spectrum. Those who worked super-hard and got a super GPA will find employers that demand nothing less. And those whose excellence manifested itself in areas other than academics can still find plenty of employers to value their contributions.

Bottom line: A high GPA is remarkable and should be emphasized on your resume. An average GPA isn't necessarily bad, it's just not particularly noteworthy. Since your resume is all about summarizing your most noteworthy accomplishments, leave out that 2.7 and focus on your other qualifications. And relax... by the time you're about five years out of college, GPA will be a non-issue.

By Julie O'Malley, a Content Writer and Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) at PongoResume.com.

A simple guide for job networking on LinkedIn

Competition for advertised jobs is fierce. An advertised job posting can generate applications from thousands of potential candidates. Likewise, employers can cherry-pick potential employees. So how do you differentiate yourself while job hunting on LinkedIn? With all the tools for job seekers on the site you may get overwhelmed. Try this step-by-step process below and land a job on LinkedIn successfully!

To increase your chances of generating a response including an interview from a job posting, you should:
• Use LinkedIn to locate a company insider with a common connection (professional association, alum, etcetera)
• Request an informational interview to determine if the job is still available, name of the hiring manager, desired characteristics of the potential employee, and etcetera • Customize your resume and cover letter using this information
• Ask your company insider to deliver your resume and cover letter to the hiring manager

Next, I am going to provide you with the steps I used to apply for a position last week with a Fortune 100 company.

1. Go to http://www.linkedin.com/
2. Click on the “Advanced” link for the Search People field in the upper right region of your screen
3. Select “Located in or near:” for the Location field
4. Input a zip code for the Postal Code field and select the appropriate entry (such as 50 mi) for the Within field to ensure the location of the company is within this geographical range
5. Input the name of the company in the Company field and select Current in the box below this field
6. Click the Search button
7. If the search generated several results, you can limit the results by relationship by selecting the 1st Connections, 2nd Connections, and so on under the Relationship field.
8. Next view the profiles to locate current employees who have a common connection with you (professional association, alum, etcetera)
9. Contact these individuals to set up an informational interview. I have discovered that I generate better results by sending an email for the initial contact. The email I sent via LinkedIn listed the name of the position in the subject field and the body of my email included this:

“Hello X, I hope all is well. I’m a current X association member and want to set up a brief chat this upcoming week to discuss your company. I can be reached at 469-892-5092. Let me know what you think. Thanks-Kenrick”

The individual replied the next day listing the time frame we could talk. I replied by stating: “I prefer to have my resume/cover letter hand delivered to the hiring manager, if there is a match. Tomorrow after 1PM is good. Let me know what you think. Thanks-Kenrick”

10. We had our 10 minute discussion, I customized my resume and cover letter, and I sent it to my new connection for delivery to the hiring manager.

Whether or not you are invited to interview for the suitable positions you’ll apply for using this process; your response rate should be higher than if you just apply blindly to a job.
Hopefully you learned quite a bit reading this, good luck on your job hunt!

Retrieved June 1, 2010 from "New Grad Life"http://newgradlife.blogspot.com/2009/10/9-steps-to-linkedin-networking-for-job.html