Financial Samurai

I’ve heard that the one page rule is hard and fast when you’re out of college or don’t have enough professional experience, but after you’ve established yourself in the industry, that it’s OK to expand this into a maximum two page resume. If I’m a hiring manager looking to fill a senior level position, then I want to know up front who has what it takes to fill the job. Looking at Adam’s resume, I don’t think I’d get the amount of information needed to know that he might be a fit.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:01 am

It’s up to you as a hiring manager and it depends on how many people you have.

I find things out in the 30 min to 2 hr interview if I’m really interested.

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Resume Pointers By Jed Reply:
September 9th, 2011 at 11:22 am

Financial Samurai,

As a young 20-something year old who has never hired anybody, I respectfully disagree with every almost every point you made. Please let me explain.

The standard time a recruiter will look at a resume is 15 seconds. That is the rule. However, some people may not be a thorough and spend only 7 seconds, as you have stated. Other than that you are spot on with this point.

The one page resume is most certainly an industry preference. For any position above entry level a two page resume is standard and expected. This however, is no excuse for filler information.

Standard design should be in reference to background and font colors, fonts, and anything other than text. The layout however, should never be cookie-cutter like you have described. I do not think that the information is wrong as much as I don’t want to see the exact same resume layo

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Financial Samurai Reply:
September 9th, 2011 at 2:26 pm

No prob. What’s your background?

h-bomb Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 8:22 am

Oh, since you’re a young 20 something year old, you know everything. You disagree with every almost every point. I hope you don’t use that grammar on your resume. Never hired anyone either huh? Geez, internet know-it-all’d.

Maybe you might have been talking mostly about the financial industry, but it seems to me that putting a GPA on a resume 5 years out of school looks a little petty. Shouldn’t you have something more impressive to put in its place by then?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 6:59 am

What do you have to hide? A GPA takes a total of 3 or 4 spaces in a line.

The only people I’ve encountered who think not putting their GPA on their resume, which accounted for 4-5 years of people’s lives are people with bad GPAs. Hence, if you had a good score, why get lumped in with those who hide?

Many firms have strict GPA cutoffs too ie 3.7/4.0 for management consulting. It’s important.

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JT McGee Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:29 am

I guess that goes both ways. At 26 years old, what do you have to hide in your previous jobs that you though a GPA to be that important?

I’m sure it is important for management consulting, etc. I guess this might be a “good resumes for top-1% earning fields” instead of examples of good resumes that get jobs.

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JT McGee Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:31 am

Should have mentioned that I’m not trying to pick a fight at all, I’m just glad there’s a blogger that goes toe-to-toe on every comment.

Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 10:47 am

JT, for some reason, I continue to have a very difficult time understanding you.

You write, “At 26 years old, what do you have to hide in your previous jobs that you though a GPA to be that important?”

Who is 26 years old? What is “you though a GPA to be that important”? I don’t understand.

Are you saying putting a GPA and writing what you did in your job is mutually exclusive and can’t be done?

Please share with me your experience in hiring people and what you look for. And also, what is your GPA so I have a better sense of where you come from, and whether my previous encounters holds true.

Thx and sorry I can’t understand you.

JT McGee Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:17 am

The reply doesn’t load correctly once a thread gets this long. I’m replying to myself in order to continue it.

I used the age of 26 because you made mention to the idea that someone should mention their GPA all the way up to 5 years of experience or more. If we assume someone graduates at 22, then 26 would be four years out of school. The age doesn’t much matter. Ignore this point, since it seemed to have only complicated the discussion.

“Though a GPA to be that important…” That was a typo, should have been “thought.” I am not saying that it is mutually exclusive, but just as many choose to layer over old experience/jobs with newer/likely more relevant experience, there has to be a point at which your college GPA becomes quite petty. (Another commenter below also said they had not seen a GPA on a resume in a long time.)

I’ve hired people for my own business before I was legally able to work for someone else. These positions included anything from business development down to very basic office work, record keeping, etc. This business won me distinction at the national level from the largest entrepreneurial scholarship in the US.

My main point is that while it may be standard to throw a GPA around in the financial sector, I don’t think it’s as standard as you may think elsewhere. In fact, it starts to seem rather trivial, almost as if someone were begging to mention it because their other history wasn’t up to par.

My GPA sits at a rough 3.2 with still two years to go, and a 3.9 in classes related to my major. I expect that it will only rise in the future as I continue to break into the classes that “matter.” I won’t let you draw conclusions from what you’ve encountered and what you’ve seen, and frankly, I think you’ve lost connection with “average” the second you started calling your office a “firm.”

I’ll repeat: this might be a “good examples for jobs/careers in the top-1%” instead of examples of good resumes that get jobs. There’s a big difference between those two. Top 1% is one thing, top XX% is another. I’m sure the firm at which you work needs to see top 5 schools and 4.0 GPAs, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world cares all that much.

Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 12:13 pm

There’s nothing wrong with being average. You will find that most manager’s, whatever firm they work at want to find the best people for the job not just the average people.

Who says anything about the finance industry being the only industry with high expectations? Google has a cut off of 3.7/4.0, Management Consulting, Private Equity, getting into Med School, or Law Schoo all have at least 3.5/4.0 cutoffs.

I understand your position now with a 3.2 GPA. It’s up to you whether you want to bring it up or not. That’s the beauty of the world. We have the power to do what we want. Nobody is more special or less special. If you are happy with your grades and the business or career it brings you, that’s all that matters.

Hanna Reply:
January 2nd, 2013 at 5:13 pm

I find this debate rather interesting. I guess it depends a lot on the country – in Finland putting a GPA in a resume would seem very ridiculous, unless you are applying for a doctorate position someone. It’s just not done. I even read somewhere that certain firms avoid taking recent graduates and students looking for internshio places if they have a too good GPA, since that usually tells the recruiters they are more theoretical than practical workers. Unfortunately I can’t remember which field was in question.

Anyhow, thank you for the tips! I’m making my first english resume and I’m finding it surprisingly different from the one I’m used to making, so I’m learning a lot!

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Nancy Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 12:18 pm

I used to call people petty and arrogant for putting their GPAs on their resume. I’d fight the system and say it wasn’t necessary. But, then I came to my senses and realized I was just making excuses for my mediocre GPA of 3.3 when I was having a tough time getting interviews.

I should have studied harder in college and got it closer to a 4.0. Then, I think I would have got more chances. There’s nobody to blame but myself. I worked a couple jobs, and then I went back to grad school.

It’s easier studying hard and getting good grades than fighting the system JT.

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JT McGee Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 6:10 pm

Agreed on “it’s easier studying hard and getting good grades than fighting the system,” though I’ve only recently learned that lesson.

My point was that there seems to be a level of careers/jobs/employers that would require/want to see a GPA, but below that level the GPA starts looking petty. Would you put a GPA for a mid-level management position in ordinary company A? How about at ABC small business?

Sam’s examples of Google, PE/Finance firms, management consulting and law/med schools are probably loftier corporate goals than 99% of college graduates’ expectations. I’m not sure it’s wise to use these high-end employers as examples for everyone. Maybe that’s just me.

According to Twitter, another blog post is forthcoming. :o

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Nancy Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:14 pm

Absolutely yes to your questions of putting your GPA on. You should have nothing to hide.

If you’re looking for average, this is probably the wrong place to be. I’m surprised as a college Sophomore, you are telling Sam he’s wrong. It’s pretty disrespectful, am I’m shocked he has bothered to respond to you at all.

Maybe it’s a generational thing where people your age think they know it all. Well guess what? You don’t, and if you go with that attitude when you try to find a job, you will never make it.

JT McGee Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:40 pm

It isn’t at all intended as any disrespect, I’m sorry you took it that way. If anything, it is nothing more than a compliment, albeit not as direct as most.

Sam’s opinion on a resume is the equivalent to asking a Harvard math professor what math class he/she thinks a 6th grade student should take. Should we be surprised if that math professor replies to the question, “calculus at the very minimum?” Probably not, that’s consistent with their level.

I don’t think I’ve told Sam he was wrong, nor do I think anything I said was offensive. While you might not accept my view from me, a college sophomore, maybe you’ll accept it from the several others with the same viewpoint who commented below. They are likely college graduates, since that distinction seems of most importance to you.

If Sam takes what I said with offense, I apologize. I wasn’t aware that he did. I would think that if he had taken it offensively, he would say so as he has plenty times made mention of his own views. Frankly, Sam could come on here, tear me a new a**hole with all kinds of four letter words and his own viewpoint, and I wouldn’t leave offended. I’ve tough skin, and so does he, I’m sure.

This is a blog comment section where we’re openly discussing an idea, for better or worse. What’s wrong with that?

Clayton Reply:
September 14th, 2012 at 1:04 pm

I fully agree with you JT. I manage a major title office in dallas and find GPA’s on resumes to be petty and irrelevant. I dont care if you can study and make good grades, that doesnt guarantee you to be a good employee. Ignore nancy as she is probably old and stuck in some low level job where she will unhappily retire from. Dont waste anymore of your time replying to these idiots. and good luck in school!

I hate updating resumes, but I do know you need to always be prepared.

I think the best way to ‘job hunt’ is to always being open minded when it comes to changing jobs. Most often, the best thing comes along when you aren’t even looking.

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Great post! Except for MBA programs, many undergrad degrees are severly lacking in basic job skills like this. Classes on interview skills and networking should be required in college. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into the mind of a hiring manager!

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:16 am

No problem. Figure I’d type out some useful advice once in a while. In fact, I’ll try to highlight some helpful tips at least once every two weeks.

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SavingMentor Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 5:29 am

I think that’s a good thing. I’ve honestly been getting tired of all the sarcastic posts you’ve been doing. Furthermore when reading the comments of those sarcastic posts, I find half the people seem to be taking your seriously (or pretending to).

I even find myself wondering if you are really being a clown or serious from time to time and it frustrates me as a reader, although I do get a good laugh out of it as well.

Until about half way through this post I was still scrutinizing it heavily for sarcasm and falsehoods that you were throwing out there for entertainment or a wow factor. I’m probably alone in this though … so keep up the good work :D

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 7:00 am

Cool! Maybe I will be very focused and follow your sight’s lead then. I can do a 30 part series on saving money in every aspect of one’s life ie Saving Money In The Shower, Saving Money On The Bus, Saving Money On Monday, Tues, etc. Could be interesting. I like the direct way of education too.

BTW, where is your About page on your site so you can have some more personalization? Or is your site more a business first to make money?

Cheers

SavingMentor Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 8:35 am

LOL – always a pleasure Sam. Sent you an email response.

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Great post, Sam! I haven’t updated my resume in a while since I’ve been at the same company for some time now, but these are definitely great tips to keep in mind. I’m curious as to what you do out there in the real world?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:15 am

Problogger, can’t you tell?!

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P.S. What if someone had a REALLY long resume, like 9 or 10 pages? Wouldn’t that be a differentiator as well? I just remember some CV coach coming to our university once and his was that long…

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:16 am

I would use the 10 page resume as fire starter paper.

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Kellen Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:09 am

If you’re calling it a “CV” it could be that you do need a longer “Curriculum Vitae.” This is different than our typical “resume” in the U.S., but I know in other countries they use CVs and they tend to be longer. Here, the only people I know with CVs are professors, and their CVs are typically more than one page since they have to list out all of the papers they have written.

Know the norm for the industry you are applying in before you decide whose advice to take on the resume/CV you should be using.

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Invest It Wisely Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:31 am

Interesting, thanks for the update! :)

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I agree with you with almost everything! I would add that the candidate’s accomplishments should have quantitative results. Everyone is looking for problem solvers! It is what may distinguish one from another resume. I once applied for a CFO position where they received 4,000 resumes, I was one of fifteen that was interviewed.

I have used that kind of resume for a lot of years (20 years). I have two resumes, a one page and two page resume. I normally do not show more than the last fifteen or twenty years.

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Hmm..I actually haven’t seen a GPA on a resume in a long time (not unless the person is fresh out of school). I haven’t had mine on my resume in over 10 years. The other stuff is spot on.

My prediction is that you won’t see much movement until after February. Many candidates won’t move and/or change jobs until their bonus’s have been paid out and that doesn’t happen until Feb time for a lot of people.

I’m bullish like you are. I think we’re going to have a good year, but I also see inflation coming as well. I’m starting to get regular headhunter calls again, so companies are finally loosening the headcount purse strings.

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Nancy Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:23 pm

Can you share what your reasons are for not having your GPA on? After 10 years of work experience, I think it’s fine too, but just curious to hear your reasons.

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First Gen American Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 1:35 am

I’ve actually done a lot of interviewing at my job and have seen hundreds of resumes.

It seems like the standard protocol is that if you’ve been out in the workforce
for 5 years, work experience is more relevant than grades and people no longer
put GPA on their resume. I also used to put all the scholarships I received on
my resume, and now those have been replaced by work awards.

I personally think GPA is irrelevant and potentially harmful. People have prejudices
about GPA’s. If it’s too low, they think you’re dumb, a slacker or partier. If it’s 4.0, they
may assume you’re an egghead with no social skills. Why even open the door to
that when clearly your job performance is most relevant once you are established
in a career.

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My company is hiring and I think many more are doing the same. Things are looking up!
Good tips on resume. It’s always nice to see good examples. I need to update my resume for my job search later on this year. I like Pamela’s resume also. It’s good to emphasize accomplishments up front.

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I’ve been out of the loop for a while now, but I never put my GPA on my resume before. Is the GPA still important if you’ve been out of school for a really long time? I can see how if a person is a 4.0 student, it gives them bragging rights, but I wonder if this would be relevant for all degrees or just the most recent one?

As for hiring in the first half of the year, with teaching the new semester starts in August/September – the second half of the year. It’d be nice to see the CA budget resolved and more money spent on education; then I might actually get a job! ;)

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:14 am

It has very little to do with “bragging rights”, it’s just standard practice. If you don’t put it on, your interviewer will think the worst of you as they will feel you are trying to hide something.

If GPA wasn’t important in college, why do people work so hard for 4-5 years to get good grades?

Don’t hide it.

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Thank You! Resumes should be one page. Why have I heard lately the trend is multiple pages – to the point where I even adapted one of mine to reflect it. Every once and a while I have to toss a resume into a job bid for a consulting or coaching client or a new teaching gig and I really appreciate this post.

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Thanks for putting this article out there Sam – it’s refreshing and different from the million other “how to write a resume” articles online that just reuse the same old advice.

I have a few questions:

1. What do you think about adding logos of some top brands if you work in marketing? I tried it in the past with a lot of success.

2. Is it really important to list personal interests? I was told to do the opposite and keep it professional (most interesting part of the article for me is when you wanted to know what made people tick).

3. Has anyone impressed you with a more 2.0 resume? Meaning an online resume, one on a CD, a DVD, etc.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:26 pm

1) If it’s working for you, keep on doing it!

2) Yes, you need to create something on your resume that hooks the interviewer besides your education and work experience. If I love to fish for example, and so do you, you BET we will hit it off and you’ll be invited back for another round.

3) Haven’t seen a resume 2.0 yet. But, I WOULD be impressed if there is some originality. For sure I would. If you aren’t getting any hits, there’s no downside to being unique and 2.0!

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Sam, One thing I think is critical is to tailor your resume to a specific job. Rather than mass mailing 100 resumes, pick 5 companies you are interested in and research the crap out of them. If you’re applying to a specific job opening, make sure you line up your qualifications and experience into the specific categories they are looking for. This technique makes a huge impact.

I also love reading about people’s offbeat interests (in a small section at the bottom). It’s not the standard advice, but this sorta thing really starts conversations with interviewers. If I had read a resume that had poker and basketball listed at the bottom you can bet I would want to talk to that person to find out more about them.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 2:53 pm

I agree with you 100% about tailoring and creating an offbeat interest for connections.

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Terrific post. :) Will need to update my resume soon, too. Never thought GPA would be such a controversial topic! Great points from both sides. I haven’t used or seen GPA on resumes myself. I’m not the best student, but I’m not the worst as well. I understand your point about not hiding it, but what is wrong with showing off your best assets? Which would win a resume shootout? All things being equal. A one pager highlighting recent experience and projects or a two pager that shows the same, but also drills into more details?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 5:13 pm

One pager, with all pertinent details mate! When you get hundreds, you have to sort quickly. The interview is for getting in the weeds. Cheers

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Great tips Sam. It’s been too long since I’ve updated my resume and that’s something I fix ASAP. You never know when an opportunity will present itself.

A buddy of mine works in the HR dept for a small company and he tells me most resumes he sees barely get a glance. It’s basically a process of elimination where 99 percent of them get tossed for one reason or another. If you’re not clear and concise you’ve got no chance at all.

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Adam Pash can’t spell “Macaroni Grill”. Round file….

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Great post but OMG I can’t look at any more resumes. I have 8 interviews over two days this and it is exhausting. When you have to look at as many as I do, every little thing counts. And getting my attention on paper is only part of the picture. I’ve had so many candidates look amazing on paper and totally flop in person.

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These are some great tips. I’ve seen a few in the past that made me pass right over them. Might have been decent workers but I had to figure if their resume was a mess, had typos, was set up poorly, I couldn’t prioritize them over other candidates. What are your thoughts on including a picture? People seem to have mixed feelings on this.

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Thanks for the tips sam – they are really great. You can bet im going to go home and work on them tonight (I’ve got an interview tomorrow). It’s also interesting to learn stuff from the perspective of the resume reader – I always wonder what they are thinking and how to stand out – besides changing the paper color.
I’d have to agree with buck about the GPA – never thought it was a big deal. One thing I was told when in school was to play a bit of slight of hand with my gpa. They told me if it was not over 3.0 (it was close, but I fooled around too much in undergrad), then I should put the gpa for my classes in my major (which was much, much higher – good even). that way there would still be something there, but it wouldnt make me look worse.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 11:25 am

No prob Jeff. Yes, at least put your GPA for your major if your overall GPA is below 3.0. The interviewer will get the idea and hopefully move past grades and finding out more about you as a person.

Good luck tomorrow!!!!

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I’m glad I worked hard to get a good GPA. A few of my friends who slacked off are now worrying about finding a job with poor GPAs.

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Sam,
Nice post. I actually took business communications last semester, and I am apply to internships now so this topic is very relevant to me. You say, that you don’t necessarily like how Edgar lists his education at the top. By looking at the dates of his jobs/other activities it seems that Edgar’s education is the most recent of anything on his job resume. Therefore, I would say that Edgar is correct in listing his education at the top considering that he has done nothing else recently. Would you agree?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 7:43 pm

That’s true, and that’s a good point. With this situation, I would say either or is fine, but I would still prefer education at the bottom, and him write an objective, intro, or something up top that jumps off the page.

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Great information…. and I will be updating my resume this weekend. Adding GPA. Who knew?? Thanks for the examples and your critiques of them. Super helpful.

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Thanks for the information – interesting getting it from a recruiters point of view … as I’ve always believed the rule is 2 pages (not one) and in fact the inclusion of a cover page is a good plus also (taking it up to 3 I guess?) … however I’m in a technical field and while jobs definitely litter the 2nd page, it is more of a place to include all the different certifications that my potential candidates have acquired.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 13th, 2011 at 8:31 pm

Donno, perhaps it’s different in a technical field. I would think you just list your certifications in one line, and provide a link for further references. A cover page is always excellent. Short and sweet i.e. 2-3 paragraphs max.

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Great post Sam, I really enjoyed your take on resumes! Where I work at, I’ve been part of the interview process once or twice, and since I’m in tech services area, practically all the resumes we receive are at least 2 pages long, but not longer. Most are filled with programming languages and operating systems that they person is familiar with…

Thanks for the inside perspective though, I learn so much from your blog, especially from between the lines and even in the comments!

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Just out of curiosity, what do you think about finding out the name of the hiring manager or human resources person, telling them you are going to apply for job XYZ, and asking them what kind of resume they prefer so you can tailor it for them?

That’s bound to get you some attention, right?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
February 13th, 2011 at 8:29 pm

I guess so, or they may just ignore. Actually, I wouldn’t ask what type of resume you should have. They will think you should know.. and the truth is, you should know after reading this post!

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This is really a very helpful post. I think I need to reconstruct my resume. I have two pages and none is really highlighted. I think I have to redo everything and get a job!

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These are great tips.

Just a note, some countries prefer 3-page resumes.
And regarding doing the “not so obvious” – i once attached a photo of me grinning to a resume and got called in for an interview because they “wanted to meet someone crazy enough to do that”. I got the job :)

What do you think of using your LinkedIn profile as your resume?

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I am back to look at the resume examples again. Time to update…. teaching job interview Monday :)

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Financial Samurai Reply:
March 5th, 2011 at 9:18 am

Good luck Lisa! That’s great you got an interview. Just come a little early, have some great enthusiasm, perhaps share some alternative ideas to help your students learn better, and you’ll do great!

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Lisa @ Cents To Save Reply:
March 6th, 2011 at 9:09 pm

Thanks for the encouragement and tips!!

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My boss just told me to write a resume to move up positions within the company. Any ideas? I was thinking of the accomplishments I made thusfar with the company and also what I can bring to the table moving foward. Any outline ideas would be helpful! Thank-You .

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If i went to college on and off for about 5 years but did not graduate, would I still want to put my college education on my resume?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
May 19th, 2011 at 1:42 pm

I think you should Corey, and if they ask for more specifics, you can explain why. Not having a college on the resume will be more of a shocker.

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I appreciate all comments that was posted. I’m just a little bit confused about whether putting a GPA is a good thing or not because I’m international student who is just finished ESL school (English Second Language).

Thank you guys for these great tips.

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Resumes are interesting.

Once I came across a resume from a gentleman who worked in the purchasing department in two different companies. He had the same identical job duties in both companies. I was thinking something is off. You couldn’t possibly doing the EXACT same job every minute of the day for two different companies.

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My favorite resume by far was one from an individual who forgot to replace “insert name here” with his actual name.

To this day I have no idea if it was a joke since I have no idea who sent it.

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In my life so far I did change two jobs, currently with third employer. Didn’t give too many interviews. But conducted numerous ones, I can tell you resume sets the first impression and I do try to imagine the character of the person by seeing through the resume, good post!

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Keep it simple and to the point. The resume needs to be specific to EACH company you submit it to, not just a generic one.

Deal-O-Rama

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i have a question… is it necessary to put an “about me” section on the resume? My career service counselor in college didnt have me put one in on mine. But is that important? thank you!!!! Im trying to get a job in the social service/work industry and not sure if that would be important.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:06 am

Hi Casey, it certainly doesn’t hurt. However, that’s the entire point of the resume… to tell the interviewer in 7 seconds everything they should read about you! Have a 2 or 3 sentence objective up top is fine.

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Touche, JT…touche. Very well put!@JT McGee

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i am planning to apply for an internship for my ojt this summer and i was looking for some sample resumes for a college student like me.is it okay if i ask some advice regarding this? thanks.

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Great article! You can also view and download examples of resumes at http://www.FreeResumeExamples.net for no fee or signup. Resumes are written by over 50 professional resume writers.

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What would you say for updating resumes when you’re applying for a new position in the same company? I started at my bank as a teller before I had even finished college. Six months after I started I was offered my first promotion, and only 15 months after my original hire date, not only had I finished school, but I was working as the branch assistant manager.

Now, three years later, I’m applying for the head manager position of one of our larger branches. They know me, they know me well. They already know my strengths and weaknesses, and they know how I handle the work. Due the importance of the position though, its open internally and externally simultaneously. I have to submit a new resume this time. (I did not have to for the previous two promotions.) I know there is some stiff competition out there and I’m wondering if there’s anything different you would recommend for this type of situation?

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Yes, you are really right because one page resume really matters and that does not irritate the interviewer in reading the resume and taking a quick decision about your recruitment.

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I’m about to graduate, so this article was really helpful! I do have a question though. Because of some disastrous economics classes I was required take, my GPA is not looking good. So, if not including it on my resume is bad, does that mean I should include it and just expect to never be employed?

I guess my question is more about the relevance of the GPA. Will my bad GPA be overlooked if my experience and skills look good? Or will a bad GPA mean I’m done for?

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Sam,

I graduated from college about 12 years ago and bartended for the first 5 years right out of college. My current job speak volumes about my ability, but my work history can seem limited. Do you have any advice? Should I dive back to my bartending experience? And of course 3.40 GPA, should I post that?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
June 25th, 2012 at 10:44 am

Devin,

I’d definitely list your 3.4 GPA. That’s a good one. Don’t let your prospective employer think you’re hiding something.

For experience, focus on filling out your latest one with detail. Your prospective employer cares about what you’ve done last, especially since you’ve been out for 12 years.

Good luck!

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Hey Sam,

Great article, thanks for posting! I was wondering if you have any advice on writing cover letters? Thanks!

Will

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Hi Sam!

I’m a veteran teacher, graduated about 15 years ago from college with 2.8 but 3.2 in major (at a top 20 liberal arts college) and Grad school about 13 years ago (local university, not top tier) with a 3.7.

Do I include both GPAs in a resume?

I have been teaching in one school for over 13 years now. It’s the sum total of my life, career, and accomplishments. Should I just focus on the many accomplishments in my career should I add the GPA too? Or is it less important?

I am looking to change to distance learning because in an interesting twist- I am now physically disabled. I’m as brilliant, dedicated, and driven as always- and successful with students- but the physical limitations has led me to be more creative in teaching options. Online teaching will use my brain and abilities and not take its physical toll.

Figuring out resume writing after 15 years? Not easy.

Tips? Suggestions?

Teachers have interesting resumes… But I just don’t know how to convey the complexity of my career achievements,

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WHY?? WHY did my teachers in our ‘careers’ class not tell us this stuff?? We were just given a computer with a Word Document open and the words “Go for it kids!”. As a result I even got rejected by Maccas… :[ I’m sure now, I’ll have a killer resume to help me get a WAY better part-time job to help me get through uni…

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I fully agree with you JT. I manage a major title office in dallas and find GPA’s on resumes to be petty and irrelevant. I dont care if you can study and make good grades, that doesnt guarantee you to be a good employee. Ignore nancy as she is probably old and stuck in some low level job where she will unhappily retire from. Dont waste anymore of your time replying to these idiots. and good luck in school!

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I have a two page resume. I wanted to know how to shorten it. I have held many different jobs, while searching to find the right one for me. How many jobs should I have posted on my resume.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
November 13th, 2012 at 11:06 am

Your latest three relevant jobs that can fit on one page is my recommendation. Two page resumes get thrown in the dumpster, unless you are citing massive amounts of relevant research work.

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I have a 2.8 GPA in my undergrad and a 3.9 in my grad school. I am trying to get into the marketing world because that’s my dream job/career category. Also, do you have any examples of a decent marketing style resume?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
November 13th, 2012 at 1:09 pm

Good job raising that GPA to 3.9! Makes your grad school that much more valuable. I don’t have a marketing style resume, but it should follow my guidelines in the post. Definitely include writing, advertising, creative ad samples in your portfolio!

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hi,

i am in the job market right now and looking to put the best resume possible out there but i have a very random and varied selection of work history. if i tailor a resume for a specific job will the gaps in time be looked at poorly if i leave out certain jobs? for instance, i taught english abroad in japan for a year which doesn’t have much relevance to what i am looking for now (marketing/events/communications/social media). any tips on how to deal with this? very interesting article and comments.

thanks!

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Financial Samurai Reply:
November 26th, 2012 at 9:16 am

Noey,

I’d focus on the two or three most RELEVANT job experiences and expound on them in the Work Section.

For the less relevant stuff like teaching english in Japan, I’d put them under Extracurricular.

Good luck!

Sam

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Just a quick comment. I like almost all your points. The one thing I would caution is putting a picture on your resume. I helped with recruiting for a top 25 (revenues) company who 100% throws out any resume that has a picture and states in their postings to NOT include a picture for discrimination purposes.

While you may be correct in stating that you have nothing to lose if you have sent out 100s of resumes, I would not ever advise someone to put a picture on their resume.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 22nd, 2012 at 10:50 am

Bob, it’s the year 2013. If you have an attractive face, go for it. Employers Google applicants anyway to see. Just make the picture professional.

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Wow this is an interesting conversation especially about GPAs on resumes. I am a recent architecture graduate and have not put my GPA on my resume (3.4). It may be a little less relevant in my field because you need to have a portfolio to show your actual school work when applying for job opportunities. The other rule I always heard was to put your GPA on your resume only if it is 3.5 or higher. As of now I have put any awards and honors under my education field.

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Financial Samurai Reply:
January 11th, 2013 at 5:31 pm

Kev, put the 3.4 on. It’s good enough. If you don’t, I feel there will be employers wondering what you are hiding. Only takes up 3-6 characters of space “3.5 GPA”!

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This makes sense, more or less, but what would you expect of a resume for a year 9 high school student who has never worked before?

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Financial Samurai Reply:
January 14th, 2013 at 6:53 am

Tough one Monica. Are you saying it has taken 9 years to complete high school? Or are you saying it’s been 9 years after high school? If the latter, then emphasize work experience over the past 9 years, and keep your GPA if it is above 3.0. If it is really bad, then leave it off.

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Monica Reply:
January 14th, 2013 at 9:09 pm

When I say a year 9 high school student I mean the year level in high school, so basically a fourteen onto fifteen year old full-time student.

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Say Reply:
February 9th, 2013 at 12:01 pm

Monica, all most employers (if they hire someone under 16 years of age) will just want to know you can put a resume together. Include your current school and GPA in education, list some special projects or sports that you’ve done. Anything will do, you can be creative as I don’t think anyone would expect much real job experience. Just follow a format, use professional language and try your best :D

Really liked your posts and wanted to pick up on just one thing. In almost all the resume examples that you have posted, the work experience is generally responsibility or activity based rather that output or achievement orientated. My simple point really is that employers are interested in what you can deliver for their organisation and not so much in what you did. If there is room, you can expand on what you did or how you did it to highlight skills or attributes.

In the UK (and to an extent in Europe), we are now seeing heat map results showing that recruiters and employers are looking at CVs for less than 15 seconds before making that decision to shortlist or not. Having more information showing what you have delivered for employers in the past definitely gets you through that first sift more often than activity or responsibility focused CVs

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I have over 10 years experience in electronics. Do I need to put an GPA on my resume??

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Financial Samurai Reply:
May 9th, 2013 at 5:45 pm

I would say not necessary. References and results are more important. That said, if it’s above a 3.0, why not.

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What about people with bad GPAs?

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