If You Aren’t #1, Expect a #2 Response

Do you remember who won the silver medal in any of Michael Phelps swim competitions? Nobody remembers the person who came in second place because nobody cares. Therefore, you should never communicate anything other than a first place finish on your resume. I can’t tell you how many times I have read resumes that states items such as “came in second place in the school real estate competition” or “finished in the top five in my graduating class.” If you came in second place, I would like to interview and hire the person who came in first place, no? The same idea applies to adding GPAs on your resume. Unless you had a 3.7 or better, don’t include your GPA. I had one candidate write that his “major” GPA was 3.1 but she excluded her overall GPA. Boasting about a B average (her overall GPA was a 2.4 by the way) is not all that impressive, although my dad used to tell me that 50% of the graduating class at Harvard graduates in the bottom half of their class!