Looking for advice re DD CV - put grades on or not?

[clary]

Morning all! Thought it was reasonable to post in H Ed.

DD has just graduated and is updating (or basically redoing) her CV. She has some great stuff to put on it thanks to a brilliant degree/dissertation and her actual part-time job plus a good bit of work exp/internship relating to what she may want to do. So it's not about her scratching about to fill a side of A4.

This is my question - does she put her exam results (I mean grades) on there? Her GCSEs were great, her A levels not so much, her degree is good too. Gonna get her to put the classification of her degree of course (I would still do that on my CV now) but grades in the other exams? If she doesn't put them, does it look like she scraped 4 Cs and a couple of Bs?

To clarify - she is not embarrassed about her A level grades (I mean they are BCC so not embarrassing). Just is it done to put grades in, or does she just say 10 GCSEs passed at C/5 (or maybe B/6, her lowest grades) and above, inc Eng and maths?

Any thoughts? Thanks oh wise ones.

Why wouldn’t they go on her CV?

It would be usual for a recent graduate, less so in a few years' time.

Just list subjects and grades in descending order. Anything else looks weird

Education

College Name Date attained Subject (Grade)
College Name Date Attained Subject (Grade)

5 GCSEs Grade A-C

Every new educational attainment renders the last gradeless. You are only as good as your most recent grade.

I think you have to put them in tbh. Most standard application forms will require them, so the CV has to be consistent with those.

I would put her degree classification and leave the other grades off. They're irrelevant now that she has graduated. I would just list the number of GCSEs and A-levels that she has and leave it at that.

My dd has her GCSE grades on her CV because they're the only qualification that she has got. Once they've moved on to bigger and better things, I don't think GCSEs are really important any more.

I normally tell students to put: 10 GCSEs grades A*-C including English Language and maths. Or 9-4 for the newer ones.

And 3 A Levels - possibly the subjects if they are interesting or you need to fill a bit of a CV.

Look at job adverts, most don't care about GCSEs if you are a graduate unless it is something specific like teaching.

She puts them on until she's got enough work experience under her belt to render them irelevant.

I don’t have anything below my degree on there now. Once you have a degree it’s not usually necessary as you need A levels or equivalent to do the degree, and GCSES to so the A levels. I’ve used the space saved to add more about my work and previous experience and how this meets their job specification.

i'd assume they were bad if they were not listed so would specifically ask about them.

if they just said BBC i'd just not think much and pass onto next item on the CV.

Ah interesting range of opinion there, thanks.

I no longer list my exams beyond saying I took them (I do still think it needs saying as, for example, my highest qual in Eng and maths is O Level (old) and some jobs require that, even if you have a degree). I have a lot of work ex and I curtail that depending on the job I am going for as well.

I do hear those who say to detail only the highest qualification but wondered if at this stage of not having had a full-time job and only now leaving full-time education (tho as I say she has a good deal of work ex/internships/part-time retail role/volunteering to put in) it is worth still having them there.

Maybe we will pull it together and see how much space there is :)

Congrats to your DD on her uni results.
I might list her dissertation title to make it clear she wrote one, as that is a significant, somewhat unusual accomplishment for a UG.

I would list the A levels subjects, because the subject knowledge is what’s taking the place of experience. I wouldn’t list those grades. I like PPs’ suggestions for describing those GCSEs, except that to list GCSE grades begs the question of why you aren’t listing A level grades. Speaking as a uni lecturer, I also don’t believe anyone cares about your DD’s GCSE’s anymore and for that reason I would leave them off.

Depends on your age. Put them on when young. After BA degree and job, then you take them off and just leave the subjects, or even general list.

It's interesting isn't it as there is no consensus.

This is what her uni website says as advice: you can instead opt to write: '11 GCSEs grades A-C including English (A) and Maths (B)'.* I think we might do something like that.

I think it's worth stating her A-level subjects at very least as one of them is French which may be of interest.

I still state my A level subjects on my CV as when I was a teacher, one of the subjects I taught I had to A level not degree level; (so I certainly needed to say it!) and even now, my languages A levels are useful in my current job so I guess they were worth mentioning.

YY deffo going to mention her diss as she got 75% and the subject might make something for an interviewer to talk about as well.

It may also vary according to what she is applying for. A cv needs to be tailored to meet essential and desirable criteria of each role, so detail of gcse subjects may be less relevant than her optional modules and dissertation topic for her degree.

Yes, employers expect them for all but the most basic jobs. Tell her to minimise info about her degree bar the name and perhaps title of dissertation because employers aren't interested, big up the part time jobs which will be noticed. 1 side should be plenty

I think it's worth stating her A-level subjects at very least as one of them is French which may be of interest.

Yes I would do this OP. Many application forms ask for this with the year sat but not the grade.

Good luck to your DD with job hunting

If the job is the career field her degree is related to, I would only list the degree.
If the job is not really related to her degree, then I can see utility of listing A level or GCSE grades.

Usually though for a professional post graduate type job, they don’t care about GCSEs or A levels.

I review cvs for roles on my team.
you can drop the A levels and GCSEs if not flattering.

Her uni grades are much more relevant.

Super dissertation mark. If her uni calls it a formal Distinction I would def include that. Otherwise I would include the mark!

I think she needs to say with ‘N good GCSE’s’ or leave them out, or if she is giving GCSE grades she needs to give AL grades. Otherwise it looks unbalanced. That raises the possibility that something is being concealed. But I don’t see why anyone cares about GCSE grades except Maths and English. I agree she could give just those grades without it looking odd.

I often critique CVs for my tutees and most omit mention of their GCSEs. But we are in STEM so the job market is good and their numeracy is assumed. I think literacy is assumed of most university graduates if English is their first language.

I did (back in the day) x As, x Bs etc incl grade in maths and grade in English.

I might list her dissertation title to make it clear she wrote one, as that is a significant, somewhat unusual accomplishment for a UG.

Not these days @poetryandwine. DD (biomedical sciences) and all of her friends had to do dissertations for their BScs and BAs (across a range of different subjects).

DD has just graduated and wants to update her CV so I am following this with interest. Is it useful then to add the dissertation mark?

@LIZS hits the nail on the head. I'd argue a CV should be tailored (even if only lightly) to each opportunity to have maximum effect. It is a chance to accentuate the positive and lay out information in a way that helps the hard pressed appraiser - all with the target post, organisation and industry in mind.

My advice to my DC has been to have a 'master CV' with all the info, including GCSE subjects and grades. I don't think they have ever deployed the master CV in all its glory - though that has proved useful when needing to fill in those details (right down to GCSEs) for some larger corporates who have standardised online application forms (means you don't forget anything!).

A tailored CV is then developed for each application by editing the master CV; very often some aspects are simply removed, other aspects tweaked or the presentational order changed slightly. It also assists in the crafting of a (linked) cover letter where this is felt to be important.

Some will say this is all a bit of a faff, but it does force the applicant to think clearly about what aspects for their CV need to be highlighted and what aspects can be safely and reasonably minimised. This approach does come with the risk that any editing is sloppily executed, but a policy of getting a second pair of eyes to review can overcome that.

One variant of the 'mention GCSEs or not aspect' my DC have used in the past has been to combined school/college info with GCSE/A-L info so neither appear too bald and 'on their own' eg Somewhere School date-to-date 9 GCSEs; Somewhere College date-to-date A-levels in x, y, z. That might do the job in this case @clary.

There is no single way and others will have different views and advice, which is why these HE threads are so good!

I agree with @PerpetualOptimist. With my tutees I refer to her ‘Master CV’ as a ‘template’. The principle is identical. The tricky thing with this, based on employer feedback including comments on MN, is that with every modification you must proofread with an eagle eye. Some employers have no tolerance for typos, to say nothing of more serious errors.

@RampantIvy dissertations aren’t typical in STEM until the MSc so I did not realise this - thank you. I would advise students to consider including a dissertation mark of 70% or above, and to consider whether to include a mark in the range 60-69% on a case-by-case basis. I would not draw a negative implication from not seeing a dissertation mark on someone’s CV. But a high mark could help someone stand out.

Excellent idea for the master CV. Proofreading not a problem as I do that for a living.

OK she can create a big one with everything then filter and adjust it accordingly. Maybe for a Masters application (next year) she would big up the academics, for example.

Thanks all 👍