Received Job Offer: Background Check Question -- honest mistake with GPA

Hello!

Congrats for the offer!

No worries at all, they won´t check GPAs at this detail. 

They would double check the school and major, but that is about it. In the unlikely case they find discrepancies, they will reach you first, and there you can explain. 

However, for consulting, totally irrelevant. 

Best regards, 

Clara

Hi,

There is an official background check performed by an agency. Normally, they don't check your GPA, just the papers. So if you reported incorrect number to them - don't worry. 

Your GPA might be checked by HR once you send her your scans. If you reported the wrong number to her - just send her an e-mail. 

Best

Hi there,

Are they doing a background check? If so, I recommend you take a pro-active approach. They will almost certainly check your GPA. Flag it as you having put a preminilary calculation prior to being informed of the true GPA.

If they are not doing a background check I wouldn't say anything.

Regardless, please learn from this experience...be honest! It's easy to simply put "Expected GPA" and then you wouldn't have to worry after the fact!

Hi there,

This is not a great situation, as the discrepancy is quite substantial.

I agree with Ian that if you expect a background check it makes sense to send the information proactively, explaining you used the Major GPA and wanted for full transparency show them also the total GPA.

If you don’t expect a background check, I don’t see the need to communicate additional information unless asked.

Best,
Francesco

Hi there!

The thing is that the transcript will likely be asked. So my advice is to be transparent with them, because lying would not get you anywhere. And considering the fact that you are worried so much, this could help.

I am not sure about the outcomes, though, so be prepared for any.

Good luck!

GB

Hi,

My suggestion is to be transparent with the company, especially if they'll conduct a background check.

If that was an honest mistake, they'll understand. Try to communicate that properly and to the right person.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Antonello

You should be fine and wont be penalised for this. Provide the transcripts and if they ask during the checks just explain like you have done in the question you posted. Apologise for the error.  No need to do anything proactively at this stage.

I hope you have learnt a lesson. In future avoid any such irregularities. Your integrity, reputation and personal brand will play a BIG part in your success in Consulting. Hold yourself to the highest standards please. Its easy to get carried away and stretch the facts here and there but if you get caught out, the damage can be severe. 

Hope all goes well and good luck in the new job. And congrats btw :).

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I have never heard of quoted GPAs for purposes of employment selection being some subset of a cumulative GPA. I have seen and participated in many cases of CV reviews of undergrads at 2 firms, and while this was several years ago, I never came across this distinction once. So, on the slim chance it is noted, it would almost certainly come off as a deception.

That said, the chance that your stated GPA will be compared to your documented GPA does not appear to be great. I have less visibility into the background check process, but from my limited experiences when internal HR teams were conducting their document checks (distinct from an external background check), they weren't checking for comparisons; rather, they were checking that minimum hurdles had been scaled. For example, if the role called for undergrads from Princeton University with GPAs of 3.25 of better, graduated in the last 12 months, et cetera, et cetera; then if you reported 3.77 (but actually had 3.44), reported graduation in May (but really graduated in June), and so on, you would have scaled the minimum hurdles and despite the discrepancies, would be fine.

I'm torn on what to advise you to do and the wide dispersion in the previous comments (not something that occurs frequently on this forum which should tell you something) should underline how murky this is:

+ On the on hand, keeping silent feels best if you believe this is merely a credentials check and not a fact-finding mission. Was a minimum GPA specified when you applied? Is it above your cumulative GPA?
+ On the other hand, though, if this is an application check (where information you have submitted, say, on an online form) where checked, any recruiter would find the sizeable discrepancy rather difficult to explain. Yes, in such a case, proactive disclosure (as someone - or a few people, actually - have mentioned), but you would really need to have an airtight explanation (I'm personally not swayed by the one you claim) AND a credible composure to make it work.

Perhaps you need to find out what checks are being expected and proceed from there. Once can only hope that the required GPA is below your final cumulative because if it is not, it could cause rather sticky situations in the future.

Hi,

If GPA is not a requirement for the job I don't see any issue with either communicate this or not to them. However, if you expect them to do a background check I would be proactive in communicating.

Make sure you have all the proof and paper trail that can explain why you did the mistake.

Best,
Iman

I think they are unlikely to catch this, but if they do they will comfront you with the information they have - and your explanation seems to be reasonable, so I believe you are fine.