Is it advisable to put your Mensa membership on your resume/ curriculum vitae?
Posted by
brian in
Resume Writing HELP on
Apr 11th, 2010 |
9 responses
In recent “The Apprentice”, Tarek put in his resume to Donald Trump that he was a Mensan. Donald Trump was very impressed, praised him a lot and gave him headstart as project manager in 1st episode. But after Tarek did not perform, Tarek was slammed/condemned many times by Trump in subsequent episodes. Mentioning Mensa membership can be a liability later as there may more pressure on person to perform when he gets the job but does it increase chances of getting the job during interview stage?
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It sounds very pretentious and makes people expect a great deal from you. I would not include it.
If anyone applying for a job with me,told me that they belonged to Mensa,-I would think that they were a bit of a prat.
They would not get a job.
Resume, no. CV, probably.
I wouldn’t put it on your resume or cv. It makes you look arrogant.
I once told a scientist where I worked that I was a mensan. He gave me a lot of sh*t!!
Then one day he gave me a practical test that he thought I would fail. When I aced it, he decided to play elsewhere.
I never brag or parade. But if someone wants to mock me, I can humble them.
So…can you turn it on in a crunch? What good is intelligence if it does no good under pressure?
If you can, and you know it, than say so.
If not, keep it under wraps. Is it a tool, or a toy?
i think in a round about way you have answered your own question.
it obviously doesn’t hurt to add your Mensa membership too your resume but as you are aware you have to be willing to live up to the expectations that might arise from making that known to your prospective employer.
in my way of thinking though , if you really are a member of Mensa then there should be no task that if you devote yourself too it that you should not be able too accomplish.
i think that when you do not perform then the credibility of your membership becomes questionable.
Your resume is only a petition for an interview.
Toward that end, whatever will get you into that chair across from the interviewer, would be a plus.
If you can’t handle the pressure, if you can’t handle expectations, if you can’t perform on the job, then you shouldn’t be seeking the job. These are all secondary considerations.
The idea here, first, is to get the interview, second, to get the job. Anything afterwards depends on you, not Donald Trump or some other underperforming Mensa member.
I would think the additional respect would be beneficial.
In academic and research environment maybe, elsewhere I would say no.
Unless you are among a group of people who are about the same level of intelligence, you will not be appreciated for who you are. Most people don’t distinguish intelligent and efforts. A smart person’s achievement is often overlooked because “he is just smart”, as if the task required no effort.
Also as you have already pointed out, it is a liability. Rightly or wrongly, people do have high expectations, and often time it is difficult to exceed them. It is better to out perform others expectation when they are least expecting.
Best wishes.
Only if you’re applying for a job at Mensa.
Otherwise it comes off as pretentious.
If you’re really smart, people will figure it out without your broadcasting it to them. If you’re not smart, it doesn’t really matter. And unless you’re applying for a job as a brain surgeon, your people skills will probably be more of a driver of your career success than your i.q.
By the way, I applied for membership in Mensa and was turned down, so I decided to join Densa instead.
– hh