As the title says, my son turned down his PBK invite b/c he thought $85 was a lot of money for an honor society. He did this without mentioning it to us until after the deadline at his school. He already has a tech job lined up after graduation. On the one hand I know this isn’t a big deal, won’t change his life, and good for him for not being caught up in prestige or titles. On the other hand it sort of feels like it is an important lifelong resume credential and thus an opportunity missed.
I have asked him to investigate if it is too late to still join. If it is too late, can he still mention it on his resume or not? And if so, how? Elected to Phi Beta Kappa? Invited? Normally one would just say Phi Beta Kappa, but if he didn’t join, can he say that? Does it even matter?
Not sure why it a bothers me that he declined. Maybe b/c I’m afraid he’ll find the world is more competitive than his easy-going self realizes. Or maybe this just shows that my priorities are more messed up than his. Thoughts?
If he finds he can still join it then it is fine go ahead and do so. If not I wouldn’t mention it on the resume – let his college/GPA/any Latin honors etc. stand on its own merits. Very quickly work experience/accomplishments will become more meaningful than any college honor.
I’m not sure this matters in the big scheme of things. I was a member of my scholastic honorary until I realized it was doing NOTHING for me…and I stopped paying the annual dues.
I still got jobs…my grades and other college honors didn’t change.
I joined PBK but have never included it on my resume. Your son will be fine. PBK does not matter in the bigger scheme of things. If he was invited to join, it means his record speaks for itself. Not all colleges even have chapters.
I know why it bothers you: it would bother me too! Because we’re so proud of our kids we want everyone to know how amazing they are That includes resume readers. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I generally agree that it’s not a big deal, though it never hurts to have it. Since PBK requires breadth in coursework, I can imagine (barely) a scenario where a recruiter/ hiring committee sees a cv with a high college gpa but no PBK and (falsely) decides that this means the candidate is one-sided or not intellectually adventurous. Or there could be people out there who (again, falsely) assume the high GPA candidate went to a college that wasn’t “strong enough” to have PBK (since most of the high-prestigiosity places do.) So maybe it breaks a tie once every hundred or thousand rounds of hiring. It doesn’t matter until the one time it does.
Thanks all for the good feedback. It is what it is, and if landing an interview swings on just that, then the job probably wasn’t the best fit. Anyway, I am grateful for the hard work and intellectual curiosity that got him the invite in the first place, and I can’t ask for more than that. Thanks for letting me vent.
It is probably kind of like National Honor Society…it isn’t being accepted or joining the honor society that is the real thing that colleges/employers look for, it is the good grades/hard work/service that made you eligible for the honor society that did.
But that isn’t to say that parents don’t like an official school recognition of how awesome your kid is.
Since he is going into Tech, the national award probably adds little to his resume. But, at a certain point, GPA comes off as does latin honors. Yet, PBK membership can stay on, if there is room. It’s a humblebrag way to designate ~top decile of your college class.
About the only place I see PBK on a every so often is on CVs of academics. It’s surprising to me that distinguished faculty members will keep PBK on their cv. (Of course, maybe they are just absent-minder professors who forgot to take it off. hahahaha)
But again, not sure if Tech cares. The industry appears to be much less grade-focused than say, I-banking on Wall Street.
PBK isn’t just any honor society. It’s THE honor society. Students get jaded when they get so many offers, many, like Gold Key with significantly lower hurdles. There are only two that I advise students shell out the money for, PBK, and the engineering equivalent Tau Beta Pi. That said, if he missed the window, and has a job, no bigs.
Aah. I can’t imagine it belonging on a resume for a job. Hmm, but I can see TBP. For a while. But once you’re in a job and doing well, building those creds, why? Once you’re experienced, that’s your worth.
And he got invited, OP, so you know he made it. He just won’t have the key.
I always had my PBK membership on my resume (never bought the key, though), and it was remarked on by interviewers more than once. In an age of grade inflation, when GPA’s can be less than meaningful, it’s a nice shorthand way to show you were at the top echelon of your college class. For some employers, there will always be magic to the words Phi Beta Kappa, and it’s possible membership may even get a resume selected by a key word algorithm in situations where humans aren’t making the first pass. Why forego anything that can add to your marketability? (Plus grandparents get to brag about it to their friends.)
It’s another way to further distinguish yourself…and PBK is well-regarded enough that leaving it on is not only fine, but recommended even after one has been working for several years.
Then again, I still see young and not so young professionals in corporate/biglaw settings still wearing high school class rings and older professionals/supervisors strongly recommending* I list where I attended high school because it is still considered a net positive on account of its academic rep and alum networks across the country/world.
I took it off my resume the instant I graduated from college.
“About the only place I see PBK on a every so often is on CVs of academics.”
It’s generally noted on legal resumes as well. You may even see it on the web profiles of partners at the fancy law firms. GPAs, never, but honors that signify GPAs, yes.
My dad had the letters “Tau Beta Pi” on his college class ring. For some reason, that fascinated me when I was a kid, so I decided I wanted to get into the honor society in college. I did, and put the letters on my ring. I had it on my resume for a few years but eventually took it off.
My D is a member of multiple honor societies, including PBK. It’s unfortunate your son turned it down, but it certainly won’t be anything that holds him back. Congrats on his achieving at such a high level, and rest assured his drive and work ethic and pursuit of excellence is what will take him far in life, not joining an honor society.
I work in a tech company, and when I mentioned I was going to her PBK induction most people said “that’s some kind of honor society, right?”. They really didn’t understand what it was in relation to all the other honor societies - many of them didn’t even know the honor society for their majors! I honestly can’t recall ever seeing this on a tech resume - I would be impressed, but it wouldn’t be a deciding factor in a hiring decision.
On the other hand, D is pursuing a career in academia, so PKB can help. A PBK chapter is actually granted to PBK faculty at a school, not the school itself, so to start or maintain a chapter requires a certain % of faculty be members. And most academics know what it is
That includes resume readers. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.