saw one today, a bit unsettling. now I’m wondering if this person is going to be cocky. what do people think?
He’s really just trying to get an edge. The fact that you actually stopped to look at his resume is all that matters and I guess we all do it. Now about him being cocky? I’ve heard that most of them are actually decent people and only a handful are d!cks
Depends what you are applying for. Junior position? Fine. Anything beyond that, it’s akin to listing your SAT score or GPA: you should have actual real life accomplishments you can point to, not just potential.
For me, it is a negative thing. However, if the guy is junior and has other good qualifications, I might overlook small things like that and just assume he does not know better.
Just stating “I’ve been a member of Mensa since 2007” is fine.
Saying, “I scored an A+++++++ on the entrance exam” is DB. Saying, “I got accepted to Mensa, but decided not to join” is DB+.
And I agree with Brain. Lots of youngsters need something to fill up a resume, so they put whatever they can.
Even if it’s a senior management position, it might not be a sin, if it’s lumped in there with the local Chess Societ, Toastmasters, and something else relatively meaningless but still fun. Just shows that he has a life away from work. (Don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad.)
I don’t think so.
Of course, if there are any other Mensa people in your organization who see the resume, perhaps that’s all that matters…
It really depends on how he or she is listing it. If it’s lumped in with other memberships, I don’t see a problem with that.
Sounds like you may be intimiated. #AreYouMensa?
Depends on the overall vibe of the CV.
If he has plenty other things to offer and MENSA is just a small feather in his cap then fair enough. If however all he’s doing is"I am in MENSA, look at how smart i am, call me in for an interview right now goddamit" then F this guy.
I had a student who was an Army vet who’d seen a fair bit of action in Afghansistan. Under “other info” on his resume he put “Above average proficiency with an M230 Grenade Launcher”. Our career services person cautioned him against it, but I thought it was a great idea - he was looking for a job in Sales and Trading, and (A) it gave him testosterone cred, (B) it was funny as hell, and © If there was a vet reading it they’d probably give him an interview.
He ended up getting a fair number of interviews - one interviewer said that my student owed him a new monitor because the line made him spew his coffee, and that he just HAD to interview him after that. So mission accomplished - it probably turned some people off, but made it memorable for others.
It’s worth it to bring him in for an interview. If after 10 minutes you get the sense that he is cocky, give him the “we’re still interviewing other candidates and will give you a call if we decide to continue the hiring process with you” speech.
Most people I know would consider listing Mensa membership as world-class, COSTCO-sized Masengil pouch levels of douche.
That’s a pretty badass and unique statement though, don’t think i’d class that on the same level as Mensa.
No. Instead say “I expected more from a Mensa. You can leave now.”
Not saying he was a douch. Far from it - he was one of the best students (and people) I’ve had in class msince I’ve been teaching. But a statement like that will turn some people off, but it might catch other folks’ eye. But in fairness, the only people that the Mensa line would catch (in a positive way) are probably douchebags too.
Amost everyone seems to think their boss and/or their boss’ boss is a DB, so perhaps being a DB is part of the receipe for success.
I think this is true. When I got an early promotion in private equity, I noticed that my job functions for the most part didn’t change much. I asked one of the principals what the promotion meant for me other than slightly higher pay, and in particular how I should deal with managing a couple of direct reports.
He basically recommended a few books on leadership and that I take as many “soft skill” classes once I got to business school, when I did. But the most useful piece of advice he gave was, “Just act like you don’t give a sh!t and people will respect you more for your time.”
I’m a pretty nice person in general, but I had to give his advice a test run. So, there were times when a junior analyst came into my office, I might try to act like I didn’t notice they were there, or spin my chair around to look out the window when they were talking to me, or cut them off in mid sentence as though I had something more important to do. And, ironically, it seemed like they respected me more (or at least worked harder for me) because of it.
I guess that’s leadership.
As part of the interview, be sure to include a short (15-20 questions) IQ test (primarily finding patterns in symbols) where you generate the sequence of symbols and “answers” yourself in a completely random fashion. Give 15 mins to complete and observe him working under pressure.
Haha i can see that working, there is a fine line however, between being a complete douchebag that everybody hates and being just enough of one to make your workerbees fear and respect you.