The Importance of Grades (split from Campus Events)

[Feersty]

Remember folks grades are important in the working world!

[.RJ]

Remember folks grades are important in the working world!

BS - I have never been asked my GPA in a job interview. It is more important that you can take the experiences from school with you and apply it to your job, than what your report card said.

[CaptainHenreh]

Remember folks grades are important in the working world!

BS - I have never been asked my GPA in a job interview. It is more important that you can take the experiences from school with you and apply it to your job, than what your report card said.

Maybe he was being sarcastic?

For the record, a couple of places were impressed I graduated with honors. Most could care less.

[Feersty]

Remember folks grades are important in the working world!

BS - I have never been asked my GPA in a job interview. It is more important that you can take the experiences from school with you and apply it to your job, than what your report card said.

Maybe he was being sarcastic?

For the record, a couple of places were impressed I graduated with honors. Most could care less.

Not at all. It has come up on every interview I have been on. What is cell phones for .RJ, is interviews for me.

[CaptainHenreh]

Not at all. It has come up on every interview I have been on. What is cell phones for .RJ, is interviews for me.

Seriously? What do they say? "So, I see your GPA is X.XX, did you not try hard in school?"

I sure as F don't put my GPA on my resume'.

[Ginger]

Asking for you grades is also going to depend on where you work. I know a couple places I've seen some pretty strong hints that SAIC (and likely Booz, Caci, large gov. contractors) will ask if it's your first job out of college... after that it's a lot lower on the priority list. Your amount of relevant work experience will also likely play a role. A prospective employer is looking for indicators of expected performance, if you don't have any professional experience then expect your academic record to play a bigger role.

I started to write out things that are going to change what's being looked at, but it wouldn't ever end. Just do well at whatever you're doing and everything will probably work out.

[Mike]

Remember folks grades are important in the working world!

BS - I have never been asked my GPA in a job interview. It is more important that you can take the experiences from school with you and apply it to your job, than what your report card said.

Maybe he was being sarcastic?

For the record, a couple of places were impressed I graduated with honors. Most could care less.

Not at all. It has come up on every interview I have been on. What is cell phones for .RJ, is interviews for me.

I can't say I'm surprised.

Students, I wouldn't worry about grades too much. If you're normal, can communicate well, and show an ability to learn, any place you'd want to work out will value those factors over your GPA. In two (but maybe 5 interviews, all of which resulted in offers) jobs, I've never been asked mine.

[Apoc]

If you're normal, can communicate well, and show an ability to learn, any place you'd want to work out will value those factors over your GPA.

It's not always easy to convey that in an interview, especially ability to learn, if you don't have a lot of experience.

I had it come up in earlier job searches, when my experience wasn't enough to speak for itself. I've always had it on my resume but moved the whole education section to the bottom a few years ago. If mine sucked, I'm fairly certain it wouldn't be there.

[Maengelito]

i only speak from my own personal experience and it may not and probably will not apply to many other situations but my gpa was solely an indicator of my starting salary. since then, i think my work has taken a policy of not hiring anyone straight out of college with below a 3.0, but luckily i got in before that. but those who say that relevant work experience is important speak the truth. however if you're fresh out of college, then they probably dont have much to go on except how well you did in your classes

[Sijray21]

certain jobs do factor in GPA but i don't believe it's an end by any means, but it's not a reason to slack in school - you are there for a reason afterall :-P. Direct government positions and other companys do require you to give your GPA to them especially if you're fresh out of college. Grades are important, but doing well in your classes and actually taking in the information that's given to you is much more important. If you can apply what you've learned and demonstrate that you learned something it'll say alot more than your resume and your GPA. If you learn how to sell yourself and not give employers a reason NOT to hire you then they'll likely consider you for the position. Most of the time interviews are to get to know you as an individual to see if you'll fit in their work culture. The last thing a manager wants is someone difficult or awkward to work with. More technical jobs will obviously get more into the knowledge you have retained, but more functional jobs will care more about your soft or "people skills" and your ability to learn/teach.

[ScottyB]

if you're in any design/creative industry i can tell you my grades meant not nearly as much as i thought. all they were concerned with was digging through my portfolio. frankly the extent of college talk with 95% of my interviewers was:

"james madison, eh?"
"yeah"
"where's that"
"um...about 2 hours south of DC. I-81 goes right through it, can't miss it"
"....ah. well lets take a look at your work...."

of couse i interviewed in atlanta, so take that FWIW

internships go a long way too. my dad is the hire 'em/fire 'em guy where he works (precision surgical parts, precious metals) and grades are important but he has always emphasized to me what a good internship or two means to someone in his position...which is to say, alot.

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah I was never asked my grades. Most employers only care about the fact that you have a degree.

[.RJ]

I suppose since I had 2 pretty solid internships and I can BS my way through an interview pretty well, the grades werent much of a concern.

If you have no experience at all I guess I can see it. But only in your first job out of school.

[white_2kgt]

I think they rather see a few summer jobs/internships/outside work from school and a 3.2 vs nothing to show for college except a 3.8 GPA any day. Nobody ever asked my GPA but always wanted to know about my experiences of my summer jobs/work I did while in school (yes, it was related to my field). Take that FWIW.

[Apoc]

I think they rather see a few summer jobs/internships/outside work from school and a 3.2 vs nothing to show for college except a 3.8 GPA any day.

Agreed... although I think a 3.2 is probably still considered a decent GPA.

[Ginger]

I think they rather see a few summer jobs/internships/outside work from school and a 3.2 vs nothing to show for college except a 3.8 GPA any day.

Agreed... although I think a 3.2 is probably still considered a decent GPA.

Yeah - the research I've done suggests that Booz, SAIC, etc. all have a 3.0 floor. So it's hardly bad.

[Hunter]

BTW, if you're thinking about grad school, keep your grades up. Of course they only really care about you're gpa in classes relative to what you're applying to grad school for, in my case that was only really some of the more technical ISAT classes and my math courses. Oh, and I had to do well on the GRE's.


Having said that, once I got up here I had a meeting with the head of the MS and PhD programs and we had a long conversation about how no one will ever ask you about your grades from grad school. As long as you pass, you're doing just fine.

[Andy]

GPA matters to the company that employs me, to some extent. I was asked by my bosses to inquire about potential employees grades, course load and experience with our software package, ARCGIS. We also asked to see their transcript. The shit they were supposed to have learned has a direct bearing on how fast they can hit the ground running at our company which has a sink or swim training policy.

[HAULN-SS]

I had some interviewers ask me my GPA, and I didnt get those jobs. The job I did get, they didnt ask me a single technical question, nor did they ask for my transcripts or grades or anything (But my current GPA was on my resume). It must not have mattered too much, I finishd up with about a 2.9

[Feersty]

I think they rather see a few summer jobs/internships/outside work from school and a 3.2 vs nothing to show for college except a 3.8 GPA any day.

Agreed... although I think a 3.2 is probably still considered a decent GPA.

Yeah - the research I've done suggests that Booz, SAIC, etc. all have a 3.0 floor. So it's hardly bad.

Those were the companies I referring to. The CIA as well.