Posted in Career Advice Career Q&A Economic Crisis First Job Out of College Generation Y Job Hunting on November 23, 2008 at 8:38 pm
How much does GPA matter when you’re job hunting?
Q: Everything is so much more competitive these days. Will I ever get a good job when I graduated with a 2.0 GPA?
A: Some elite employers have policies requiring a certain GPA (usually a 3.0 or higher), and there is generally no way around that rule. To get a job with one of the gazillions of other employers in the world, a low GPA is a completely surmountable challenge.
In some cases you can squeak through by demonstrating that you’ve achieved better grades in your particular major or in classes related to the job to which you’re applying. For this strategy, you can list your “major GPA” or “grades from relevant classes” on your resume, in a cover letter or verbally during a job interview.
Here’s the most important thing about GPA: it matters less and less as you advance in your career and have more experience under your belt (no one asks a 52-year-old executive what grade she got in Freshman Econ). Applying the transitive property of career advice, this means that if you want your GPA to matter less, you need to make your experience matter more.
Understand that employers use GPA to gauge a few things about you:
• Your intelligence
• Your discipline
• Your ambition
Good grades imply that you are smart, serious and motivated. Mediocre grades imply the opposite. So, if you’re just not a good student or you slacked off in school, you need to show that you possess the attributes of someone with a higher GPA.
How? You can do this through impressive internships and letters of recommendation confirming your intelligence and work ethic. You can do this through consistent participation in extra curricular activities or volunteer work to show that you have discipline. You can do this by taking additional classes to show that you are interested in developing yourself.
If you have a low GPA, you’ll also need to alter your job search accordingly. A resume with a low GPA will likely never make it out of the slush pile, so your better bet is to find jobs through networking rather than online resume submission. On several occasions I’ve been impressed by eager, ambitious, engaging young people who have later told me they have low GPAs. Once I liked and trusted them, the GPA mattered a lot less. In other cases, I’ve never even asked about a person’s GPA simply because he came so highly recommended from someone I know and trust.
p.s. Since you are not required to list your GPA on your resume (I suggest only listing a GPA of 3.0 or higher), some employers may never even ask about your grades. If you get lucky and GPA is never mentioned, you are under no obligation to reveal it.
How important has your GPA been to your job hunt? Share your experience in the Comment section below!
(Image from Families Online Magazine)
Tags: Career Advice, Generation Y, Job Hunting
@Michael – thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sure it will be helpful for people in a similar situation.
Lindsey
I graduated with a 2.44 in 7 years with a B.S in chemistry. Yeah that sucks. However, a few things I had going for me: I received well over a 3.0 my last two years and finished with a 4.0 my final semester. It also took me longer to graduate because I suffered a personal injury which held me back 2 years. These were talking points in my interview if asked. I have been asked in about 70% of my interviews about my gpa. The higher paying jobs with better companies do ask, while the jobs that don’t pay so well or are “awkward” jobs that they have hard times filling positions for don’t ask. My first job was for 24K a year. I only did that for 3 months, but once I had that under my belt,combined with a very well written resume that did not show my gpa but highlighted other things like research projects I did in school and made my 3 months experience as a lab tech sound like I was a prodigal chemist, I was able to get an interview with a fortune 500 company for a chemist I position. This is a 48k a year job. I got the job because I give a really really good interview, I wont lie. I give an awesome interview. They did ask my GPA, but I gave them a good answer. Now Ive been there one year. So I would say with only one year experience making just under 50K with a bad GPA and terrible academic history(minus the last 2 years) I am doing pretty good. But its only a contract position, which sucks. I’m currently interviewing with two companies for permanent positions. But with over one year experience at the Chemist 1 level, gpa should be less important. One of jobs im currently waiting for a response from (have had a 2nd interview) did not even ask for my gpa.
Basically, in summation, if you have a bad gpa your going to have to work a low paying possibly third shift job or dirty job for a year or two max. Once you have that experience you can get a better job and gpa shouldn’t. YOU MUST GET RELEVANT EXPERIENCE, that is the most important part. However, now being in the field I am in, I see you need at least a masters (for the most part) in order to get a really good paying job. Thats just science though. I am actually probably going to go back to school for a second B.S in bioengineering, mainly because I truly desire to be involved in regenerative medicine especially wound healing and cardiac tissue healing. And engineering is one of the few B.S degress that are worth getting. What I have noticed is that Engineering and account/finance degrees pay well on the B.S level while other las degrees are almost worth less. The science degrees (phys, biochem,chem,bio) are a little better but you really need a m.s or better for a good job.
currently my gpa is suffering, which is very hard to deal with. however, it seems like student who major in engineering, don’t really have a high gpa and people who major in any other majors, they tend to get a higher gpa. so my question is that if you interview for a job should you still not present your gpa if you are majoring in engineering and you have a gpa below 3.0.
@Nolan – thanks for sharing your perspective. I appreciate the comment and hope you’ll continue to come back and share your thoughts!
Lindsey
I am currently a senior in college and I disagree with the fact that a GPA tells how ambitious, intelligent, and disciplined you are. For me, college has been about finding out what I enjoy doing and what I would like to do as far as jobs are concerned for the rest of my life. When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I found myself taking classes that did not interest me or taking classes that I didnt like. I think you have a much better chance of succeeding when you’re doing something that you like/ interested in. In my opinion, GPA is just a benchmark for judging students, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the 3.5 GPA student is more intelligent, disciplined, or driven than the 2.8 student. We all encounter different obstacles that affect our GPA. Some of us do terrible in our original major then do great once we decide which major is good for us.
I got a GPA of 3.6 in Chemistry and got a high enough MCAT score to get a scholarship for Medical School. I completely hated my life so I dropped out.
Now I am struggling to get an office job that pays $30,000 and requires a HS degree even though I have a decade of experience. My wife is making more than me even though she has less experience, and she just graduated with GPA of less than 3.
What does this teach us? GPA is only relevant if you make it. If you go into academia or some other low paying career path that emphases grades, then you will pay for that low GPA. Go into a field that actually does things like business, and you can make way more money in no time.
I suggest that if school is too hard to go get a job that requires a HS degree. Explore other options. You are wasting your time if you are in college, and it is not fulfilling your dreams. Enjoy everyday or do something else.
[...] Reprinted from the Lindsey Pollak Blog [...]
Great post and would just like to add that there is an ethical obligation on the part of the applicant to be honest in the resume. Resume padding at any level should be considered a crime punishable by law.
Being dishonest in a resume might help you get the job but sooner or later the truth comes out and may have everlasting effects on any career.
A resume is a document which should represent the strong points of the candidate as this document serves as a screening document and also provides the first and foremost impression the recruiter gets of the applicant.
Be smart and stick with the truth. Mention your GPA only if it is outstanding.
Thank you for a great post and best of luck to all job seekers.
When writing a resume, we try to see if we can paint a picture in its totality. One step at a time. The first job is to get into the door. I usually do not include GPAs lower than 3.3 or 3.4 on the resume. I also try to identify other aspects that “round” out the candidate, such as internships, special projects, volunteer positions, experience gained while in school, course load, etc. If the right picture is painted on the resume, other factors could sway the reader to request an interview, where you will be able to state your case and defend your position.
But you have to be able to get into the door first!
We all know people with high GPAs that have failed miserably (usually because everything has come easily for them and they did not know how to handle adversity). We also know people who have had average academic careers who have gone on to great heights. Seek employment with small businesses as well to get your career started. Usually, a small business owner understands that it takes more than a lofty GPA to succeed and will give you a chance if you can convince them of your ability and willingness to wear multiple hats.
@Emily, @Jun and @Chandlee -
Thanks for these additional suggestions and resources. Very helpful!
Lindsey
[...] out of school, a low GPA could cut you off at the knees. As blogger Lindsey Pollak points out, a high GPA shows not just how intelligent you be, but also your discipline and ambition. A not-great GPA shows the [...]
Hi Lindsey,
Great article and very thought-provoking. In my experience with college students and employers (as you know, I worked in Career Services for nine years and had a brief stint as a recruiter), GPA is often “the first cut” for many companies at the entry level.
I agree with Dan that having strong internship experience can sometimes allow one to trump a candidate who has higher GPA; I also agree with Jun Loayza that social media and personal branding can’t get you a job with Bain. I’d just add one suggestion to their comments–it is sometimes curiosity and depth of interest that “lands the job.” The job doesn’t always go to the candidate who has the strongest GPA or internship experience, but sometimes goes to the candidate who is the most articulate about the skills they offer and how the needs of the organization at which they are interviewing.
So from that angle, I frequently recommend candidates study companies as if they were writing a research paper–i.e.
From the Company Perspective:
* What do press releases say about new developments and initiatives, or the impact of the economy on the company?
* How is the company performing relative to the industry?
* What are future goals and corporate strategic plans? (i.e. Look for annual reports)
From the Job Perspective:
* What are the responsibilities of the position and how does your background align with the qualifications and job functions?
* What are the *most important* skills you can have in this particular role?
* What do employers need most for success in this position? (Ask someone who works in a similar capacity at another organization/ I once asked an architect what he needed in an entry-level hire and he said, “business skills” because it’s not just about design–we run a business, too.)
If you apply for positions using this perspective and demonstrate that you understand the role and the company, you’ll stand out regardless of GPA because you start out by demonstrating your relevance–and that can go a long way!
(I look forward to talking to you again soon; happy Thanksgiving!)
Chandlee
[...] Go here to see the original: Career Q&A: How to get a job when you have a low GPA | Lindsey … [...]
If we’re talking about top-tier firms, then GPA is of the utmost importance. I’m talking about Bain, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs here. These are the ridiculously prestigious firms that people die to get into.
I know for a fact that Bain looks at your SAT scores before considering you for a first round interview!
As far as building your personal brand, I am one who promotes it to undergraduates like no other. I advise them to go out there, network with professionals, build a blog, and develop a thought leadership in the field that you’re interested in. The difficulty is that accounting firms, consulting firms, and i-banking firms could care less that you have a blog. They don’t care that you know how to use Twitter.
So while understanding social media and building your personal brand is super important and WILL catapult your career, it is still a long way till social media can get an undergraduate a job with Bain.
- Jun Loayza
Hi, Lindsey.
I found the said survey.
http://www.collegegrad.com/press/what-employers-want.shtml
Thankfully, GPA isn’t a big deal compared to overall experience.
@Dan – Thanks for your thoughts! Do you have a link to that CollegeGrad.com survey? I’d be curious what industries they looked at, because some top tier companies require a 3.0 or higher.
Thanks,
Lindsey
If you can’t get a 3.0 or higher in your college, then there are 2 possible problems:
1) You didn’t work hard enough
2) It wasn’t the right school/major for you
In the down economy, if you don’t graduate with a decent GPA, you are in a lot of trouble. You really need to work twice as hard now to get the same result as you did before.
I think Lindsey shares good points in this post, BUT, I think GPA is becoming less and less a factor in recruitment. Let’s face it, employers care about previous results. They want to see your experience, so you HAVE TO get internships, even if they aren’t paid. If you have experience in an average GPA, and a contact, you’ll get a position over a straight A student any day.
A survey by CollegeGrad.com states that only 4% of employers care about GPA.
Good discussion Lindsey!
@Martin – That’s very helpful to know, thanks for the comment!
Lindsey
As a multi credentialed resume writer, I try to avoid GPA altogether unless of course my client is outstanding.