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They say that a piece of paper cannot decide your future. Well, it can be true. However, why do we even get into degree programs? It is not to slack but to be able to obtain credentials and be able to land a good place in the corporate.
A high GPA is generally defined as being between 3.5 and 4.0. As every undergraduate and graduate student knows, maintaining this level of academic achievement is a performance that deserves praise. It shows commitment to the kind of excellence that most employers want to see in new employees. It is important to realize that this level of excellence is only achieved by a relatively small percentage of graduates - and is, therefore, such a broad benchmark for large companies that want to effectively reduce the number of candidates they have to compete with.
Companies that rely on this level of GPA excellence during the recruitment process tend to operate in highly competitive industries such as finance, accounting, and technology.
With most accounting and finance jobs, employers do look for a better GPA because analytical skills and number crunching should land you a better grade if you really have a grip on them. But then comes another factor. Private colleges, as a matter of fact, hand out better grades than public colleges.
Most career directors would agree that employers want to see a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and many say the word 3.5. Some argue that there are no hard limits. Even a 2.1 student could get a job at Ernst & Young if he had a good reason for his lower grades like he'd been called up for military service in the middle of the semester. Or a 3.2 student might beat a 3.9 candidate if a junior student worked 30 hours a week to go to school while serving as a class treasurer. Recruiters are always looking for people who can juggle multiple tasks. One thing Black says strikes me: Employers also judge candidates by the schools they recruit to. Why? Being able to evaluate what it means for a student to take a B in a class with a particularly tough professor.
According to Trudy Steinfeld, head of career services at NYU, the companies most interested in the brands are investment banks, professional services firms such as Ernst & Young, and pharmaceutical companies. Although a student does not apply in any of these areas if her GPA is above 3.0, she recommends including an average in his CV. She includes honors like cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa membership, she adds.
If you were hired already and spent several years in the organization, your GPA would lose its relevance. Since then, it depends on your performance, your success, and the skills you have acquired in the workplace. You can more or less forget your GPA. From now on, employers will evaluate you based on the value you bring to your organization.
Some industries and companies prefer to review GPAs. For the accounting, education, finance, health, and law industries, the GPA is a big deal. They see it as a key indication of the candidate's skills and use it as a selection tool. An NYU official said top investment banks, large professional services firms, and pharmaceuticals were interested in mentioning the GPA in their CVs. According to Purdue officials, many large campus hiring companies, such as GM, Caterpillar, and Ford, want the GPA to be included on their resumes.
If you have a GPA of less than 3, it doesn't mean you should forget about a good job, or you have zero chances at it. The general advice is that it is best to omit a GPA of less than 3.0 from your resume unless required by a potential employer. When questioned about it, look into how you can justify your GPA for real reasons? Have you faced a medical emergency? Did you have to work full time to get through college? If so, the recruiter may be willing to overlook the low GPA.
Despite the great GPA, you may not find the job you are looking for due to a lack of network. If you don't know people in your alumni circle who have the resources to help and guide you, your high GPA won't get you too far.
Areas where the GPA doesn't matter much include business (preferred experience); communication, journalism, and media (initiative, creativity, motivation); science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (internships, experiences). Students in these disciplines usually have lower GPAs (studies state that biology, chemistry, economics, and mathematics are the disciplines that have the lowest undergraduate GPAs).
