<p>I had a few friends that graduated with engineering degrees. Neither of them were asked for their GPA’s during job interviews or for the application. The jobs just wanted to know they had a degree and graduated with an engineering degree.
When I graduated, the jobs I applied to just wanted to see my license. They didn’t ask for my GPA or even diploma but with my field (dental) you have to be licensed in order to practice and have to graduate to get the license.</p>
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<p>Don’t people put their GPAs on their resumes, obviating the need of employers to ask?</p>
<p>Bel, no. You only put it on if really high or requested. That’s what we were taught.</p>
<p>We get a lot of resumes with the gpa from applicants right out of grad school. The resumes we get for senior positions never have the gpa of them.</p>
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<p>I am disturbed. GPAs are objective information based on dozens of classes over four years, while even several interviews will last only a few hours. Employers may be guilty of holistic hiring! Seriously, I would be much more inclined to hire someone with a 3.8 GPA than a 2.0 GPA for an intellectually demanding job, assuming the courses taken by the two applicants were of comparable difficulty.</p>
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<p>His experience mirrored that of an older cousin who graduated in the late '80s with an engineering degree from URochester. One interviewer immediately ended the interview once he asked him for his undergrad GPA and found it was ten thousandth of a point under 3.0. </p>
<p>He ended up needing several extra months after graduation to find a job related to his major while all of his 3.0+ classmates had multiple job offers with some extended during their junior year. </p>
<p>Although he’s had a successful career and is now a senior project manager of his department of a medium sized software development firm, his experience was such he repeatedly made it his mission to tell me and any other young college-bound folks to “Whatever you do, NEVER allow your cumulative/major GPA to fall below 3.0 or you’ll have a much harder time finding a job.” </p>
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<p>Depends on the individual and the individual career counselor. Rule of thumb I heard with one was NOT to list GPA if one’s overall was not a stratospheric 3.8+. Another said to list it if one’s GPA was over a 3.0. </p>
<p>All said to avoid listing GPA if it’s under 3.0 as doing so will call unnecessary attention to a negative factor. This is further confirmed by an HR colleague who said they automatically axed anyone who listed a below 3.0 GPA for 2 reasons: 1. They’re demonstrating the lack of common sense in not volunteering negative information on their resume and 2. With few exceptions, a below 3.0 GPA signals concerns the applicant may have serious issues with work ethic and attention to quality of one’s work. Only possible exceptions for #2 with them is if the applicant attended a “hard school” like Swarthmore, MIT, etc…and even that’s doubtful.</p>
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<p>GPAs, when used, are typically the initial resume review to determine who gets the interview. E.g. “phone interview the soon-to-graduate applicants with GPA >= 3.0 to see if they are worth bringing in for the real interview” (or whatever the threshold is).</p>
<p>Interviewing for jobs is almost always holistic, for better or worse. And most people tend to think that most job hiring is less meritocratic and more opaque than college admissions.</p>
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<p>Given recent trends in [url=<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com%5Dgrade”>http://www.gradeinflation.com]grade</a> inflation<a href=“e.g.%20MIT%20average%20grade%20was%203.26%20in%201999,%20and%20Swarthmore’s%20was%203.53%20in%202009”>/url</a>, a <3.0 GPA from a recent graduate at most of the more selective universities (where grade inflation is usually the highest) is not a good indicator for the student.</p>
<p>I still have my GPA on my resume 30 years after college (because it was something to brag about – if it were lower, I would not). Admit it is on the last page (education section), but I have seen people flip back and study that section during interviews. I also have a scholarship on their I got for having a standardized test score in top 100 in my state, and a recruiter I work with regularly mentioned it to me recently – so I know people notice it. People who have something to brag about in the GPA area generally do put it (and keep it) on their resume. My D will NEVER drop her Phi Beta Kappa honor off, either. And I am pretty sure her high GPA (also on her resume) helped her get sorted into the piles that got interviews, and she did get a great job. A lot of her college friends who graduated with lower GPAs last spring are still looking for jobs… and I don’t think that is a coincidence.</p>
<p>^ ^
Out of curiosity, what constitutes “lower GPA”? Is it below 3.8, 3.6, 3.5, 3.33, or 3.0?</p>
<p>Well… the GPA I have is from my graduate degree, and it is in the 3.8+ category. I do not have my undergrad GPA on (I think it was closer to the 3.33 area). D1 had a 3.96 for her undergrad, so she is in bragging range.</p>
<p>I know this is not what the OP started this thread to discuss… but I think we have talked out this “is a college degree worth it” theme over the past few years on CC already. That is why hardly anyone is responding to those components of the original post.</p>
<p>I just looked at my resume and I don’t have my GPA listed on there. I do have it listed that I’m in PBK. </p>
<p>I think I’m in “bragging” range so I might reconsider putting it on there.</p>
<p>I have comfortably moved from professional position to professional position, methodically and deliberately upwards. I have both sought promotions, and have been “recruited” into positions. I have never been asked what my gpa was in an interview, nor have I ever posted it on my resume. I have been asked about my degree, my Alma mater (nondescript Midwest university), and my work experience. My graduation has been verified (common now days), but no eyebrows have ever raised from my robust 2.8 
All the positions I’ve been offered, were tendered contingent upon verification of references and education. So, I had the offers without regard for gpa. And I’ve been gainfully employed for 26 years, moving on about every 5-7 years or so (longest was 12 years, shortest is current position, I’ve been in less than a year and going strong!)</p>
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<p>My cousin had a 2.9999 something and had a very slow stumbling start to his career. After his first job, however, his career took off. Even managed to pick up a Engineering Masters paid for by one of his employers. </p>
<p>He doesn’t list his Grad GPA even though it is within intparent’s bragging range.</p>
<p>A 2.8 GPA was more respectable 26 years ago than it is now.</p>
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<p>How about the mid-late '90s? :D</p>
<p>As an aside, my older cousin would vehemently disagree based on how his 2.9999something GPA was a stumbling block to starting his career despite graduating with a STEM degree just a few years after giterdone.</p>
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<p>That could put the time frame of his graduation during a real estate decline (bad for civil engineering graduates) and a military industry decline (bad for aerospace engineering graduates and other engineering graduates generally) in some areas, which could result in employers getting much more selective. Of course, there is variation between different STEM majors in job prospects (e.g. biology graduates generally have a rough time due to the huge numbers of biology graduates every year).</p>
<p>my grad school GPA is in the “bragging range” but it is not on my resume.</p>
<p>my undergrad GPA is not in that range, and is also not on my resume =P</p>
<p>^ Lol. I honestly just never thought to put it on there. We’re told to put it on if it’s “high” but I think it just looks kind of tacky. I’ll have to reevaluate though. Hm.</p>
<p>The gpa in the major is different than overall gpa in relevance. A transcript would show grades in relevant courses, the most recent grades (in higher level major courses presumably), the courses taken- a wealth of information. This may not be needed as the student will have references most likely from respected professors in his/her field who can vouch for the candidate and will likely have knowledge of the quality of classwork done.</p>
<p>I would attribute any devaluing of a college degree to the fact that the number of college grads has increased in recent times- baby boomer offspring effect and likely a greater percentage of HS students going for the college degree as well. I doubt the value of the education to individual as a person has declined- the experience and knowledge gained is of equivalent value. Employers now have many more college educated candidates to choose from- not having the college degree is more detrimental than in the past. Jobs not requiring a degree in the past now routinely go to college grads. </p>
<p>Citing economic sources is only looking at one view of the value of education. The tangible paycheck, not the intangibles of being well educated for its own sake.</p>
<p>Back to the OP’s issue on the declining value of universities, I think the problem nowadays is that while many jobs don’t require a college education, to get hired for the job you need a college degree. </p>
<p>Colleges have turned into a massive credentialing industry. The objective now for these credentialing factories is to churn kids out w a degree rather than an education. Some of the new hires I’ve seen recently have trouble w basic algebra, can’t write a coherent paragraph, and don’t know the difference between Neil Armstrong and Lance Armstrong.</p>