GPA vs. Enjoying college: what do employers care more about

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<p>That is an important point right there. For an employer, it is all about the bottom line. They want someone who is technically competent, but also someone who can get along with and even thrive among their coworkers. That is the reason they care about personality. If you have a company full of 4.0’s who are all not very personable, they will likely be a lot less efficient than a company full of 3.5’s who all (or mostly all) get along well and work together. As long as your GPA is high enough to show you are technically competent and you are not socially ■■■■■■■■, then you will be fine. That is what the company needs to better their bottom line.</p>

<p>However, if you fall on one of the extremes, you are much more likely to get a job being socially awkward but having a 4.0 than you are if you are a social butterfly and have a 2.5. After all, when it comes down to business, a company isn’t going to care whether or not you were president of your frat or ran your schools basketball student section if your GPA implies that you are lazy and/or incompetent.</p>

<p>The previous 2 postings is exactly what happens in the real world. You have engineers and/or project managers who are not the “tech wizzes” of the world, but they know how to give input from past experience, know how to deal and adjust to change and even more…knows where to OBTAIN the information to get to the goal.</p>

<p>I think I see everyone’s point. and just to clarify, when I say enjoy college, i mean being academically diverse and enjoying all sorts of different classes and doing alot of other things besides crunching numbers every night and getting a 4.0 and being miserable.</p>

<p>@Enginox
I believe I understand what your saying, but couldnt employers see that as me trying to “cheat the system” by doing that or being ashamed of my gpa by waiting so long?</p>

<p>That depends on the employer and on individual circumstances. A student who never bothered to get any practical experience is better off listing her/his GPA; a person who obtained some practical experience and 1-2 professional references may get away with not putting the GPA on the resume.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that while the system’s goals are the same (finding the right person who will get the job done) the way these goals are accomplished are much different now than 80, 40, or even 20 years ago. Nowadays, companies use some form of filtering system to get the “right” person for the job; certain keywords are filtered, a certain GPA is filtered, certain schools may be filtered, a certain salary history is filtered, etc. So now, a computer decides you are not the “right” person for the job because you do not meet certain specific criteria; I’d rather have another human make that kind of determination after that human personally interviews me.</p>

<p>No, you are not cheating the system. You are improving your chances by forcing the system to give you a more detailed look instead of automatically dump you if your numbers do not match. You are much more than your numbers.</p>

<p>Another thing I thought of - for undergrads, the best thing to do is just do your best so that one day you can go to grad school. You may think now that you’re done with school, but in 5 or 10 years you may want or need to get a masters. A bad undergrad GPA will still come back to haunt you down the line.</p>