<p>Or is it not as important...</p>
<p>Just wondering.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the job. Generally, unless you have a stellar GPA, you don’t need to put it on. I think employers might care more about your experience anyway.</p>
<p>I think **** size is the most influential factor.</p>
<p>Interesting question, I really wonder the same too!</p>
<p>what about getting your first legit internship? (especially in the software field)</p>
<p>if u dont have any other experience, how much does having a high (3.8+) GPA help?</p>
<p>I would think especially in fields like CS, experience >> gpa. A high GPA just says you do well in school, but says nothing else about how you function in a work environment. I mean, if you put down you have a 3.8, it’ll probably help you, but it’s not going to put you on top imo.
That’s just my two cents.
Although, for applying to grad schools and such, GPA tends to be more important >.></p>
<p>if gpa didn’t matter, we wouldn’t calculate it.
just like gdp.</p>
<p>oh wait.</p>
<p>either way my point is to speak to this statement:
even if silly measurements like gpa don’t say much about how well you can do a certain job, it’s pretty much one of the only “solid” measures we have (at least to distinguish students within Cal [comparing gpa’s across universities isn’t as simple, but i’m sure even you would hire someone with a 4.0 at HYP over someone with a 4.0 at Cal]).</p>
<p>also, just being nitpicky here:
how would you have experience before your <em>first</em> job/internship?
for a first position, the only things employers have to go over is GPA and extracurricular activities. </p>
<p>either either way, i guess the correct argument is this:
a great GPA can help a little.
a good GPA won’t help (it’s “expected”-- like jobs with 3.5 minimum GPAs etc.).
&a bad GPA will destroy</p>
<p>that said, it’s a “a good gpa is necessary, but not sufficient”-type of thing</p>
<p>*shrugs</p>
<p>Many Ivies are notorious for grade inflation, and Cal is notorious for harsh curves. So a 4.0 from Cal> 4.0 from Ivies. But the reputation of an ivy more than makes up the inflation.</p>
<p>A good way to measure is one’s ability to balance out high grades with community and college involvement. And not just resume fillers. For example they are chief editor of the school newspaper, and senior manager of the local homeless shelter. And the interview is what actually closes the deal.</p>
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<p>Usually in job fairs, students tend to show off class projects/other projects they’ve done in other activities. I think CS majors also talk about apps/programs they’ve written. Additionally, I’m pretty sure most Berkeley students already have had jobs in the past.</p>
<p>It depends on the job…for most “first” jobs, it doesn’t matter one bit. My first job was at Disneyland. They certainly didn’t care!</p>
<p>For most jobs, I also doubt it matters. Your interviews and your resume are more important.</p>
<p>@KnitKnots- I doubt MOST Berkeley have had jobs in the past. Maybe a good amount, but certainly not most. </p>
<p>If you’re someone with little work experience, I would believe that a great GPA does help on your resume. But then again, the interview is more important.</p>
<p>though interview is more important, it’s much harder to get the interview without the right GPA (or right connections, for that matter)</p>
<p>In the fall, I got an interview with a well-known company because of my high GPA, but blew it because I couldn’t answer some easy questions (but were hard for me at the time).</p>
<p>Then, in the spring, I had a lower GPA, but still got an interview with another well-known company, nailed all the questions, and landed an internship. </p>
<p>tldr:</p>
<p>Experience > GPA when it comes down to it.</p>
<p>^ care to share job hunting tips, eyeheartphysics?</p>
<p>eyeheartphysics, how’d you get experinece before your first internship?</p>
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<p>I can’t see how a low GPA would make things that much more difficult. Especially because putting your GPA on your resume is not mandatory.</p>
<p>Experience doesn’t necessarily mean jobs. I’m fairly sure there are clubs you could join, volunteer work, etc.
And like Knits said, GPA isn’t often put on resumes.</p>
<p>There are jobs where there is minimum GPA requirement. At my kid’s school, for each position advertised there is usually a minimum requiremtn. As an example, for top IBs there is a minimum 3.5 requirement, but for lower tier IBs they may go down to 3.0. </p>
<p>Most of the time, it is a school’s alum who recruit at a school, so they often know which major is easy or hard. At my kid’s school, it is easier to get a higher GPA from the business school than from math, physics, or engineering, so they would expect higher GPA from the business school.</p>
<p>The answer is it is very much like college application, you will need to have minimum GPA before they would interview you and then check your reference.</p>
<p>FYI - most employers will want to see your transcript. What you put on your resume better be the same as what’s your transcript.</p>
<p>@crowslayer: I’m no expert, but in general, use the career fairs and make a good/memorable impression on the recruiters. Recruiters talk to a lot of people over the hours that they’re there. Have a CONVERSATION with them and ask them questions. When I talked to people at one company’s booth, I found out that the recruiter knew my high school, and I knew hers. We even talked about how our schools sometimes met at track meets. Totally irrelevant to CS, but she remembered me because of our conversation, so I got a chance to prove my technical prowess. </p>
<p>@JBeak: I guess experience isn’t the right word; skills is better. In technical interviews, they’re going to give you questions much like the questions you’d see on an exam in CS61A or CS61B. I’d go as far to say that the questions you’d get in interviews might be a little easier than questions you’d get on CS61A/CS61B exams. At the time of my first interview, I only completed CS61A. The other interview came in the middle of CS61C, and I was a much better programmer by then. Also, talking about the projects that you’re assigned in CS classes helps. CS61C last semester gave us a lot to talk about (MapReduce, Amazon EC2, Hadoop, etc.)</p>