I'm going to school full time, working full time, and being a husband / father full time.  With all that going one I cant concentrate on school as much as I would like.

I basicly finished up a full semester 4 credit hour online course in 4 days.  I'm a bit dissapointed because after final and all I ended up with a grade of just below 83%.  It seems that a lot of the questions that were on the final were not in the book.  But then again it could seem that way to me because I went through it so fast.

My question is about GPA's and jobs.  How often does an employer consider your GPA when applying for a job?  I have 8 years experience and am just now getting back to school.

I applied to a job and in the interview the employer grilled me on my highschool grades....

keep in mind that I'm a college grad... depends on the job though.

I have never seen it asked on any jobs I applied for or as a interview question

I don't even put it on my resume, and alot of people I know don't.  It is important to have as good a GPA as possible, but you are stuck with what you have.    

Depends.  I know for investment banking analyst positions it is extremely important.  Below a 3.85 from the top business schools in the country (like the top 10) won't even be considered.  A 4.0 will get you almost every interview.
ETA- for first job out of college it is highly recommended that you include GPA on resume.  After that it doesn’t matter.

it totally depends on the job.  if it is a type of job that primarily hires recent graduates, then they usu. take gpa in to consideration.  these kinds of places expect recent grads to have little to no work experience so they base their hiring on grades.  for  jobs open to all, gpa is rarely more than a side note.  experience, references, demeanor, attitute, and what type of education is much more important.  most employers don't even ask about gpa.  it is not common to refer to your gpa on a resume unless you really want to highlight it.  as long as you graduated w/ good standing from a reputable school, most employers don't care about gpa.  this is a generalization, however, certain bosses can be weird and may really want to know how you did in school.  but in my experience, this is rare.

2.0+ for Marine Corps Officership!


PLC 2007 Here I come!

IMO this will rise in importance over time.  Fifty years ago, having a degree of any kind was remarkable.  Thirty years ago, a Harvard grad was considered over a Missouri State U grad.  Then there was this long period when GPA didn't really matter unless you went to an Ivy.  If you went to an ivy and got a 4.0, you were nothing but gold.   I doubt that's really changed.  But.  Here's where the worm turns.  Now it matters what your GPA was at Missouri State U.  It's important that you do well at college now, no matter which school you go to.

Employers' expectations are rising.

Competition is increasing.  Do your best.

Depends on what kind of job you are applying for. When I was hired, nobody cared about my grades, but they did grill me plenty on technical problems. When evaluating prospective employees/interns now, I don't care so much about the GPA number (although they should have above a 3.0) as I do what courses were taken and the ability of the candidate to demonstrate competency in the job he or she is applying for.

ETA:  In addition, the higher the degree, the less important the GPA.

In the aviation industry some wont even look at you unless you have a 3.0 under your belt.

Boeing comes to mind.

it really depends on the field you go into and the type of work you are really wanting to do.

As an RN it only matters you are breathing with a license to practice.

Bob

ETA I was top grad in my class, but have never been asked about my grades.

How grades are determined in different colleges at various universities, and even by different professors in the same department, make it very difficult to evaluate GPA vs GPA purely by numbers.

Unfortunately, grade inflation is a problem at all levels.  A large portion of people (professors included) have decided that "A = Adequate," when in fact C is "meets all expectations", and A should be "Absolute mastery of all material in the course, with additional achievement above and beyond any course requirements or goals."

Science, math, and engineering are not immune to grade inflation, but they tend to be the least affected by it (in undergraduate programs, at the universities I'm familiar with).  In other majors, I have seen that it is extremely uncommon to encounter a class with predominantly B and C grades.  Grade inflation in those departments has made the grades essentially meaningless.  If anything, you can say that the A/Not-A grade scale is actually a disguized pass/no-pass grade scale.

I won't belittle any majors by name, but I can say for certain that if I saw one person with a particular major from a school I'm familiar with and they had a 4.0, and another person from the same school but in a different major had a 3.0, I would not necessarily conclude that the person with the 4.0 was in any way academically (or otherwise) superior to the other.

Jim

Apparently not much. I have no college (some tech school) and my high school grades SUCKED!!!! (had to finish in summer school)  School just wasnt my thing.... I tried, just sucked at it.  Never been asked about grades.

When I hire college grads, I consider GPA as only a "factor".  If the position doesn't require specific training and I'm just looking for someone with an educational background that generalizes what they need, I am looking for maturity.  When just looking at a resume, signs of a mature, well organized person would be a strong work history combined with a good GPA.  Work history could very well be a burger flipper but if that is how the candidate plowed his/her way through school, then that person knows something about life and priorities.  If there is just a great GPA and no work history, then this person may be fine for an accounting clerk position but he/she won't be hired for a progressive position.  No GPA on the resume indicates to me that it wasn't deemed good enough to be on there.  So, just my opinion, I want to see the GPA but don't really care if it is a 2.5 out of 4.0.  

Thanks for all the feedback guys.  I'm not going to worry about it to much.  I would assume that employers will care more about my 8 years experience than the 4 year degree that I aquire.  By the time I'm done with school I'll have another 3+ years of experience.

So out of curiosity.  Would it be unusual to make $100,000 a year in the IT industry?  I'm a systems admin now and would probably need to transition into another part of the field.

I don't know, I never asked myself that question before I started either one of my business.

Oh yeah, what's a GPA? Is that a college thing?

I say forcus on LEARNING, not what grades you get.  If that means your GPA goes up then good.  I had a couple boneheads in college that were dumber than a box of rocks but still manage to get better grades than I did but the next day they couldn't recall shit.

Focus on learning and improving social and problem solving skills.  You may be the best person in class but if you regularly piss people off and are unable to make tough choices while on the job then the high GPA doesn't mean shit.

I've never been asked about grades.  Of course, I still work for the same company I worked for when I was in college.

Quoted: Let's get real... It's not what you know but who you know! Having nice legs and a big rack doesn't hurt either.

Sad but very TRUE!

Quoted: Quoted: Let's get real... It's not what you know but who you know! Having nice legs and a big rack doesn't hurt either. Sad but very TRUE!

That is why it is important to network and be sociable.  Knowing people helps you get a foot in the door but being able to do the job is why you keep the job.

GPA is critical in 87 percent of JOB interviews!

What Wave said.

Your GPA  MAY have an effect on, say, your first job after school, especially if there is some sort of formal training program involved.  After that, it's what you have accomplished or whom you know.

Actually, I would say this:  Keep all information except that which is directly applicable to the job to a minimum.  Potential employers actually are looking for ways to reject you, and mine your information to do that.  Friends of mine, intelligent people from obvoiusly good schools (from their knowledge, not the status of the school) tell me of interviewers seemingly LOVING to ask "What is that?"  "Where is that?"  "Never 'hoid' of it."  I suspect that is in the later editions of the "nasty interviewers' manual."  I enjoyed keeping back as much as possible and waiting for them to ask.  

So, good luck on your search.  Keep the resume tight.  Better yet, make it a letter-resume:  generate some boilerplate about your education, and tailor the rest of it to what the position asks for - skills, experiences, etc.  Don't try for a formal resume unless asked for it.  If you don't have a lot of experience, a formal resume actually will highlight that like a big zit.  It is to be avoided until the last, formalizing steps.  A good letter, showing how you can match to the company's needs and what you can do for them <------ MOST IMPORTANT.  The reality is, they are only hiring someone thay can USE.  That's the way it is.

LAst thing.  DOn't type like I do in real time on here.  Proof and Proof again.  I heard a story, apocryphal or not, which was instructive.  SOmeone had a pile of resumes, all ostensibly from college graduates, and he was asked to sort them for interviewing.  He tossed one after another rapidy into the wastebasket, and wound up with a very few.  When asked how he was able to sort them so rapidly, he said: "These all are from college graduates; the ones left are the only ones which had no mistakes in spelling or grammar in the first two sentences."  Frankly, I agree with it.  You write your letter and resume, and have time to check it out.  If it isn't right, exactly what does that say about you?  And, make those first two sentences count.  That may be the only chance or "hook" you get to grab the reviewer.  AGain, good luck.

I've never even had someone want to verify my degrees let alone my grades.

Quoted: How grades are determined in different colleges at various universities, and even by different professors in the same department, make it very difficult to evaluate GPA vs GPA purely by numbers. Unfortunately, grade inflation is a problem at all levels.  A large portion of people (professors included) have decided that "A = Adequate," when in fact C is "meets all expectations", and A should be "Absolute mastery of all material in the course, with additional achievement above and beyond any course requirements or goals." Science, math, and engineering are not immune to grade inflation, but they tend to be the least affected by it (in undergraduate programs, at the universities I'm familiar with).  In other majors, I have seen that it is extremely uncommon to encounter a class with predominantly B and C grades.  Grade inflation in those departments has made the grades essentially meaningless.  If anything, you can say that the A/Not-A grade scale is actually a disguized pass/no-pass grade scale. I won't belittle any majors by name, but I can say for certain that if I saw one person with a particular major from a school I'm familiar with and they had a 4.0, and another person from the same school but in a different major had a 3.0, I would not necessarily conclude that the person with the 4.0 was in any way academically (or otherwise) superior to the other. Jim

You are right.  But, what I find worse, in light of that practice, is the professor who, possibly in reaction to "grade inflation"  is proud of how "hard" he/she is in grading.  You probably have seen the kind -  "A 'B' from me is like an A+ from someone else or, worse, someone else's 'B' is my 'C'."  So, the rest of the academic world, especially admissions to grad school, assumes grades are inflated, and someone who has that kind of professor looks really dumb.

When you first apply for a job with little or no experience, then GPA weighs heavily. However, with 3 or more years of experience, it starts to matter very little. Your experience become important after that time.

Quoted: Let's get real... It's not what you know but who you know blow! Having nice legs and a big rack doesn't hurt either.

Fixed it for you

Grade inflation has made it pretty much meaningless.

When I graduated, there were departments where literally everyone graduated with 'honors'.  In others, like mine, noone did.

A lot of employers, bigger companies mostly, do want it on the resume, however.  Probably doesn't matter if you get to an interview, the actual hiring managers don't care, but if it's too low, HR might cut your resume before it gets there.

Quoted: I've never even had someone want to verify my degrees let alone my grades.

+1

Quoted: Quoted: I've never even had someone want to verify my degrees let alone my grades. +1

That's generally true, but I have had my degrees verified.  They didn't ask for a transcript, but did have me sign a form asking for verification of graduation from the school, and THEY sent it to the Registrar.  So, it's not something one can bank on, meaning, don't even think of falsifying, though some companies would deserve it. For every two or three that don't verify, there is one that will; that's one too many of it is the company in which you are just starting.   ANd, you got fired for what?

For most career fields your GPA is completely irrelevant.

Hell it doesn't really even matter what your degree is in.

Quoted: I'm going to school full time, working full time, and being a husband / father full time.  With all that going one I cant concentrate on school as much as I would like. I basicly finished up a full semester 4 credit hour online course in 4 days.  I'm a bit dissapointed because after final and all I ended up with a grade of just below 83%.  It seems that a lot of the questions that were on the final were not in the book.  But then again it could seem that way to me because I went through it so fast. My question is about GPA's and jobs.  How often does an employer consider your GPA when applying for a job?  I have 8 years experience and am just now getting back to school.

It depends. If you are a recent college graduate with no professional work experience, a high grade is good to prove you can apply yourself. If you have professional work experience, a high grade is not that important, but you will want to have some highlighted achievements in your work experience. For a competitive job, a low grade may weed your resume out.

What kind of online school lets a person complete a 4-credit course in four days? Doesn't sound like you are getting your money's worth.

I have also had my degrees verified, but only after I got past the last round of interviews and they were about to hire me.  I interview people from time to time, and having a good clean resume helps a lot.  We don't hire very many fresh college grads, but a 3.0 would be a minimum for us.  Hiring a rookie is a HUGE investment for us, because they are basically worthless for the first year.  There is a spot on the job application for the GPA, but professionalism and aptitude count more than grades where I work.

Quoted: As an RN it only matters you are breathing with a license to practice. Bob ETA I was top grad in my class, but have never been asked about my grades.

Have you looked at Masters programs?  How do they select for those programs?  I'd think high grades in your RN program would be important

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I've never even had someone want to verify my degrees let alone my grades. +1 That's generally true, but I have had my degrees verified.  They didn't ask for a transcript, but did have me sign a form asking for verification of graduation from the school, and THEY sent it to the Registrar.  So, it's not something one can bank on, meaning, don't even think of falsifying, though some companies would deserve it. For every two or three that don't verify, there is one that will; that's one too many of it is the company in which you are just starting.   ANd, you got fired for what?

That is good advice.  Look at that Deutsch guy at NASA.  He is just the latest example of resume "issues".  O'Leary and Notre Dame also comes to mind.

I recently graduated in Electrical Engineering and it seemed to me that as long as you met that particular company's minimum GPA, usually 3.0, it does not mater.  Most of the companies that I interviewed with did not even ask me any technical questions.

I spent 30 years in Human Resources (Staffing) for a biomedical research government agency in the DC area.  I can't recall ever asking a job applicant about their GPA but we did verify degrees claimed if hired......eventually.  I rarely ever had an employee who lied about a degree but it has happened.  They were given a choice of resigning or being fired.  99.9% resigned.

As a person who hires, I've never even looked at somebody's grades.

My dad was telling me that they were hiring some new people at work.  Turns out that they had one position left to fill, but two interviewees left; both female.

He goes on to tell me his dilemna.  One was a recent college grad who had a so-so GPA.  The other had zero college, but relevant work experience.

You know which one he hired?  The one with the biggest boobs.

Quoted: Thanks for all the feedback guys.  I'm not going to worry about it to much.  I would assume that employers will care more about my 8 years experience than the 4 year degree that I aquire.  By the time I'm done with school I'll have another 3+ years of experience. So out of curiosity.  Would it be unusual to make $100,000 a year in the IT industry?  I'm a systems admin now and would probably need to transition into another part of the field.

If you believe* the headhunter I talked to, the moment you get your degree, ALL of your prior experience is worthless.

I don't know how the guy got HIS job, but I have to guess a VP at his company lost a bet.

Jim

*(I do not.)

Not from what I have seen.

By the way, what really sucks is when you're 0.05 points below a threshhold that is commonly used.

I wish I had stayed an extra year and retaken a couple of classes!  

Rude awakening #42, nobody really gives a damn what your GPA was...

I have Bachelors degrees in Accounting, Finance, and Economics. I was an accountant until I could not stand it any longer (and that wasn't very long) so I went back to Law Enforcement. The degree(s) definitely helped get promotions. Then you reach a point where you get passed-over 3 times for the next promotion and you figure out that it is time to retire.

Here's to the "Louisiana Retirement Plan"

In my experience, NEVER.