bingfess5546
04-21-2011, 02:30 PM
By Janelle Godfrey Welcome to the next installment of my trials and tribulations of life with "Charlie", my younger brother who's a recent college graduate and who's living with me while he searches for his first real job. Thanks to everyone who has sent him words of encouragement; he had two more interviews last week and with each feels that he's getting more confident with his interview skills (while more depressed with his hit rate). He’s great inspiration for my blogs – and here’s the issue he posed to me last week. GPA. GPA = Grade Point Average. That dreaded number that you spend four years (or five, in my case) stressing about keeping as high as you possibly can. It’s a number that seems to take an eternity to get larger when you get a great grade, but then falls so quickly if you get a C on your midterm. It just doesn’t seem like the grades are weighted the same. I used to spend many sleepless nights stressing over my grades,Office 2010 Activation Key (http://www.office2010key.eu/), hoping that I would 4.0 a class or that my lowest test score would be thrown out. I can remember the joy and jubilation I felt when I finished school with my GPA above a 3.5. I was so excited! So much so,Microsoft Office 2007 Professional (http://www.windows-7-key.de/office-2007-key), that every job I applied for, I’d ask “Would you like a copy of my transcript?” I just knew it would be the extra reason for my getting that dream job. Sadly though, every time I asked that question, the recruiter would say, “No thanks.” WHAT??? But I had panic attacks and lost sleep for those grades! And you don’t even want to see them? Well, it turns out that I learned what many college grads learn the hard way. More often than not, your GPA is really only good for getting you into grad schools and for getting scholarships. Bummer,Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Plus (http://www.office2010-key.ca/office-2007-key), I know. It’s hard to hear. Granted, there are MANY companies that do really focus on GPA, in addition to other factors like which school you graduated from. There are even a lot of people at Microsoft who look at GPA. For them, if your GPA is below a certain number, that will always be wrapped into the first question they ask. As someone who was proud of her GPA, I put it on everything. I would put it in my cover letters, I would put it on thank you notes, and I probably would have put it on my credit card if that option was available. And now, watching Charlie struggle with his job search and this issue, I’ve been inspired to share three really important points about GPAs and finding jobs. 1. If your GPA is below a 3.0… do NOT put it on your resume. Now you might be really proud of your GPA, but if you don’t want to have a discussion about it with a recruiter or interviewer, then just omit it from your resume. Remember, recruiters and interviewers SKIM resumes, so often a number like that will just pop off the page. Maybe you’re proud of where your grades tallied at the end of the day which is great, but if you don’t want your first interview question to be, “What happened with your low GPA?” then just leave the number off of your resume. But remember, of course,Windows 7 Download (http://www.office2010key.eu/windows-7-key), don’t lie. If a recruiter asks you what your GPA is, then tell them. You never know if they’ll ask to see your transcript later on in the process. 2. If you did really well in your major but not in your additional classes, then go ahead and put your MAJOR GPA on your resume. For instance, if you spent your first two years struggling to register for classes in your major, (shout out to the University of Washington for making me take Intro to Dinosaurs,Office Home And Stude/nt (http://www.windows7serialkey.net/office-2010-key), Latin Word Roots, and English Medieval Classics my first two years of college) but you were a rock star when it came to your final two years in your actual major, then just put that on your resume. Be prepared though, someone may ask you what your overall GPA was as well. But if you want to brag about something, then your major GPA is a fine choice. 3. Experience is more important than GPA. This is the key lesson that Charlie learned this week. He had been so focused on getting good grades, he spent his summers in summer school instead of finding an internship. This is hurting him now. Although his grades are good and he has taken all of the key classes for his field of interest, recruiters are asking him, “Other than experience in class and in group projects, what outside marketing experience do you have?” And this is when an internship would have served him well. So if your grades are good, and you have a choice…. TAKE A JOB! It will set you apart from other candidates who just have course work to talk about and that you are competing with. While Charlie can't go back in time and make a different choice between getting more experience or working harder in his major, it may not be too late for the rest of you out there. Thanks for reading and keep your fingers crossed that my next blog will be titled “Apartment hunting tips for the younger brother who just got a job and will now be vacating his sister’s apartment”. - Janelle