This is one of the most common questions that I see on the internet, about student engineering.
Does GPA actually matter?
How much to companies look at it, is it important, do I put it on my resume?
So let’s jump right into that in this video, right now.
Hey 1% Nation, I'm Jake Voorhees and you were watching Episode 037 of The 1% Engineer Show,
where we empower young engineers to rise to the top 1% of their career.
So again, this question comes up so much on Reddit, Quora, types of engineering and college
blogs - GPA actually matter???
Do I need to get a 4.0?
Do I need to get a 3.5?
Should I put it on my resume?
And the answer is yes and no, but really, the core.
answer is no.
So first let's talk general theory, and then we can look at some studies, and then we can
look at some media on this matter.
But the reality is that a 4.0 is actually a scary thing for a job employer.
A lot of negative connections are made when you have such a strong GPA, for example, the
employer may think that you are less social and you were just a bookworm so it actually
makes you look bad to have a 4.0.
So the strong area of GPAs to aim for is 3.0 and higher.
Now if you want to go to graduate school if you want to go to medical school, law school,
after university then you certainly need to get a higher GPA because that's a good way
to weed people out.
So consider that if you know that master's degree or MBA or law is in your future...
Some engineering students take law, after undergrad, then you definitely need a 3.5
or higher.
It is so so so competitive into grad programs, that's just an easy way to X people out.
What engineering employers, what engineering companies are actually looking for is somebody
who is ambitious outside of the classroom.
Someone who is standing out by being a member of clubs, by a leader in an engineering society
like ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) or a robotics society or some mechanical engineering
society.
Or someone who is volunteering, or someone who is maybe participating at some hobby at
an advanced level.
Like intramural club team, or something like this.
But what people really want, is well balanced individuals.
Well balanced humans, so become a part of their team, people who are going to get along
with other people, people who are going to be able to communication, who are not going
to absolutely anti-social bookwarms.
And just stay in their dormrooms over the weekend and get that 4.0.
Let's look at some studies on this topic, and see what the experts have to say.
Donald Hoyt, from the University of Nebraska did a study connecting GPA to adult performance
in the workplace, and we're going to take a look at what those engineering studies resulted
in.
Five of them were specifically for engineering students and four out of the five found it
inconclusive that GPA has an indication on your salary.
And the last one of those five used some inconclusive assumptions, so they pretty much threw that
one out.
So there's not as much connection to the GPA you've received, and how much money you are
going to make in the professional world.
Google doesn't even ask for GPA for their applicants.
They fulled admit that, that it is an absolute poor indication of a quality engineer, of
a quality person to join the Google team.
They also say that the way we test for exams is total garbage.
So we'll throw some quotes up about that.
I also want to point out a Forbes article that was released, and specifically talks
about how they would rather have someone with a 3.2 who was working full-time on the side,
or was treasurer of some student organization.
Compared to somebody who say, has a 3.9 with no experience, and no extra circulars so...
if you go on Reddit, you go on Quora, you look at engineering forums, you look at student
forums, you will see the vast majority of people contributing to this conversation on
the internet agree, they do not think that GPA is a pure indicator of success in job
placement, for success in your career road, success in the workplace.
So keep that in mind guys, you really want to have a balanced university future.
If you were a crazy bookworm and striving for a 4.0 last year, or you believe that has
to be the case for you this year, or in all of your years to come as an engineering student,
it's totally false.
You want balance, you want to be involved with a bunch of stuff on the side, you want
to make sure that you're always honing your communication, your networking, your professional
development skills, not just getting good grades, and study study study, hitting the
books so.
Go out there and join that team, join that society, network, go to events, go to as many
job fairs as possible, meet people.
It's all about who you know anyways.
I have only ever gotten job opportunities and offers based on existing relationships
with engineers that I knew.
It wasn't about grades, it wasn't even about what I knew or what I had done before that
application.
It was somebody that I knew, somebody who I had a connection with because of a position
I held previously.
So definitely keep this stuff in mind guys for all of your future classes.
Let 1% Nation know what you think about GPA in engineering, in the comments below.
Thanks for watching this video guys, if you enjoyed it, consider subscribing, because
I release videos on Wednesdays and Saturdays and lately, a little bit more often, about
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your engineering field.
Thanks for watching The 1% Engineer Show guys and stay hungry on your quest, to become a
1% Engineer.
Cheers!