This is one of the most common questions that I see on the Internet about student engineering.
Does GPA actually matter.
How much should companies look at it.
Is it important do I put it on my resume.
So let's jump bring 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 launched on Reddit Quora other types of engineering
and college blogs.
Does 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 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 strong area of GPA is to aim for as 3.0 and higher.
Now if you want to go to graduate school if you want to go to medical school or 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 should be getting a 3.5
or higher.
It is so so so competitive and get into grad programs and 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 being a leader in an engineering society like A.S.C. or robotics society or
some mechanical engineering society and someone who is volunteering and someone who is maybe
participating in some hobby at an advanced level like intramural club team or something
like that.
But will people really want is well-balanced individuals well-balanced humans to become
a part of their team.
People who are going to get along with other people who are going to be able to communicate
who are not going to be absolute anti-social bookworms and just stay in the dorm over the
weekends and study and get that for finals.
Let's look at some studies of 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.
They pretty much threw that one out.
So there's not as much connection to the GPA you received and how much money you're going
to make in the professional world.
Google doesn't even ask for GPA for their applicants.
They fully admit that that is an absolute poor indication of a quality engineer of a
call or the person to join the Google team.
They also say that the way you test for exams is total garbage.
So those are some quotes 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 curriculars so if you've already gone where you look at engineering
forms 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 balance University future.
If you were a crazy bookworm and striving for 4.0 last year or you believe that that
has to be the case for you this year or in all of your years as an engineering student
is totally false.
You want balance you want to be involved in 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 so they study in the book 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 about 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 had
a connection with because of a position I held previously.
So definitely keep this stuff in line guys for all
of your future classes.
Let one percent nation know what you think about GPA and engineering
in the comments below.
Thanks for watching this video guys.
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And lately a little bit more often for engineering career success engineering students success.
So you can rise to the top 1 percent of your
engineering field.
Thanks for watching the one
percent engineer show guys stay hungry on
your quest to
become
a 1% engineer, cheers!