When the GPA question is brought up in interviews..

[Syringer]

So my college pretty much GPA sucked, and as a result I just omit on my resume unless it is specifically asked for.

However when a company asks what it is, should I just tell them what it was and nothing further--or should I somehow try to explain why it was low? Provided a good enough reason, can a company overlook it, or should I just try to bring as little attention to it as possible and try to make up for it during the rest of the interview?

Which then begs the question, is there any sort of excuse that can excuse a person's GPA, other than being dumb?

 

[cheezy321]

What is your excuse for getting poor grades through 4 years of college?

 

[sash1]

your college GPA couldn't possibly be as bad as mine was

 

[d33pt]

Originally posted by: Syringer
So my college pretty much GPA sucked, and as a result I just omit on my resume unless it is specifically asked for.

However when a company asks what it is, should I just tell them what it was and nothing further--or should I somehow try to explain why it was low? Provided a good enough reason, can a company overlook it, or should I just try to bring as little attention to it as possible and try to make up for it during the rest of the interview?

Which then begs the question, is there any sort of excuse that can excuse a person's GPA, other than being dumb?

who cares..you graduated right? that's more than i can say.

 

[Slammy1]

Working while going to school, good GPA in your major not so good in other. I don't list my GPA and I had a good one, it doesn't actually come up much.

 

[Cuhulainn]

Has it ever actually come up? I wouldn't expect that companies would actually care. If they did, I'd tell them what it was and leave it at that. You don't want to sound like you're making excuses. If they ask for an explanation or otherwise probe into the GPA matter, explain it, as long as the reasons aren't drugs and women.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Syringer
is there any sort of excuse that can excuse a person's GPA, other than being dumb?

sure, being lazy


but that might be worse than dumb, to an employer

good luck! :sun:

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: sash1
your college GPA couldn't possibly be as bad as mine was

Well it's not BAD bad, as in I was always confident that I'd graduate..but definitely bad compared to a lot of the competition to the positions I'm applying to..

 

[Jeeebus]

how long ago did you graduate? that's a major factor.

 

[MrBond]

I had it come up in an interview the other day. They had a list of questions and one of them was "What does your GPA tell us about you as a worker".

I told them the truth. If you look at my undergrad GPA and my grad school GPA, I'm working a lot harder and got better grades in Grad school. My core-classes GPA was higher in undergrad and I told them that I enjoyed those the most and did the best in them.

The guy seemed pretty happy with that answer, although I've not heard back from the company yet (not a big deal because it's probably not a job I want).

My undergrad GPA wasn't that great, 3.2 overall, 3.3 core.

 

[jaybert]

Well, interviewers assume the worst if you dont put your GPA. I was told that if its above a 2.7 or so, you should put it on your resume....because if you dont, they will assume LOWER than that. And if they ask, you can give them your reason why your GPA is low.

Also, what your major is (and what kind of jobs you are looking for) makes a difference as to how much they care about your GPA. If you're doing engineering/CS, work experience is as important, if not more, than your GPA.

 

[DaveSimmons]

For a software development position, if I don't see any GPA on a resume I assume it's well under 3.0 for even your CS classes.

I can't think of a good justification for not having a B average in core classes, so you probably wouldn't reach the interview stage for an entry-level position with us -- your resume would be discarded in the first pass through the pile.

But as Jeeebus noted, once you have enough experience to prove yourself in the real world no one cares about GPA any more.

 

[Steve]

It's never been asked of me, and I didn't finish college yet.

 

[Gibson486]

GPA is an important factor when you have nothing else to back you up. If you never had an internship or any type of experience, guess what they will base you soley on? you guessed it, your GPA. It sucks, but it is something you have to deal with. As long as you have a 3.0 or above, you should be fine.

 

[Ramma2]

I have been to many interviews post college, and have never included it on my resume and have never been asked for it during an interview.

I'm in IT.

 

[NakaNaka]

I've never put it on a resume.

 

[TheGizmo]

i've heard people give their GPA, and then their GPA in their major (meaning the GPA of the classes only important to your major)... maybe that would help? less that GPA was bad as well.. in which case you ought to tell prove to them you are still qualified in some manner

 

[JS80]

low gpa @ ucla FTL

 

[jmcoreymv]

I would just pick the highest GPA you have and put that. At my school theres really 3 GPA's you could go by: Cumulative GPA, Higher Ed GPA, and Major GPA. The only diff between cumulative and higher ed, is that cumulative doesnt count the gpa of any courses that were transferred from other schools.

 

[Feldenak]

My GPA was horrid when I graduated (cumulative: 2.4, major: 3.4). Everytime the question came up I answered honestly. Early in my college career I was lazy and liked to party too much, so I dropped out. My GPA after getting back into school was significantly higher. I always tried to cast my low GPA in a positive light in interviews.

 

[LS20]

i had a pretty terrible gpa as well. however, i had a pattern of it going from compeltely abjectly horrible to average to good.. so i had continuous improvement as i furthered in school. however, it was never asked of me. you have something like that?