Use of career resources can ease GPA stress

What employers really want is someone with a great attitude, a strong interest in the field and the ability to work hard. If you believe this, you might as well tell yourself the tooth fairy exists, too.

The New York Times published an article last December in which, after surveying several companies’ policies, they declared that the No. 1 thing future employers look at when thinking of hiring you is your college GPA.

Also supporting this surprising conclusion are findings from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. They published a job outlook survey for this year declaring that a full 66 percent of companies weed out candidates based on their GPAs. Many don’t even look at your resume if you have lower than a 3.0 .

I suppose employers have to go with something when they judge candidates, but the GPA seems like a strange thing to focus on so intently. Not only does this seem like a faulty policy, but it also runs contrary to what we hear in college ““ namely that a great GPA is only something that will get you into graduate school.

I admit that a good GPA is definitely a positive sign; it speaks of your ability to concentrate on subjects and to work well in a classroom situation. But on the other hand, a good GPA is just as much a result of a sharply honed short-term memory that dumps out material like week-old lasagna after the midterm is over.

Test-taking abilities do not always translate over to great performance on a job, especially when that GPA includes a myriad of classes ranging from the history of jazz to macroeconomics.

So why the apparent sudden change in selection criteria? Just last year when JobWeb, a career-development Web site for college graduates, published the 2006 college graduate Job Outlook survey, they declared that “a good GPA is, of course, important. (But) employers look at other attributes, too. In fact, year after year, the No. 1 skill employers say they want to see in job candidates is good communication skills: the ability to write and speak clearly.”

Last year, all they wished for us to be capable of was the adept handling of the English language, and now they demand a B average?

Apart from all of that, we have to remember that a shiny GPA will only get you through the weeding process. Then come the communication skills, knowledge of your industry, etc. The numbers aren’t everything, but they are important.

There are, of course, some companies who take it to the next level.

Notorious consulting firms such as Bain & Company and Mercer squeeze their candidates through a multiple-interview process including analyzing case studies.

Even though this assessment seems incredibly harsh at first glance (which it definitely is), it seems as if it would give a more accurate report of candidates than their GPAs would. At least they are testing applicants on something that they would be expected to undertake in the job.

But before despairing completely, we have to remember that there is a sort of side door into this process, and it is called the internship. Most times, when a student does well at a company for which they are interning, it not only gives them a great reference to include on their resume but can end in an interview offer for a full-time job at the company.

This just means that we have to start staking out our territories earlier than expected and pay more attention to where it is that we are interning.

For students who might not have the best GPA, finding internships might be hard, but at least the UCLA Career Center is available to make the search easier than if they were to try it alone after college.

The summer after junior year is most likely a critical period in the hunt. The NACE actually cites university career centers as the most helpful places to locate internships and land interviews. Even though there seem to be all these extra opportunities for that first real paycheck, remember that internships also require a pretty little GPA.

There is no way to run from your GPA, because it seems like either path you pick after college ““ be it the books and bricks of a graduate school or the ties and business cards of the job hunt ““ that small number at the bottom of your degree progress report will always play a role.

The solution here is to use university resources as much as possible before graduation and try to maintain contacts. And of course, there is that whole thing about avoiding distraction and actually reading that course reader.

E-mail [email protected] if you don’t know where the UCLA Career Center is. Send general comments to [email protected].