It is rumored that this could make or break your future. Some say it determines your worth and qualifications. But I choose to see it as nothing more than it is: a number. Your GPA is just a number. Sure, it has its place and sometimes some importance, but my experiences have been that connections are far more important than that little bitty number.
1. People remember personal connections better
Many of my successes at the Industrial Roundtable Career Fair (IR) came when I connected with recruiters on a personal level. By finding common ground, I gave them something to remember me by. For example, I found out that one recruiter frequently golfs at a country club near my hometown and we compared notes on the area and venue. Nearly a week later, I received an email from him and his colleague that he enjoyed his conversation with me and would like to interview me for the company’s summer internship position in the following weeks.
2. Numbers don’t show your skills
I talked to over twenty different companies at IR and handed out almost as many resumes. While some talks went well, others did not. I watched several recruiters’ eyes glaze over the second I told them my less-than-perfect GPA. I was angry that these companies were only interested in my worth by how this number defined it. Shouldn’t they want to know what I’m capable of and what skills and qualities I can bring to the table?
On the contrary, one company never even asked about my GPA. In fact, I wasn’t planning to visit them because their description on the IR company database listed a minimum GPA requirement that I did not meet. However, I went anyway and told them about my skills and experiences and they were so impressed that they set up an interview with me for the next day. Since then, I received an internship position with their company.
3. People learn in different ways
GPA does not account for the way you learn. In high school, academia was a breeze for me. I could ace tests by simply paying attention in class and I could write papers the night before they were due and still score well. However, college is a whole new ball game. I have had to learn how to study and experiment to find how I learn best. As a result, I struggled through classes my freshman year simply because I had to teach myself an entirely new system. Although my high school GPA was quite high, I am much prouder of my significantly lower college GPA because I have worked so hard for it.
4. Your GPA doesn’t show improvement
Like I said, I had a rough start to academics in the college world, but now that I’ve had practice and experience I am doing much better in my classes. Unfortunately, since GPAs are only updated at the end of each semester, my current GPA does not reflect the improvements I have made.
5. Your experiences matter more in the long run
I’ve been told by many people that after your first full-time job, companies are far more concerned about your experiences than they are about your college GPA. Unlike your GPA, your experiences reflect your skills and capabilities. Employers want to see what you have done with the tasks that you’ve been given. How did you leave your mark on your last job? Is that company better since you were there? What did you learn through the projects you worked on? These stories are far more interesting than a number.