[Personal] 7.5 and Below

GPA should not be a parameter to test a candidates skillset. Unfortunately, I was not able to give any interviews at my college for job so I became an entrepreneur instead.

Most people look at Millennials and have a negative connotation with them. We suck at coding. We had everything given to us. We love technology. We rely on StackOverflow, W3Schools, and GeeksforGeeks. The list goes on.

But we aren’t trying to piss off every other generation, we are only trying to impress them. See, the other generations are in the workforce. We are the ones trying to fit in. But, sometimes we don’t fully get the chance to explain our experiences. Sometimes we are limited to a few numbers or even a sheet of paper. How can we be limited to talking about our past experiences and lessons?

In today’s recruiting world, there are two ways of searching for a student. The first is the traditional ‘Let’s check out their GPA’ and the second is the newer option, which looks at the student’s full experience. The strange part is, that most companies still use the first way.

Let’s talk about these two processes.

Method 1

The GPA approach. This is still a widely used approach to looking at college students. If a company is looking for a new grad Software Engineer, then this is the way to go. They want the best computer science students with the best GPAs because they will go by the norms and rules. Why? Because that student followed the norms to get that GPA. Yes, they busted their ass, but did they fully explore ideas? Were they most creative? Did they ask how, or why? But, an early-stage startup, might not want that 9.0 GPA. That firm is going to want that student who was creative, out of the box, and didn’t like the normal ways to do something.

Method 2

This is an innovative way. The ‘people’ way. Yes, GPA is a factor in placements, but is it the right way to judge a student? Why look at a number that only represents such a small part of the college experience? If you look at GPA only, you will miss internships, work experience, organizations they are part of, leadership within those organizations, and other kick-ass experiences in which they learn as much as they do in the classroom. See, with all of these extracurricular activities, students actually gain real-life experience. You can learn as many concepts in class, but until you apply them in your life, you won’t remember or fully understand them.

Conclusion

Either way, some companies are going to use Method 1 for a long time. That’s okay, those firms are probably larger and not ready for the change. But, the innovative companies, the ones that understand change, will be using Method 2. Why? Because they want their employees to gel personally because that’s when the most creative work is made.

Why the title “7.5 And below”?

Ok, you might be wondering what’s the logic behind the title? :p

Well, I and a few of my friends have very low GPAs and a company visited our campus for the internship. They had the criteria as 7.5 and above so we couldn’t sit for the internship. Now we see in our dreams the company job criteria 7.5 and below. :)