Students work their entire collegiate career to achieve a degree, but along the way they receive a number that could ultimately determine whether they get a job. But many people question whether GPAs are actually part of the equation that major corporations use to recruit recent college graduates. Students are constantly in a time crunch to ace midterms and produce stellar class projects with little time to tap into the other factors that employers consider important – internships, job-related experience and extracurricular activities Studies show that many companies look for employees who take pride in their school work. According to Careerbuilders.com and the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ “Job Outlook 2005 Survey,” 70 percent of major companies hiring and recruiting managers screen applicants focusing primarily on GPAs. Sara Crow, communications manager for Career Services, said she has seen several instances where GPAs were a major deciding factor of whether a company chose to hire a recent college graduate. “Some companies do look at GPA. If you don’t have a certain GPA, they won’t even consider looking at your application,” Crow said. Crow said large applicant pools can be attributed to some companies’ emphasis on GPA. “Shell is one of our biggest college student recruiters that look at GPA first,” Crow said. “Shell gets a whole lot of applications, and so they skim for the best GPAs and students to lower the applicant pool.” Crow said Career Services emphasizes other areas. “Really our emphasis is making students well-rounded. Having a strong GPA is important in some fields but not in all of them,” Crow said. “For the most part companies are more interested in students with experience, so that is why we try to help students with work-related experience such as internships. Having a strong GPA is a supplement to that.” Some of the University’s top employee recruiters like Target and Schlumberger said they look for students who are competitive not only with their GPAs but also with their involvement in other activities. Fernanda Carsalade, South Texas and Louisiana group campus recruiter for Target, said Target’s focus is not usually on a potential employee’s GPA. Target recruits college graduates for management and executive team leader positions every year, Carsalade said. “I would not say GPA is a make-you-or-break-you factor for potential employees. We look at the overall candidate,” Carsalade said. “We look at each student and know that each student has different circumstances.” Carasalde said Target focuses on aspects that reflect students’ performance outside the classroom. “If a student works a full-time job or is involved in several activities, then obviously that student’s GPA is going to be a little lower than usual,” Carsalade said. “The number one thing that we look at is leadership. We look at what kind of activities a student was involved in and what type of leadership that person took on in those organizations. The skills they learn in organizations and community involvement is important for taking on leadership positions in the company.” Carsalade said that while GPA is not as high on Target’s recruiting priority list, the company does try hard to match the GPA universities consider acceptable to pursue future educational endeavors. “When we deal with Career Services, we try to hire students who match the required school GPA,” Carsalade said. “If a school requires a 2.0 GPA, we try to match that. We want to support the school’s standards and continue to get the educational message across to students.” Though Crow said some students may be able to get hired without an impressive GPA, students who are pursuing careers that require entering graduate programs should focus on their grades. “I feel like every field requires different things, but students who want to go to law school or get into the top accredited medical schools need to have a good GPA,” Crow said. “There is a big difference between the students who are going into graduate programs versus students who are entering the work world as soon as they graduate from college.” According to the U.S. News and World Report 2007 Best Graduate School Index, the top two medical schools, Harvard and John Hopkins medical schools accepted undergraduate students with an average GPA of 3.8 in 2005. Yale University’s law school had an average 3.8 GPA and Stanford University’s business school had an average of 3.6. But while GPA is an important requirement to be admitted to graduate school, studies also show that graduate schools frown upon students who have 4.0 GPAs but were not involved in activities outside the classroom. Sola Loy, biochemistry freshman, said she knows GPA is one of the primary factors that will determine where she is admitted to graduate school, but she will not give up if her GPA stands in her way of getting the job she wants. “If a student does not get a job because of their GPA, they should not give up on what they are looking for,” Loy said. Loy said she thinks employers and graduate schools should make decisions based on GPAs and extracurricular activities. “If a student is involved in various organizations to impress the medical schools, that could affect their grades,” Loy said. “I think it is a give- and-take situation. It is all how you balance things.” And while some students’ career fields may not require them to have a strict focus on their school work, they should not completely rule out the effect their GPA can have on an employer’s decision, Crow said. “Career field,slike engineering sometimes don’t focus so much on GPAs, so those students tend to get lucky if they have other strong credentials,” Crow said. “But some students are not so lucky. Your GPA can give you a competitive edge. It demonstrates your commitment to your coursework. Anything that students can do to put themselves above the competition will make getting a job a smoother process.” Crow said students who have low GPAs should not be discouraged but should emphasize their strengths on their resumes. “Most of the time employers want to see your GPA on your resume. If your overall GPA is not good, we tell students to also include their GPA for their major,” Crow said. “Students tend to be stronger in the coursework that focuses on their career.” Crow said she also encourages students to take advantage of the programs and opportunities Career Services has to offer. “We have an internship workshop this Wednesday at noon that students should take advantage of,” Crow said. “Our goal is to help students get whatever experience and help they need to be successful in the work world.”
—–Contact Garesia Randle at [email protected]