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I had a poor overall GPA (~2.7), but my core was around 3.0 I think. I rarely have an employer ask for my GPA. I worked full time while going to school at night and took a minimum of 9 credits a semester so it wasn't easy. Sometimes I would go up to 12 credits but that was tough.
Students at our military acadamies get around 2.4 in their engineering courses but with all of the other things going on it is considered average.
Although to be honest my friends had 12-14 while working full time and pulled off much nicer GPA's. But they didn't have families either
Short answer: From my xp sometimes it matters, but most of the time it doesn't. It matters a little more when you are an entry level engineer. You don't have much else to go on. I was lucky enough to be working in my field and have 10 years of xp to fall back on when I graduated. Very few interviewees have ever asked me.
The job I am at now asked me my GPA before I was hired. I was shocked!
When my son first entered the engineering program, the department head said that if you had a 3.5 or higher, you were not taking enough hard classes. He expected most engineering students to have between a 2.6 and 3.2 gpa.
When my son first entered the engineering program, the department head said that if you had a 3.5 or higher, you were not taking enough hard classes. He expected most engineering students to have between a 2.6 and 3.2 gpa.
Degree programs have a required set of classes plus electives.
It's not like you can choose "basket weaving" as a core class to have high grades.
Engineering is very competative and staying in the top bracket is important if you want a job with a big company.
In the long-run, creativity, productivity, flexibility, and personality are all that matter. In the short-run, superficial stuff and KPI will matter more than it should.
looking at this from the other direction. A 4.0 in engineering will open up some tasty options that might not otherwise be available to you until you have proven yourself.
GPA is so very important in a concerned employer selection. A well versed employer who looks at a persons GPA I believe, should be head of a high end or very successful company who want to retain their employees. Corporations do look at what the person has accomplished and it should be parlayed against the students personal time. I did have a 3.6 GPA for my Masters Degree from a well known college and I have accumulated a lot of documents that stipulate the kind of person I hopefully tend to portray to others in the job market.
Another words a lower GPA does not exclude a person from a good job but it may exclude the person if GPA is relied upon by a particular interviewer. I have to say that the gift of gab goes a very long way. Confince the interviewer you are the best person and while others may be good you can assure them that your work will mimick corporate goals, mission and vision.
Good luck. Taking the extra step by asking for help means a lot... You just may be the perfect person for the job you may seem to be too far in your mind. Good luck and go in there with the thoughts that someone else already has the job and you need to take it from them.
GPA is not that important. I assume you are referring to someone coming fresh out of college; if talking about second and subsequent jobs, it is completely irrelevant.
I say this as a 15-year engineer who has worked at two very large and respected companies, and done quite a bit of interviewing for new hires.
GPA should be listed on your resume; the only reason I ever brought it up in an interview was if it was very low. More important, by far, is that you have relevant internship or co-op experience, you have good critical thinking and problem solving skills, and that your interpersonal skills will mesh well with the existing employees (i.e. you'd be a good "fit".)
GPA is not that important. I assume you are referring to someone coming fresh out of college; if talking about second and subsequent jobs, it is completely irrelevant.
I say this as a 15-year engineer who has worked at two very large and respected companies, and done quite a bit of interviewing for new hires.
GPA should be listed on your resume; the only reason I ever brought it up in an interview was if it was very low. More important, by far, is that you have relevant internship or co-op experience, you have good critical thinking and problem solving skills, and that your interpersonal skills will mesh well with the existing employees (i.e. you'd be a good "fit".)
I am curious. In today's age of grade inflation, what is considered "low" in engineering. When I got my undergrad degree in engineering 25+ years ago, the mean student carried a B- average, 2.67, despite the school being an elite private university (where presumably grades were biased upwards). Thanks.
Do you know what they call a guy who passes his medical exams with a 70?
"Doctor".
Yes, you can be a doctor or an engineer with just barely passing grades. But would you REALLY want a doctor working on you who just barely passed, or a chem engineer mixing up potentially lethal chemicals who didn't apply himself to his studies? Or an engineer dealing with sewage systems to get the drainage and runoffs right 70% of the time? I don't think so!
I considered anything below about a 2.6 or 2.7 to be low. By and large, most candidates I talked to had GPAs of around 3.0 to 3.5.
That is about what I would have expected. Good. I am glad to hear that grade inflation has not reached the horrible heights seen in other fields.
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