Interview with Low GPA
I was recently contacted by a firm's HR for a phone interview for a recent graduate position in AM. I have been working for about 1.5 years. The firm also asked for my transcripts as well. I had a low GPA at a top public school and did not disclose the GPA in my resume.
This firm appears to be quite high on academic achievement. For the interview, should I mention my reasons for the low GPA without being prompted (difficult majors, personal reasons, etc)? I understand that most times GPA does not matter after receiving the interview, but having to send transcript after scheduling interview might be a different case.
Thanks in advance for any opinions.
Just say you will bring the transcripts with you to the interview. How low is low? 2.8? 3.3?
If they ask for them, hand them over and then move on. Don't give them reasons or dwell on it. The quicker you move past it in conversation the less they will remember. Then sell yourself after the fact.
Don't put it on your resume, you are sending it already on the transcript. Plus you've already been employed so it matters a little less.
Don't put it on the resume too because if HR looks past the low GPA and lets you come in for an interview then the interviewer won't be staring at your GPA while you talk
Don't apologize for your low GPA
Don't mention it
I agree, use the interview as an opp to sell yourself. Don't dwell on your answer if they ask why your GPA is low. Just answer it quickly and move on.
I graduated with a REALLY low GPA from a (barely) top 100 school. My GPA has NEVER been an issue and only came up recently. The question came up with my last interviewer after several rounds of interviews. I was interviewing with the head of an asset management group for a very large firm. He flat out asked me what my GPA was.
Best advice I can give you is not to lie. If you are applying for a job at a reputable company they will do a background check. It will eventually be verified. I told him the truth and told him it was a combination of having too much on plate during college. I listed all of the leadership positions I held during college, I worked part-time, I mentioned the traveling I did for my fraternity, and I double majored. I told him I focused too much on extracurricular activities and my GPA suffered for it. If you're curious my cumulative GPA was a 2.26. I kept calm, didn't show any discomfort or embarrassment, and gave a complete answer in about 15-20 seconds. Do not take too much time explaining it or it can stay in their mind. Hit it and move on.
He cleared me and the HR recruiter told me that he had requested I work directly supporting his team. He liked that I had experience working in private banking for JP Morgan Chase and that I had created my very own high-yield portfolio for my current employer. Ultimately it was my work experience that I believe overcame my low GPA.
Now, fingers crossed that everything in my background checks out!
Thanks for everyone's comments.
yeahright: My GPA is a 3.2. I did not have my GPA on my resume, but I feel that I will be answering for it since HR had me give them my transcripts.
EMM14: That's a great story. I'm sure everything in your background will check out. Congrats.
you will be fine at 3.2 if you are already interviewing. don't worry about it at all. seriously
FT Interview - will GPA kill me? (Originally Posted: 05/29/2012)
WSO,
Thanks a ton for your help thus far. I got my hands on a final round at an international bank (Credit Suisse, Deutsche, CIBC) and will go in for the interview next week.
The interview shouldn't pose much of a problem but there is one caveat for my candidacy - I have an insanely low GPA (use your imagination; you won't guess wrong). I got my hands on the offer through a lot of application forms and a ridiculous amount of work with headhunters, and the issue never came up until now. They want to see my grades.
From experienced monkeys - assuming my grades are as bad as can be, how fucked may I be? Or is there leeway in accepting candidates with very poor academic performance? Any insight on how I may have even landed this in the first place (might the firm need to fill a position immediately, etc.)? I do have a legitimate reason for poor performance, however garbage grades are still garbage grades.
Thoughts?
When you fill out the online application form, you are supposed to tell your GPA. If you didn't lie, I guess they didn't care much about it. And, if it's 3.0 or above, you are fine
2.0?
I don't really know, but I believe that if you have legitimate reasons for the low grades, you should be fine. Try not to make yourself look like a victim though, try to convey that yes, you did have issues that led to bad grades, but that you are looking at it as a lesson for the future, i.e. how to handle things better and balance priorities better. Show that the experience made you more mature, but you do not regret it because at the time you couldn't have done it any differently given the circumstances.
Live and learn kinda thang.
Good luck bro!
If it comes down to a difficult decision between you and someone else, GPA might come up. But I doubt it. By the time you've been to final rounds, there is enough information from the interviews to trump your resume. You've made it this far, knock it out of the park and leave your GPA behind (until your next job, or your b-school app).
You made it to final rounds- kill it and no one will care about your GPA. I know someone with a 2.8 who did just that and got S&T at a BB. Must have networked his ass off.
This isn't answering your question, but just out of curiosity how did you work with headhunters? I was under the impression they only worked with ppl already into their careers?
Efinancialcareers has a ton of listings and an option to post your resume. I did that and have been contacted by headhunters seeking to fill positions where employers want a specific skill set, such as languages or internship experience.
All my talks with headhunters have been because of a criteria I fit; none are really for analyst programs or include a training period. They want me to "hit the ground running" with some help from other analysts, etc.
Sorry if I'm too vague; I prefer to not give away any details that may be used to identify me.
Can you give a range at least (i.e. 2.0-2.5, 2.5-3.0, etc...) ?
The fact that they didn't ask for grades all the way up to the interview can be a killer. They'll be likely to question you about it, if so play the victim card. Bring up some problems. Admitting you slacked or sucked at your classes will put you out of the running faster than any interview question they throw at you.
That's part of my problem - I don't want to turn the interview into a sob story. I talked to the headhunter recently and she didn't even mention my grades, which scares me into thinking that this could be a giant "what the fuck were we all thinking?" face-palm.
Ideally, it's just a formality so HR has it on file, but I somehow doubt that. It's likely that I meet the whole team during the meeting - someone is bound to bring it up.
I guess opinions on here are consistent with my expectations: man up and treat it like having your junk exposed. I'll report back if I get an offer.
you're doing FT interviews already? Have u already graduated or something?
if you get asked for your GPA during an interview (Originally Posted: 03/23/2011)
what's the best to counter your low gpa for competitive positions?
anyone ever just say the major gpa or your gpa from the final two years? (of course telling them that's the major gpa)
Why don't you take the GPA of all the classes you got an A in?
The more you specify, the weirder it becomes.
you have to give them a compelling reason why you suck at school.. stress EC's and show that you actually had things that hindered the amount of time you could possibly study. but you have to make sure those things outweigh the shitty gpa.
You only have two options if asked: your major gpa or your overall. Anything else is very "Dave Edmonsonish"...
You could say your major Gpa AND overall GPA.... but just saying your major GPA is an obvious mark that your overall one is worse... It's like not including GPA on your resume... they're going to ask you because it's obvious that it wasn't good enough to put on it.
Terrible GPA. Just got an interview. Worried & needs help. (Originally Posted: 10/16/2011)
Hi all,
I chanced upon this forum while doing a Google search and it turned out to be extremely informative with really helpful monkeys around.
A little bit of background of myself, I am graduating next year from a target school. However, I messed up my grades really badly and I am regretting it right now. I applied for several BB banks and I am currently awaiting their replies for a analyst position.
I have an interview scheduled with a BB.
I am rather worried about the fact that I put expected 2nd lower honors in my application, when I am really just bordering on a 3rd. Would my bad grades screw my chances up?
Any form of advice for the upcoming interview would be great as well as I really need this job after graduation.
The grades have already happened. No need to worry about them. Do your best at the other things: knowing the position and company, developing a story about why you're the best candidate for the position, knowing the basic AND the advanced technicals for the position.
If you REALLY need this job then you're probably going to bust your ass to know the above information. Good luck.
Agree with what the post above said above. Just go in there kick ass and you will be fine. Goodluck
Emphasize that you've changed your study habits, evident by being incredibly prepared for the interview, good luck.
thought i'll do a short update on the situation for those are interested:
Went for my interview today, got probed about my interest and passion about the job. I worked really hard on getting my story across to them, and they seem rather pleased with the fact that I am so passionate.
2nd part was mostly competency based, they kept asking similar questions as if they were searching for something in particular. I went on and on about my leadership experience and how I thought out of the box.
Lastly, I ended off by asking about the challenges that the banks are facing, afterwhich they told me that they are looking for a team player and i'll get a call back with feedback soon. So I guess I am fucked lol.
GPA in the Interview Process (Originally Posted: 08/09/2007)
I am currently a management consultant for a strong (albeit, smaller) consulting shop (it is my first full-time job after college). I was contacted recently by a headhunter at a large firm (think Coca-Cola or Toyota) who came across my resume. The headhunter forwarded my resume onto one of the company's internal consulting teams, and the team is, in the headhunter's words, "strongly looking forward" to meeting me.
Only problem is, before I can speak with them, I need to fill out a questionnaire, with one of the questions asking me about my GPA, which was very poor. My GPA wasn't really discussed when I received my first offer. How can I spin this question without an auto-ding?
A little background: I went to a target in a major completely unrelated to business, did very VERY poorly, transfered, and did well (dean's list 3 out of 5 semesters), etc.
Should I mention this on the one-line questionnaire, or should I just give them the information that they're asking for?
Sounds like you're in good shape if they are looking forward to meeting with you. GPA is much more relevant to your first job after college. After that, recruitment is much more experience based.
I wouldn't go out of your way to explain the grades; the people that matter in the decision making process probably won't even see the questionnaire.
Be honest and don't get too worried. I take it your resume doesn't list your gpa (or else disclosing it now wouldn't be an issue). If this is the case, the headhunter and company most likely already assume you have a low gpa (otherwise you would have listed it).
Even though they don't ask for it, you could also list your last 2 years' gpa on the questionnaire next to your cumulative gpa. This will show that you a) made progress/matured and b) have the brainpower to do well.
If they are interested in you mostly because of the body of work you have produced at your first job out of college, I think they will be willing to overlook your low GPA. Once you get out into the job world I don't think that GPA or SAT scores matter that much. It's much more of a "what have you done for me lately" type of attitude. If they like your work as a full-timer in consulting then that will play a far larger role than anything you did in college.
Asked for GPA in interview (Originally Posted: 12/31/2010)
I had an interview with Baird for research. The job posting said 3.5 but I am 30 with a top MBA and ER experience, but the HR lady still asked for my ugrad GPA which was 3.2. Is that a deal breaker for them? I thought it was ridiculous to ask me it, but what choice did I have, i answered the question.
Is the old 3.2 ugrad GPA gonna be a dealbreaker even though it is old and stale? Thoughts??
What a joke, don't have many thoughts, but you are so right. You have an MBA, and I am assuming 'real life experience', so what should it matter what you did ugrad at this point.
well im fucked if this happens to me :> lol
I hear it all the time, both from my manager (10 years out of undergrad) as well as my dad (no comment) and they ask that question just for HR purposes, it will not effect your offer. Don't sweat it.
3.2 or 2.3 it WILL NOT factor into the decision
I got dinged once for a SAT score (High School!!) that was below a firm's standard. Keep in mind I have a solid undergrad GPA, good internships during undergrad and 2+ years work experience at a BB. But nope.... your HS standardized test score is what is relevant!!
I feel for you…. a lot of firms (HR namely) just operate like idiots!
Pretty much
What firm dinged you for your SAT score?
Bridgewater...
What is their SAT requirement?
Where is this? D.E. Shaw?
They asked for GMAT, but no SAT. It was a top mid market bank in the midwest. You can figure it out from that info.
Guy I worked for in the military had to submit HIGH SCHOOL transcripts for a job after spending 20 years in the Marine Corps as an officer. Speechless.
interesting to see the outcome.
Dinging someone for their SAT scores would be like Duke's basketball coach not picking a player because he was mediocre in middle school 6 years earlier.
Makes no sense.
Doesn't matter what makes sense or what doesn't. Top shops such as Bridgewater and DE Shaw will ding you automatically for having subpar SATs and undergrad GPAs regardless of how old you are. I know this from experience. At a certain point, however, it becomes less relevant, but that point is a lot further than you think.
Baird is a joke shop anyway brother.
Unreal, screened out by HR, guess the GPA did mean something. Oh well.
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