SINGAPORE: A Singaporean university student about to graduate this December worries about how his GPA might affect his chances of landing a job in the tech industry with more than a S$6K salary.
On Saturday (Feb 1), he posted on Reddit’s ‘Ask Singapore’ forum, explaining that he’s graduating with a third-class engineering degree and aiming for a tech industry job with a starting salary above $6,000.
“I know that ‘barely 3rd class’ & ‘more than 6k’ starting don’t align, especially in this market, but the reason why I’m looking for more than 6k is ‘cause for my next internship, I received multiple offers, and every one of them offered more than 6k for their internship, so it wasn’t a one-off scenario,” he wrote. “Conversion from the internship is ideal, but I’m not going to bank on that and start the job search soon since I’m graduating in Dec,” he added.
The student also mentioned that his portfolio and resume are ‘pretty strong,’ which played a significant role in helping him land multiple internship offers. However, despite those strengths, he’s still deeply concerned about his GPA. He has two more semesters left to raise his grades, but he confessed that he has zero interest in his course of study.
“I have 0 interest in this course. I took it ‘cause [I had] no choice, it was the only one who accepted me, and forcing myself to study every sem gets me the same results,” he said.
“I know that some companies’ HR do filter out by GPA, but many of the companies that interviewed or offered me roles have reputations for GPA filtering, hence portfolio > GPA?”
At the end of his post, he sought advice from the Reddit community, asking whether he should adjust his salary expectations because of his GPA. He also asked if using his internship salary as a reference point when negotiating a full-time position would be acceptable.
“If you can secure a S$6k job as an intern, what makes you think you can’t secure a S$6k full-time job?”
In the comments section, Singaporean Redditors assured the student that his portfolio and skills would carry more weight than his GPA, especially in the tech industry.
One user explained, “My own logic is if there’s a company that hires solely based on GPA, it also means it’s a very old-fashioned company. government, etc. included. And if anyone thinks that you need a GPA solely to succeed, it’s a curse to make you go further. Because by the time you get into the real world to work, there are no such metrics anymore. Maybe the army has.”
Another shared, “The only place that has ever asked me for my GPA was on the Careers@Gov portal. This was 8 years into my career, and I had to dig out my transcript to confirm my GPA (who remembers by that point). Third-class honours are available as well; [I] never put it on [my] CV, and [I] was never asked, even as a fresh grad. Then again, the starting salary was nowhere near $6k, so take my experience with a grain of salt, lol.”
A third wrote, “If you can secure a S$6k job as an intern, what makes you think you can’t secure a S$6k full-time job? In addition, you can always ask for referrals if you want to pass the HR screening.”
Does your GPA matter?
According to Indeed, employers tend to care more about your GPA when you’re applying for your first job after school. Since you might not have much relevant work experience, employers often use your GPA to gauge your potential to do the job.
However, it should be noted that your GPA is not the only thing they’ll be looking at. They will also consider the experiences on your resume, like internships, part-time jobs, volunteer work, and leadership roles that you’ve held as a student.
If you’re uncomfortable including your GPA on your resume, you can opt not to include it unless the potential employer specifically requests it.
If you think there’s a chance you’ll be asked about your GPA during the interview, it’s a good idea to prepare an explanation. Be ready to talk about any academic difficulties you’ve faced and how you’ve worked to overcome them.
Employers will appreciate your initiative and willingness to improve yourself when necessary.
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)