I have a low GPA, now what?!? By: Jun Loayza
Under: Careers, Networking, Now What?, UndergraduateAt least one undergraduate student pulls me aside at each of our events and asks me this question. Each one has a sad but eager look on their face, hoping to hear me say that they are not defeated and that they have a fighting chance.
If you are a 1st or 2nd year, RAISE YOUR GPA! You have plenty of time to take quarters full of units where you’ll be able to raise it in time for recruitment.
If you are a 3rd or 4th year in the heart of recruitment, GPA isn’t everything. You will need to tailor your resume to show how you excel in other areas of your life. Each bullet point on your resume should show either how you can bring value to the company or how you can fit perfectly with their culture.
I know, I know…the above advice is very general: 1) Raise your GPA or do extra-curricular activities; 2) Join clubs, get on board, and get yourself into leadership positions. So what do you do when you have a low GPA and you have no leadership experience?
1. Type a skills set resume
Write up a resume that shows you are valuable through special skills that you possess. You do not have experience so you cannot write an experience resume. For example, if you’re amazing at programming, you can add “programming and coding” as a skill-set. Your bullet points would include: your ability to quickly and efficiently learn new languages, your self-motivation to teach yourself languages that are not taught in your school, your creativity and self-starter mentality to create programs that solve everyday problems.
2. Include life experiences
Include any life experiences on your resume that make you unique. For example, you can include that you have “traveled to 15 different countries” in your resume. Your bullet points would include: your multi-cultural background that has given you the ability to open up and accept everyone for who they are and relate to any person, you ability to think outside of the box because you have experienced and learned from so many different types of cultures, your ability to learn languages easily and efficiently which you can carry over to the company by learning anything they throw your way quickly.
3. Network like crazy!
You cannot get into your company based on your qualifications and experience; however, you CAN get an offer based on your personality and your likeability. Go to every info session, every career fair, and meet every single associate, vice president, and even receptionist of the company you want to work for. Invite them to coffee, lunch, or to a phone meeting in order to show them how you fit perfectly into their company culture. If you get them to like you, they will fight for you come decision time. You can leverage the power of your network to achieve your dream job.
Don’t let a horrible GPA get you down. Life is an attitude, and if you believe that you deserve the job, you will get the job. You just need to work THAT much harder than everyone else.
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