Upcoming Job Interview and want advice on poor GPA questions 5

[newgrad321]

Long story short, I did poorly in undergrad and failed and repeated 5 important classes in my major. I had terrible anxiety and off and on again depression throughout college which was the root of the problem.

I managed to get into grad school and do very well which does undo some of the damage I have from undergrad. The employer has already seen my full transcript and my gpa is also listed on the application.


I want to keep it positive and not say anything too negative. But I also dont want them to suspect that I was just plain lazy or a party animal (which isnt my personality at all). I know better than to say I had anxiety and depression in a job interview because they will be concerned I would be unreliable and its unprofessional to talk about personal problems. I also had family problems but I dont want to mention that obviously either.

Any advice on how I can tactfully address the F's on my transcript if they bring it up without sounding like I am making excuses?

 

[TheBourne]

I graduated with a 2.9/4.33...My tactic is to leave it unsaid but to draw attention to the many A's I got in all my design courses, the competitive team projects we won, and other relevant highlights of my school/employments. I'm a good guy who tried hard but made some sacrifices through school so I did not go completely insane.

Then if it does come up I am honest and tell them I failed a few courses because of the difficulty and ridiculousness of the material/grading. I'd always get A's in labs, homework assignments, and sensible exams, but then when a 50% final rolled around consisting of 2 questions I've never seen before I would often just scribble what I could for part-marks.

 

[Gymmeh]

i got a 2.4/4 and now work with people that all had +3.0...

i got a little lucky along the way but it I have always been asked why my gpa is low...

I did alot of activities some good some not so good...but i point out that my last two years were 3.0's w/ two graduate level classes... which shows I got my S### together.
And I got my F.E.

For some people this works for some people it does not.

Good luck.

 

[SNORGY]

newgrad321:

I think in all of high school, I did a total aggregate of 40 minutes of homework. It wasn't a real "college preparation" experience. Then, I went through a year of college prior to transferring into my degree program to pick up the core curriculum stuff that my high school didn't offer which were prerequisites for admission to engineering. In my first year of college I was about a 3.9/4.0 student; when I transferred to university, that dropped down to 3.5/4.0. So, I concluded that in my second year, I could become a full time athlete. That decision landed me in academic probation in the next year, and pretty much ended my "career" in sports. There were also the typical issues with growing up away from home, putting my way through university with not enough money, living in scuzzy basement suites...you name it. I spent my last two years clawing my way back to respectability after an unsolicited heart-to-heart with the faculty Registrar, who to her credit, cared enough about me to call me into her office to ask what was going on.

It was BTO who said, in song, "What comes too easy is thrown away." Sounds to me like you slogged it out and, despite the setbacks, you got yourself through grad school. Personally, I don't see too much to criticize in that. If I was you, if asked, I would be inclined to just state that you ran into some issues that you had to overcome, which you subsequently *did* overcome. In a sense, that probably gives you some savvy that other people who had an easier time might not have developed.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[kepharda]

I wouldn't be exceptionally concerned about grades.

In my experience (3 different jobs, 8 years out of college) most Managers/Vice Presidents were not straight A students.

Typically I have been hired because I had a BS in Engineering (so they figured I was some combination of smart/hardworking), could carry on a conversion, am usually upbeat and enthusiastic, and a good dose of confidence.

My GPA was 3.2 or so. In my first Job Interview out of college the President of the company asked me about my GPA and said it was lower than the other candidate they were looking at. I got the job anyway and in actuality he had confused me with the other guy,..... I actually had the higher GPA.

this message has been approved for citizen to elect kepharda 2008