TheJobBored.com

Monday’s post about the interview questions Microsoft and Google will hit you with sort of caught my fancy. Just for fun, I started investigating the process of getting hired at high tech companies. I figured, companies like these are on the cutting edge, and they can basically pick and chose who they hire. The workers come to them.

So, I thought that learning a bit more about their processes might help me learn more about where hiring processes are headed in the 21st century. Might have a post on this soon.

For now, though, there’s one thing I can say definitively: in the 21st century, progressive companies are very open about their hiring processes. Want to get a job at Microsoft? Shoot, they have entire websites and page after page posted to give you info on the process. If you have the interest and the time, you can browse around the web and learn just about anything you could want to know about working for Mr. Balmer.

And this is a roundabout way of getting to the point of this post.

On the Microsoft JobsBlog, I found an interesting post about GPAs on resumes. This is obviously a big deal for recent grads and students.

In short: should you put your GPA on your resume? Do GPAs even matter, or is the degree the only important thing? And perhaps most important: can a bad GPA hurt your chances of getting hired?

The post has 3 good rules of thumb that I’ll summarize here:

1. If your GPA is below a 3.0… do NOT put it on your resume.
2. If you did really well in your major but not in your additional classes, then go ahead and put your MAJOR GPA on your resume.
3. Experience is more important than GPA.

I’ll let your click through to the article to read the details.

As for my own summation: Most companies don’t care about the GPA, even if you’re freshly out of school. They’re more interested in the degree achieved and the coursework you were exposed to.

Microsoft, however, is one of those companies that does care. Very much. I’ve read in several places that GPA is one of the first questions they ask, even if you’ve been out of college for 20 years!

And for all recent grads, you can get great resume writing advice for those entering the workforce from a professional resume service.

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3. Don’t Include These Skills On Your Resume
4. Resume Help – Why It’s Necessary, And Where To Get It
5. Ask Brian- Best Resume Tip
6. The Best Resume Writing Tip