[General Battuta]

I think the probability that you are covering because you screwed up severely somewhere on your academic track is higher.

[Unknown Target]

Um...ok? If you want to debate my academic transcript, please take it to PM. I personally feel that I have said all that is necessary on the topic.

EDIT: Now back on topic for the rest of us...does anyone else have any more job hunting tips for folks? One thing I'd suggest is definitely talk to grad students. They're the ones with the *in* degree right now (basically what a bachelor's used to be), and are in reasonable demand. Talk to them about maybe scoring you a job.

[Bob-san]

Professional certifications may be a great route in as well for most industries. Most require a Bachelor's degree or field experience, some require both. Others may require a graduate degree plus experience. Regardless, having something to append to your name puts you on the top of the pile for related positions.

[StarSlayer]

You should probably deal with the fact that your GPA sucked instead of trying to turn it into a moral thing

I've made the dean's list a few years running now. I also care about principles and morals. Cheers.

Yeah, if you haven't been interning and accruing experience in the field then your college performance is the only thing prospective employers have to evaluate your ability to do the job.  Make no mistake companies do not owe you employment, they are looking for the best candidate to fill the position, your're not entitled to one just because you went to college.  If you have a stick up your ass about giving them the information they need to decide whether or not you are worth hiring then you need to work that out of your system PDQ.  That or you can keep up the Henry David Thoreau vibe.

[Grizzly]

-Has already been said in a much better way with a lot more arguments etc.-

[Grizzly]

It might just be a good idea, by instead of saying: "You can't do this!" ask: Why do you do this, because I don't feel right about it.

That way you can actually learn, gain understaing of others, and gain understanding of yourself and improve yourself.

[BlueFlames]

You should probably deal with the fact that your GPA sucked instead of trying to turn it into a moral thing

I've made the dean's list a few years running now. I also care about principles and morals. Cheers.

The thing is, such a patent refusal to reveal your GPA will lead prospective employers to the same assumption that Battuta made.  Couple this with the fact that you've probably been at university longer than any individual job you've had, and your studies might well be the only thing you've done in your specific field, and this assumption that you're hiding your GPA because it's low becomes the only thing a hiring manager has by which to judge your ability.

Yes, it sucks that you spend three to five years working your tail off to generate one number that's supposed to aggregate all of your accomplishments, but until you have extensive experience in the field, that number is your biggest advocate.  The reason it's your biggest advocate is because it is the quickest, easiest way for hiring managers to compare applicants for entry-level positions.  When you've got a ream of résumés coming in from fresh graduates, you want to see the GPA to get a sense of which candidates are worth investing the time to view their portfolios and/or bring in for interviews.  Most companies, especially with unemployment hovering around ten percent, don't have the available man-hours to interview every candidate, so GPA becomes a heuristic to select candidates investigate further.  Yes, some good candidates get eliminated at this stage, and some bad candidates sneak through to the interview step, but it's a matter of practicality, not principle.

I really do understand where you're coming from, but you've got to consider the issue from the perspective of the hiring company as well.

[Nuclear1]

I think the probability that you are covering because you screwed up severely somewhere on your academic track is higher.

trolololol

[Bobboau]

keep in mind you are in competition with a large number of people, you need to pull every advantage you can at every stage of the game.

[jr2]

That and the company might suspect that your GPA is low because you didn't try and went out and got wasted ~ missed tests ~ showed up late to class, not because you were bored out of your mind and your classes had you mindlessly computing and spewing meaningless (to you at that time) data instead of applying it.

How is the hiring company supposed to know that you are one and not the other?  If they hire you and you are a (to them) worthless slob, that's a ton of money and resources + unemployment when they fire you, straight down the toilet.

For them, the risk of hiring you if you are a bad employee far outweighs (because of the percentage of 'bad' aka loss-incurring employees to 'good' aka profitable ones that they might run across) the potential benefits if you are a brilliant, hard-working person who was just bored in university.

HR's job as the gate-keeper in the hiring process is to screen the companies from loss and bring in people who will increase the company's revenue, and they are trying to do just that.

[bobbtmann]

It's okay to stand up for what you believe in (not handing over GPA's). It might count as a black mark against you, but probably not unsurmountable. Your response, in my view, was the clincher.

It might not have been the end of the line for you, not having your GPA. But responding in a that aggressive manner gives a bad impression of your personality. I would suggest that if you do avoid sending your GPA, then be polite about it. It can't hurt.