Average grades get average graduate jobs? Nope...

Published 21 April 2011 by Adam Culligan, National University Liaison

I have been getting a number of questions from graduating students regarding “average grades” and which graduate employer should they apply to. I feel your pain as I was a strong student but wasn't always the most committed and as such I finished my degrees with a slightly above average GPA. I knew I had a great deal to offer but had so much more going on outside university that my grades didn’t represent. Now, as you can imagine, graduate employers aren't keen to advertise their willingness to accept average to below average grades. This would open up the floodgates to all manner of grads who applied the ideal that “4’s open doors” and cruised through uni drinking and cramming and drinking and cramming. Graduate jobs will require more than just a cruisy attitude.

What might surprise you is that many graduate employers are happy to accept this (reasonable) academic shortfall should you make up for this in other areas such as professional development and leadership. Having a tremendous repertoire of extracurricular skills shows that while you may not be the most gifted student, you have pursued passions outside the classroom and have committed to becoming a very well rounded student. Don’t confuse this with a green light to scrape through uni and hope to pull the wool over employer’s eyes. Your academic mediocrity needs to be far outweighed by involvement on campus, volunteer or paid work experience in your field, worldly experiences and professional skill development. It’s not good enough to have gone on a Contiki tour for a couple weeks to Bali that you don’t really remember because, well, it was a Contiki tour. Stress your time as captain of your footy team or swim squad; focus on the 6 months you spent at culinary school in Italy; elaborate on your campus involvement and your time as a student mentor. These are all well valued traits that employers are very keen to have on board.

So, my advice to you is rather than search for graduate employers or graduate programs that are looking for average grades, go after the employers that are looking for extraordinary people. Obviously most of the Big 4 and financial services and national engineering firms will be looking for those who have excellent grades, but do a little homework and find the graduate program that fits you best. Most employers will allude to their willingness to surpass grades in their profiles so try to read between the lines. Applications are closing daily so make sure you get in quick!

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