Getting Employment with Low-ish College GPA?

[metalwater]

Yes, I am very interested in investing. Saving is critical too lest you blow your whole paycheck. Dave Ramsey is good for that

at your age now. do exactly what Ramsey tells. you will for sure be in the top 1% before you are 40.

 

[AAAgent]

Maybe someone in here can tell me if this is true... But for Google internships my friend was telling me how they had about 4 rounds. You have to solve a problem, and it has to hit some Big O value. If it's slower than that, you're OUT. Disqualified.

You really really have to know your stuff in these technical interviews I suppose lol.

Can confirm they have this type of question.

It's not if you answer a questions too slow, but they give you a lot of coding questions and even ask you to code during the interview. There are sometimes "questions" where they ask you to code a program and make it a certain time/speed and if it's slower than that you fail the question.

 

[Stoic]

Pretty sure I read this in millionaire next door.

Average grade for millionaires were b-

 

[nicksaiz65]

Okay guys... so I have good news and somewhat crazy news involving this thread.

The good news is that I actually sat down and calculated with my advisor what my GPA would be if I were to make all As and Bs the remainder of my last two school semesters. It came out all the way to a 3.1, which is a good GPA. It makes my initial post kind of meaningless lol.

Secondly... I know that this is NOT the best financial decision especially considering that I will be in student debt, but I'm actually thinking about becoming a full time musician with my band after I graduate college. My reasons being that I would get to tour around the United States playing music pretty much all year, along with working local shows.

Due to tours, I would be on the road all the time. So it turns out that I would indeed have to choose between music and programming. The ideal situation would be do both but I don't think that's feasible considering we'd be touring during the week.

If I do this, I would definitely still want to be a professional programmer at some point. It'd probably be later in my life. But no matter what happens, I will still have that Computer Science degree so that's good. I'd need to keep programming for sure because technology changes fast.

I'm enticed because:
1.) I want to fulfill my music dream
and
2.) Can you imagine how many women I would meet on tour, going around the United States playing bars and festivals? It'd be absolutely crazy. I would be able to go so hard.
3.) I'd get to spend another 6 months in my college town. That buys me EVEN MORE time to erase my screw ups in that area.

So purpose and game would be fulfilled. I'm strongly considering it...

I wouldn't be rich though. So I'd have to flex on the world in other ways, like through bodybuilding and banging a ton of women or something like that lol.

But I want to know what you all think. Thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Von]

I really needed this post.

I've quit my business/finance job.

Now looking to do a accouting degree and learn coding.. Work in Institutional Finance or Video Game design/production.

 

[Von]

Pretty sure I read this in millionaire next door.

Average grade for millionaires were b-

There a joke in the law field.

A lawyer = federal judge
B lawyer = corporate judge
C lawyer = making all the money

 

[nicksaiz65]

I wrote this thread when I was in a much rougher place mentally. But I thought I would bump it.

My GPA coming out of college was what, a 2.7? But I used the connections I had to get an engineering job one month out of college. They literally didn’t even ask about my GPA.

I’d call that a success!

 

[nicksaiz65]

No worries.

1) Pension, nearly unlimited growth and educational options, GI Bill, VA loans, etc. I for one recommend Air Force; but I am a little jaded there.
2) Focus on # 1, the other things will most likely not make you any money.
3) Stick to the purpose which will support your life style as priority # 1. The other ones can be used for entertainment and blowing off steam.
4) Focus on CS. The other stuff, while fun, isn't profitable or sustainable financially.

Post leaving my old band: I also want to add the point that sadly, I don’t think it’s possible to pursue a very high level with a band gig(like I was trying to do at the time) and be an engineer concurrently. Even with remote work, I just don’t think it’s possible.

This is Due to Several Reasons:
Having two demanding jobs like that is extremely exhausting. You’re working engineering during the week and then band gigs on the weekend. You end up burning out because you really have no time to relax at all.

Getting off work late, not to mention if you need to stay over, makes it difficult to arrange practices at a reasonable time. Not to mention, you’re usually toasted after engineering work anyways.

It isn’t feasible to go on a two week music tour with a full time job, even with remote work. It can be done as a student(barely) but not with a full time job.

They say that you work 40 hours a week, but when
you factor in the after work activities/commutes and any extra time that you need to stay caught up on work, I think it’s actually closer to 50-60 hours a week. This makes it extremely difficult to practice and arrange music like you need to do when you’re in a band. The only time that you could realistically do it is the weekend: but you have shows then, so at that point it’s too late for practice or arranging.

You’re making all this money from these two jobs: but you never get a chance to use it, run game, or anything because you’re just so impossibly busy.

——————————
That being said, I think I made the right choice and engineering is definitely the way to get the lifestyle I’m aiming for. I’m likely going to play with a symphony orchestra that only meets on Sundays for practices in the future. I’m even content with just playing and practicing for fun while doing the engineering.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Okay guys... so I have good news and somewhat crazy news involving this thread.

The good news is that I actually sat down and calculated with my advisor what my GPA would be if I were to make all As and Bs the remainder of my last two school semesters. It came out all the way to a 3.1, which is a good GPA. It makes my initial post kind of meaningless lol.

Secondly... I know that this is NOT the best financial decision especially considering that I will be in student debt, but I'm actually thinking about becoming a full time musician with my band after I graduate college. My reasons being that I would get to tour around the United States playing music pretty much all year, along with working local shows.

Due to tours, I would be on the road all the time. So it turns out that I would indeed have to choose between music and programming. The ideal situation would be do both but I don't think that's feasible considering we'd be touring during the week.

If I do this, I would definitely still want to be a professional programmer at some point. It'd probably be later in my life. But no matter what happens, I will still have that Computer Science degree so that's good. I'd need to keep programming for sure because technology changes fast.

I'm enticed because:
1.) I want to fulfill my music dream
and
2.) Can you imagine how many women I would meet on tour, going around the United States playing bars and festivals? It'd be absolutely crazy. I would be able to go so hard.
3.) I'd get to spend another 6 months in my college town. That buys me EVEN MORE time to erase my screw ups in that area.

So purpose and game would be fulfilled. I'm strongly considering it...

I wouldn't be rich though. So I'd have to flex on the world in other ways, like through bodybuilding and banging a ton of women or something like that lol.

But I want to know what you all think. Thoughts would be appreciated.

And none of this happened at all. I like the ambition I had at the time tho

 

[SW15]

I'm in Marketing. Marketing is extremely layoff prone, regardless of economic conditions.

There's very little longevity in marketing positions. A 5 year stint at a company in a marketing role is considered impressive.

Average CMO Tenure Holds Steady at Lowest Level in Decade

A study from executive search firm Spencer Stuart also shows women made up more than half of CMOs at 100 major ad spenders.

www.wsj.com

.

In 2021, the average duration for employment as a Chief Marketing Officer at a Top 100 ad spending firm was 40 months and median duration was 28 months. That's just over 3 years and 2 years respectively.

The key detail there is Top 100 ad spenders. The 2020 list of Top 100 ad spenders is below..

The Top US Advertisers at Adbrands.net

The Top Advertisers in the US

www.adbrands.net

I think the tenure statistics for marketers who are mid-level managers and individual contributors are similar if not worse. Same for firms outside the Top 100 in ad spending.

My GPA coming out of college was what, a 2.7? But I used the connections I had to get an engineering job one month out of college. They literally didn’t even ask about my GPA.

I have a BA degree in a liberal arts field and an MBA from a non top 25 school.

If you consider my job searches immediately following each of those graduations, very few potential employers asked about my GPA. I tend to think GPA isn't as much of a factor as students are led to believe.

Yes, you learned that GPA isn't that big of a deal. Few employers ask about it. Using connections makes things easier. It's a lot like mating. Using connections to get a job is like using your social circle to get dates & get laid.

 

[f(x)]

Those coding interviews can be brutal. I’ve taken a few on code signal and codility. I get one hour to solve 4 problems that I would have had a week to solve in school. Had to answer within certain O time constraints and other obscure requirements I have not seen since my ds/algo courses. And, no googling.

Some people tell me their coding assessment only involved writing pseudocode on paper or some sort of take home assignment. Have not had one of those interviews yet.

I’m also becoming aware of applicant tracking software and how to write resumes to avoid automated deletion so that a person actually sees it.

I’ve been improving my knowledge of certain languages and the tech involved and getting some certifications. Also trying to stay consistent on leetcode.

To anyone still enrolled in a CS program, my advice would be to grind leetcode, build a network, GET AN INTERNSHIP LinkedIn has a ton of postings.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

This year, I told myself that I would fix everything that I've done wrong in my life. One major thing that I need to do is graduate college, have that degree with my name on it. I want to show the world that Computer Science is indeed for me, and I CAN have a career in that field. I was struggling with college a lot, but I'm getting things turned around and getting my life together. My GPA by the time I graduate college will be around a 2.8. No lower than that for sure. Pretty decent GPA, nothing amazing though.

I was wondering, will this GPA screw me out of getting work? I do have internship experience as well. And I'm aware that you just need to get one job: after that you can erase your GPA off your resume forever.

I found this quote on College Confidential while I was doing some research:

"
I posted this a long time ago, I'll post it again:

To the extent that finding a job is a function of GPA (and it is a function of much, much more), for schools ranked roughly in the 10-50 range:

3.50+: Can work anywhere, and will be actively pursued for the best jobs out there
3.20-3.49: Can work anywhere, but will need to work to get the best jobs
3.00-3.19: Can work anywhere, but will generally be shut out of the best jobs
2.80-2.99: Will struggle to find work at large companies, can generally find work at smaller employers
2.50-2.79: Will struggle to find professional work, and such work will generally be low-paying and/or unpleasant, with limited prospects for advancement
2.00-2.49: Probably will not find professional employment in engineering
"

So the ideal strat for me would to be to work at a smaller programming company, erase my GPA, become a wizard programmer, keep paying off my debts, and then work my way into whatever companies I desire from there.

Have any of you all found this to be true? Just wanted to get some more opinions from the guys around here.

Nobody cares about GPA. Only the piece of paper that you have a degree. Never one time have I been asked in an interview what my GPA was.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Those coding interviews can be brutal. I’ve taken a few on code signal and codility. I get one hour to solve 4 problems that I would have had a week to solve in school. Had to answer within certain O time constraints and other obscure requirements I have not seen since my ds/algo courses. And, no googling.

Some people tell me their coding assessment only involved writing pseudocode on paper or some sort of take home assignment. Have not had one of those interviews yet.

I’m also becoming aware of applicant tracking software and how to write resumes to avoid automated deletion so that a person actually sees it.

I’ve been improving my knowledge of certain languages and the tech involved and getting some certifications. Also trying to stay consistent on leetcode.

To anyone still enrolled in a CS program, my advice would be to grind leetcode, build a network, GET AN INTERNSHIP LinkedIn has a ton of postings.

Yeah they can be...one time the coding part on codility was 2 hours long and I literally fixed what they asked me to solve in like 30 seconds. It was to fix the code because there was a mistake preventing it from running properly.

I figured this was some sort of trick and that there HAD to be something else in there that was wrong...spent another 45 minutes going over everything and couldn't find anything else wrong so I just submitted it, sure that I was going to fail due to whatever trick they put in there to trip people up.

But nope...got a call back and they said I did well on the coding interview and I was like that was the easiest thing I ever had to do and took me like 30 seconds but I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out what the catch was...he laughed and said they simply wanted to weed out people who had no skills for the job.

This was for a Mid Level job paying over 100K. I got the job and worked there over two years before switching jobs for a higher paying one.

So yes...sometimes they can be hard but other times they are really easy.

And in the job I have now I didn't even take a coding interview, just talked about what I had done at other places with a few of the developers and IT manager...obviously they knew I knew my stuff, which honestly makes more sense than coding interviews in my opinion.

As a software engineer, you know who knows their sh!t and who is flying by the seat of their paints when you ask anything more than a surface level question and start going deeper.

From my experiences, companies outside of the FAANG ones are moving away from coding interviews and more towards technical interviews because coding interviews are not proving effective at making good hiring decisions...anyone can study for a week or two to pass a coding interview but still not really have a good understanding of how things actually work from an overall architecture standpoint.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Average CMO Tenure Holds Steady at Lowest Level in Decade

A study from executive search firm Spencer Stuart also shows women made up more than half of CMOs at 100 major ad spenders.

www.wsj.com

.

In 2021, the average duration for employment as a Chief Marketing Officer at a Top 100 ad spending firm was 40 months and median duration was 28 months. That's just over 3 years and 2 years respectively.

The key detail there is Top 100 ad spenders. The 2020 list of Top 100 ad spenders is below..

The Top US Advertisers at Adbrands.net

The Top Advertisers in the US

www.adbrands.net

I think the tenure statistics for marketers who are mid-level managers and individual contributors are similar if not worse. Same for firms outside the Top 100 in ad spending.





Yes, you learned that GPA isn't that big of a deal. Few employers ask about it. Using connections makes things easier. It's a lot like mating. Using connections to get a job is like using your social circle to get dates & get laid.

Yeah, it was just as you all said. They were more interested in programming projects I had done outside of school, and my portfolio. Along with a few technical questions and the general interview questions. So I appreciate you all for telling me over and over to work on that portfolio. It paid off

It kind of is like social circle. It all comes back to dating somehow lol

I never really posted about this, but this is an absolute win. One of the things that gave me distress in college was how I was fvcking up in these classes and I thought it would haunt me forever. But now that I have experience, no one will ask about that. It’s all about what I know.

No employer will ever be like, “Hey remember in junior year of college when you got fvcked over by Assembly?”

So those mistakes are basically wiped clean from my slate. That’s great.

 

[SW15]

@nicksaiz65 — Technical questions are normal. Some companies do behavioral questions in business job function interviews. Behavioral questions are common in Marketing. There are also case interviews where you are given hypothetical case details prior to an interview & you present a case as part of your interview. Case interviews are most common in for consulting roles. I’ve seen the case interview in Marketing though.

I graduated 14 years ago with my MBA. The recent interviews have mostly been surrounding my experience though I still will get behavioral questions. When you get behavioral questions as a more experienced professional, you can cite behaviors you exhibited during your years of working experience.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Those coding interviews can be brutal. I’ve taken a few on code signal and codility. I get one hour to solve 4 problems that I would have had a week to solve in school. Had to answer within certain O time constraints and other obscure requirements I have not seen since my ds/algo courses. And, no googling.

Some people tell me their coding assessment only involved writing pseudocode on paper or some sort of take home assignment. Have not had one of those interviews yet.

I’m also becoming aware of applicant tracking software and how to write resumes to avoid automated deletion so that a person actually sees it.

I’ve been improving my knowledge of certain languages and the tech involved and getting some certifications. Also trying to stay consistent on leetcode.

To anyone still enrolled in a CS program, my advice would be to grind leetcode, build a network, GET AN INTERNSHIP LinkedIn has a ton of postings.

I’ve heard freaking horror stories about those coding interviews man. Honestly, I really got off the hook with mine. They didn’t even press me super hard.

So automated deletion is real? I thought that was just a myth.

Sheesh, it makes me want to stay with my current company for a while. On top of that, this 4/10 schedule is absolutely Godly. Makes gaming on the weekends super easy.

Speaking of certifications: I am Security+ certified, as that was a requirement to get this job. But my company has a program where I can get ANY certification that I want. If I pass it on the first try, I get completely reimbursed by the company. Meaning, assuming I don’t fail, I can get any cert I want for free.

I’d be a fool to not take advantage of that and milk it as much as I can, right? Sometimes, I think that I’m sick and freaking tired of memorizing stuff and getting tested on it. But sometimes I also think that’s just life lol.

I apologize if I’ve asked this before, I’m typing this on my lunch break and didn’t have time to read the old posts. But other than Crack the Coding Interview and leet code, is there anything that I can do to prepare for these coding interviews from hell? I want to be super, Ultra, mega prepared, and give myself plenty of time to do so.

I couldn’t agree with you more on the internship. I had one, though I am aware that some people have had two. Having that internship helped me so much.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Nobody cares about GPA. Only the piece of paper that you have a degree. Never one time have I been asked in an interview what my GPA was.

It didn’t even go on my resume bro, and it definitely never will now

 

[nicksaiz65]

Yeah they can be...one time the coding part on codility was 2 hours long and I literally fixed what they asked me to solve in like 30 seconds. It was to fix the code because there was a mistake preventing it from running properly.

I figured this was some sort of trick and that there HAD to be something else in there that was wrong...spent another 45 minutes going over everything and couldn't find anything else wrong so I just submitted it, sure that I was going to fail due to whatever trick they put in there to trip people up.

But nope...got a call back and they said I did well on the coding interview and I was like that was the easiest thing I ever had to do and took me like 30 seconds but I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out what the catch was...he laughed and said they simply wanted to weed out people who had no skills for the job.

This was for a Mid Level job paying over 100K. I got the job and worked there over two years before switching jobs for a higher paying one.

So yes...sometimes they can be hard but other times they are really easy.

And in the job I have now I didn't even take a coding interview, just talked about what I had done at other places with a few of the developers and IT manager...obviously they knew I knew my stuff, which honestly makes more sense than coding interviews in my opinion.

As a software engineer, you know who knows their sh!t and who is flying by the seat of their paints when you ask anything more than a surface level question and start going deeper.

From my experiences, companies outside of the FAANG ones are moving away from coding interviews and more towards technical interviews because coding interviews are not proving effective at making good hiring decisions...anyone can study for a week or two to pass a coding interview but still not really have a good understanding of how things actually work from an overall architecture standpoint.

Other than applying myself at my job obviously, what can I do to be one of the engineers who knows their sh!t instead of one of the ones flying by their pants?

And I’ll ask the same question, what can I do to be mega prepared for these coding interviews? When I move to a big city(maybe in 3 years time?) I’ll have to take one.

I actually have a friend(I’ll keep him anonymous of course) who worked at Amazon doing software. For him, he said it wasn’t even worth all the money he was making. He felt like he was in hell because the culture was so bad and cutthroat. One of the main things he mentioned was that how everyone was working from home in secret, and acting like they weren’t to get that promotion. Toxic af. And, there was like no documentation and people weren’t willing to help you is what he said.

He actually switched to another FAANG company. He’s a lot happier now.

I mean, I have to bring my work home sometimes too. But that’s because programming doesn’t come effortlessly to me, and I do that to keep working at a good clip.

Stories like that make me wonder if I should set my ambition to working at a FAANG company or not…

 

[nicksaiz65]

@nicksaiz65 — Technical questions are normal. Some companies do behavioral questions in business job function interviews. Behavioral questions are common in Marketing. There are also case interviews where you are given hypothetical case details prior to an interview & you present a case as part of your interview. Case interviews are most common in for consulting roles. I’ve seen the case interview in Marketing though.

I graduated 14 years ago with my MBA. The recent interviews have mostly been surrounding my experience though I still will get behavioral questions. When you get behavioral questions as a more experienced professional, you can cite behaviors you exhibited during your years of working experience.

I only got a couple of those. Due to my connections, they knew my professors, and even the people I interned with, they went very easy on me in my interview.

Yeah, that’s where all that working experience comes in handy, no matter the field. The MBA helps too for you of course.

 

[RickTheToad]

Self-employment and side hustles may be your best option. If you're good with your hands, ASE cert. mechanics make $$$. Very much in demand.