How important are grades and university prestige in landing an engineering job?

[land_of_ice]

go to an average 4 year college like the University of Santa Barbara , and have grades of C and just a few A's or B's , as opposed to if you have all A's and are going to Berkley ?

Really curious about how employers view grades and what school you went to in making a hiring decision

 

[TMFKAN64]

Grades *are* important when you are fresh out of school, largely because there is no other way to evaluate you. School name is probably a factor, albeit less than you would probably think.

Once you have a few years experience, no one cares about your grades in college.

But yes, an A student from Berkeley is going to have a much easier time getting a job than a C+ student from UCSB. This can't possibly surprise you.

 

[Nick M]

I think the more interesting question to ask is how employers stack a C student from a "Top 10" school versus an A student from your-state U.

Experience you gain through part-time work, internships, and co-op programs makes a huge difference as well. If you've worked for a company already and have developed yourself there (in a good way), you have everything over a 4.0 student from MIT even if you "scrape through" with a 3.0 from your-state U. Get experience, develop professional and personal relationships at these companies, and more likely than not others won't even see the job offer which will simply be extended to you.

 

[lisab]

Grades *are* important when you are fresh out of school, largely because there is no other way to evaluate you. School name is probably a factor, albeit less than you would probably think.

A follow up to that point: yes, grades (and reputation of your school) may be a factor in getting your first job. But when looking for your second job, no one asks about grades, in my experience. As you progress in your career, industry contacts and your reputation in your field become much more important in landing subsequent jobs.

Obviously, your first job may not be your dream job (I think this surprises a lot of new grads!). Just buckle down and pay your dues, even if your job is humble, and be ready to jump when an opportunity comes along.

 

[calimechengr]

I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering with a GPA just below 3.0. I managed to land a job after college, but I had toendure several job interviews that resulted in rejection letters as a result of a low GPA. However, the job that I landed took into consideration my marketable job skills: 2D and 3D modeling, experience working in a machine shop, a one year internship as a drafting assistant, and working on a unique design project.

For some companies, academic performance is a major factor in determining a potential employee's work habits and focus. For others, they look for experience and how your skills can benefit the company.

 

[Major_Energy]

If it makes you feel better I graduated with a 2.1 GPA in engineering (Rounded up from 2.09). I went to a top 20 ranked University however.

I had a lot of project management experience though in internships and school. As others have said, some employers place more wieght on GPA, others on skills, and to a lesser extent, on university.

I received a few rejection letters for GPA, others didn't even ask. I was hired by a company that needed my project management skills.

What was interesting, a few years later (after graduation), I was reviewing bids for a project for my company. I had to analyze them and make a recommendation to my boss. One of the proposals was from a company (written by the same guy) that rejected me on GPA a few years earlier, (I kept all my rejection letters it helps me see trends).

I joked with my boss about it (and recommended the company they were good and competitive) and he put me as the project lead for them. I brought it up with the guy and he said they went through two recent graduates in the time span that passed since then.

I guess the moral of the story is things work out eventually. (Don't take this as getting crappy grades in school is good however, because it does limit opportunities - no questions there), but it is not the End of the World (tm). Keep your head up learn from mistakes and do better next time. Don't quit, or worse - give up.