The importance of grades to Canadian, U.S., U.K. employers
By Brian Kreissl
With the debate raging about the value of a university education, many people are also starting to question the importance of getting good grades. The debate centres around whether it’s more important to have solid academic results or work experience, part-time employment, extracurricular activities and good social skills.
While there will always be situations where high marks are important — competitive graduate programs like law, medicine or MBA programs come to mind — I believe academic results aren’t nearly as important as some people make them out to be. In particular, few employers seem to care much about academic results, especially after a candidate has several years of work experience.
Experience is pretty much always going to trump education, as long as the candidate has met the role’s minimum educational requirements. I also believe Canadian employers are generally less obsessed with graduates’ marks than their counterparts in the United States or the United Kingdom.
‘Class’ of degree important in U.K.
I remember as a recent U.K. university graduate being surprised how many organizations required either a first class honours or upper second class honours degree (2:1) to even be considered for their graduate recruitment programs. And some organizations had special “fast track” programs for those with high marks and less ambitious programs for people with lower second class (2:2), third class honours or pass degrees.
As a Canadian, it seemed odd to me companies would pigeonhole people like that (and be so open about it). But I suppose being concerned with one’s “class” of degree might even be an extension of the British class system in some ways.
As discussed previously, part of this issue likely relates to the fact very few working class Brits traditionally went to university or even considered it an option worth pursuing. Because of that, 20 years ago in the U.K. there was still at least some vestiges of the idea university graduates were somehow “elite” candidates (the idea having long since vanished in North America).
But there are some signs that’s changing, with more people in the U.K. attending university (in spite of massive tuition fee hikes in England) and evidence of somewhat lower standards, with more graduates obtaining first class honours degrees. Nevertheless, the recent comments of one U.K. advertising executive, while somewhat tongue-in-cheek, were refreshing in their candour.
According to Rory Sutherland, vice-president at marketing, advertising and public relations firm Ogilvy & Mather, there is no evidence to suggest graduates with top results make better employees, and in fact, the opposite just may be true.
Calling some top students “obsessive weirdos,” Sutherland asked in a column published in The Spectator about universities today: “Where are all the hippies, the potheads and the commies? And why is everyone so intently serious and sober all the time? ‘Oh, it’s simple,’ a friend explained. ‘If you don’t get a 2:1 or a first nowadays, employers won’t look at your CV.’”
He also jokingly suggested his firm’s recruitment advertising could ask: “Headed for a 2:2 or a third? Finish your joint and come and work for us.”
While I’m not condoning substance abuse or poor study habits among students — nor am I trying to stereotype top students as “geeks” or antisocial weirdos — Sutherland seems to have a point, especially working in a creative field like advertising, where “book smarts” don’t count for everything. All else being equal, I’m sure most employers would still prefer a candidate with high marks over someone with mediocre grades, but there is a growing realization grades aren’t everything.
Less importance on grades in Canada
Yet I suspect this is something most Canadian employers have known for a while. Rarely, if ever, have I been asked about my grades in an interview. Employers always seemed more interested in my experience — sometimes to my annoyance when my educational credentials were actually more impressive.
Even in the U.S. there was often a focus on graduating with a high GPA — preferably from an Ivy League university. However, that’s changing now too amid the growing backlash against higher education due to rapidly declining return on investment and skyrocketing tuition fees.
Perhaps that’s why Google recently announced it would be giving less weight to most applicant’s academic results during the recruitment process. That and the fact Google found academic performance had little correlation with on-the-job performance, as well as academia being a somewhat artificial environment.
Brian Kreissl is the managing editor of Consult Carswell. He can be reached at [email protected]. For more information, visit www.consultcarswell.com.
