It’s finals season, and you’re sitting at your desk, stressed out about those 15 chapters you still haven’t read. Some variation of “why do I even bother?” is probably running through your head right now.
And that’s a good question—how much do grades matter, especially when you’re on the hunt for a decent job?
At the bank
Tricia Levesque, recruitment manager at the Bank of Canada, said they have a certain process they follow when hiring new graduates.
“A hiring manager would contact recruitment and they would establish what their staffing requirement is, and from there, a poster would be developed that would be broadcast or advertised,” she said.
“The poster would contain the key elements of what we’re looking for from a candidate perspective, so in terms of whether it’s a combination of education and experience, any particular other asset and/or requirements,” she explained.
The poster is out for a certain period, during which candidates may apply. After this, there is an interview, a possible skills assessment and second interview, and then references.
“We actively . . . recruit via the co-op program at Carleton for our co-op positions,” she said.
So how do grades factor into their hiring process?
“On the general recruitment side, GPA is not a factor in terms of the hiring process. It really comes down to the most merit-based candidate,” Levesque, said.
If they are hiring out of university placements, Levesque said two of their three placement positions require candidates to submit transcripts.
“That would be our research assistant role and our economist/analyst position . . . hired directly into our economic department,” she said.
“Outside of that, it’s not typically a factor,” she said.
At the hospital
Michelle Johnston Lupien, human resources officer and the sole recruiter at The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), said 
she looks through every single resumé before making a decision, and that grades are not “the ultimate thing” when hiring.
“The selection process at CHEO does not require candidates to submit their grades,” she said.
“As a recruiter, I would have to say that an employee’s grades don’t predict if they will be a successful employee or not,” she added.
Lupien said a “corporate culture fit”—the right attitude, good communication skills, professionalism, being a team player, showing initiative, and family-centred care—is what’s important to CHEO.
“We’re looking at somebody who meets all of the essential requirements for that position, but it is not a grade that’s going to determine for us if this will be a successful hire or not,” she said.
Lupien said if an applicant has all the qualities and requirements they specify, and have passing grades, they “could be even more successful than somebody who has aced everything.”
She said since CHEO is smaller, they can give a lot of time and attention to each candidate who applies.
“I’m taking the time to actually look through someone’s full resume, to get their full picture, not just their education,” she said.
At school
Dave Tait, a journalism professor at Carleton University, said he believes grades have a substantial bearing on what candidates have to offer to employers. He said grades are a reflection of work ethic.
“I think people should strive for good performance,” he said. “I think the grades are a reflection of performance. If we talk about grades . . . on their own, then that’s misleading.”
According to Tait, grades go hand in hand with performance, as they measure how well you’ve done against a series of challenges given to you, in terms of the knowledge you have to learn and the skills you have to master.
“The way that courses measure how well you’ve done that is through grades. It’s not that people should try to get good grades, it’s that people should try and perform as well as they can, especially if they’re trying to build up a track record for getting jobs in the field that they want to pursue.”
Tait said it isn’t worth an employer’s time to look at individual grades, but individual grades do contribute to the big picture they will look at.
“If somebody does well in a program, and they graduate with highest honours or high honours, and that’s on their resume, I think that that counts for something,” he said.
Tait said these distinctions, scholarships, and other awards are what individual grades have accumulated to, and employers pay attention to these details.
“If they were comparing that person to somebody who graduated without some kind of distinction like that, then [the first] person clearly did better,” he said.
Giving references
Tait said during references, a professor may or may not remember much about the actual student, but they can look at their records of grades, individual and overall, and give their overall impression of the student.
He added that if the student has done well in both their practical, professional courses as well as their academic courses, then the employer knows the student manages their time well, that they’re skilled as well as knowledgeable, and are up to any task, whether it interests them or not.
If the student has done well only in certain courses they’re interested in, he said it shows a lack of willingness to do things that may be required, but not as interesting.
“To me, that’s a bad indication,” he said.
“An employer wants somebody who doesn’t just do well on the things that interest them, they [should also] do well on things that they maybe just had to do,” he said.
“The reason people pay you to do jobs is that a lot of it is stuff that you might not want to do, but you have to do it and you have to do it well,” he said.
Tait said despite the fact that you may have done well on a lot of extracurricular activities or courses you’re interested in, your grades in all courses, even the ones you didn’t like, are still your responsibility—you have to do them no matter what. And if you don’t perform well on something you’re responsible for, that’s a bad sign to employers.
A student may also have a job to keep them in university, which Tait said is something that’s part of a student’s central responsibility.
He said this is the essence of what a student should take away from the university experience, and what will help them as they go on to the next step.
The way to find balance between courses and meaningful experiences outside them, he said, is to identify your central responsibility.
“As a student, your central responsibility is to perform well in [your courses], because that’s why [you’re] here.”
“Find out what it takes to do that job well,” he said.
The working Student
For students already mixing work with school, the balance between the importance of grades and experience can be tricky. Kelsae Harding, a second-year business student who works in the human resources department of Statistics Canada, said her grades weren’t a big factor in the hiring process for her job.
“Grades were not as important as my program when I was being hired,” she explained.
Harding added that past work experiences proved more important than grades when her employers considered her for the job. However, Harding said she wasn’t completely unaffected by her marks. Statistics Canada pays student workers based on their year, she said, so if a student fails to complete the right amount of courses to progress to the next year of studies, they are paid less.
“It wasn’t directly my grades . . . But I had to be successful in my studies, I had to go from first year to second year and if I didn’t they might still hire me, but my pay would suffer,” she said.
Harding added that the program and number of years spent in school, university or college, would have the greatest impact on a student seeking employment at Statistics Canada.
“There’s a pay difference between going to university for a four year program and going to college for a three year program,” she said.
Harding said she’s learned that the academic world and the workplace don’t always affect each other as much as students might believe. She said they both challenge her with very different forms of pressure.
“My job is very different from my classes,” she said.
“Coming into university it was all about the marks . . . there’s all kinds of pressure to keep up those marks, but also to have a part time job, to balance out your resume—so there’s immense pressure,” she said.
Though her marks don’t have a huge bearing on her work, Harding said university is still preparing her for the workplace, but mainly through her program and the responsibilities school demands.
“I think what I gain from university is more skills—how to present myself well, how to have time management skills, how to hand stuff in,” Harding explained.
“The difference between me getting an A, a B, or a C is not necessarily reflective of how well I do my job,” she explained.
“I might be a great hire, so if there’s a couple C’s on my transcript it’s not going to hurt me.”
