The primary purpose of university education is to prepare for, and provide, a research environment. It's not vocational training. It's too bad that (to date, in Canada) that the same value as university training has not yet been applied to skilled-trade fields (e.g. home construction, automobile maintenance). When I was in high school "shop" classes were the corners they shuffled the slow kids into, so they wouldn't effect the evaluation of the more academic courses. See where that kind of idealism leads you? The only people being encouraged to take careers in fixing your car are the ones that were told they were no good at anything. You reap what you sow.Nigel Goodwin said:...so many pick useless degree subjects, with no hope of a job from it.
Hank Fletcher said:The primary purpose of university education is to prepare for, and provide, a research environment. It's not vocational training. It's too bad that (to date, in Canada) that the same value as university training has not yet been applied to skilled-trade fields (e.g. home construction, automobile maintenance). When I was in high school "shop" classes were the corners they shuffled the slow kids into, so they wouldn't effect the evaluation of the more academic courses. See where that kind of idealism leads you? The only people being encouraged to take careers in fixing your car are the ones that were told they were no good at anything. You reap what you sow.
I'm not convinced having a degree in Math, Physics or Chemistry makes it any more likely that you'll get a job than any -ology, but to some extent this is true. A mechanical engineer undergraduate, for instance, stands a better chance of getting a job right out of their last year, in their specialized field, than a musicologist. That kind of context really undermines the purpose of a university education, though, as it also does the value of an entrepreneurial spirit. Someone who really wants to make a living as a musicologist can, possibly even make a great living, just don't expect someone to hand you a position: you'll most likely have to make it yourself.N.G. said:I'm not talking about vocational qualifications as what to go for, but 'proper' degrees like Maths, Physics, Chemistry - even English - but nor Sociology, or pretty well anything with an 'ology' on the end
I guess I was rounding up. Still, apparently a "C" average is good enough to be president in your country, so DigiTan shouldn't give up yet.3v0 said:I was thinking that the GPA was (2.66/4.00) which is a solid C.
Most people know for the most part grades are meaningless so long as you seem competent, and a lot of people don't figure out how to take/and study for exams until its far too late. At the school I got my masters from they had a group of 10 of the top CEOs that had graduated from that school at a luncheon and they were all asked to write down their graduating gpa, the average of the 10 was below 3.0.
3v0 said:I know my position is not a popular one. It is much more comfortable to think the world is fair and there is room in it for each and everyone. People have been saying grades do not matter for a long time. It may be a rumor started by admin types who wanted to keep the kids in school and collect tuition.
The CEO example shows you can make good with a poor GPA. It does not say what your chances of doing so are. Ten CEOs is not exactly a random sample of people with with lack luster GPAs. In todays job market guys with less the a 3.0 may not get an interview. DigiTan's job search supports that.
Grades are meaningless once you have that first job. But getting that job and what it is depends in part on GPA. Why, because all other things being equal why not pick the candidate with the higher GPA. He got that part right.
But as I pointed out in another thread. A turd/bum/dud with a great GPA is still a turd/bum/dud. The GPA will get you to the front of the line of applicants, but it will not get you the job by itself.
Up to now no one has mentioned references.
3iMaJ said:The initial assumption is that its the GPA holding him back could be a very poor one, we don't know the gpa to be the reason for the current results.
Too make the assertion that a better gpa might yield better results is just as useless as making the assertion that a worse gpa would have no significant impact.
Interpreting the results as to say that the GPA has any impact on the choice to interview or not doesn't show anything. There could simply be a misspelling in the resume, or a bad resume. Either are just as likely as the interpretation of gpa.
P.S. All things are never equal.
3v0 said:The GPA is a fact. If there are other problems they compound the problem.
If the resume is rejected because of GPA they are secondary. Even if he gets the interview he already has one strike against him.
Given that the demand for EE's is not great people hiring have many applicants to choose from. Why choose one with a 2.66 when there are 10s or 100s in the 3 to 4 range ? In some companies that resume would never get past human resoures.
The only information we have is his GPA, his past posts, and his website. None of these would lead me to believe he has some basic flaw that would prevent him from being hired.
3v0 said:The GPA is a fact. [delete]
If the resume is rejected because of GPA they are secondary. Even if he gets the interview he already has one strike against him.
Do what you love: it's the best guarantee of getting you to a place of loving what you do.
I guess I was rounding up. Still, apparently a "C" average is good enough to be president in your country, so DigiTan shouldn't give up yet.
Digitan's web site if full of completed projects featuring AVR uC's. A solid guess with be embedded systems.3iMaJ said:I'm curious what his specialty might be.
The circuit board Etchlab Project is the most elaborate project done here since the alarm system that involved projects 5, 7, 11, and 15. The goal is provide a development bed for photo-etchable circuit boards. On completion, the autonomous project will be able to expose, develop, etch, and wash working circuit boards, without human intervention from start to finish. It's a combination of electrical, software, mechanical, thermal, and chemical systems that will make this possible.
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