4 ms·

Would you consider applicants that started off with a bad GPA in math and computer science courses but then made significant improvements as they progressed?

• analogkid 7y ago
  The answer is Yes. People have things going on in their lives, so I prefer to not look at a college transcript until after I do a phone interview and have a sense of who they are now. I have passed on people who did OK in everything but the transcript was a mess. I have overlooked a weak transcript if someone has some years of experience or other significant skills. I hired a coder who didn't go to college and is largely self taught. Life is complicated and a transcript alone captures none of that complexity. As an example, I married someone whose father died of ALS while she was a college student. Helping care for her Dad, and comforting her Mom through his passing, had an impact on her college experience. I look for the A- candidate who perhaps worked during school, took challenging classes and has a passion for their craft, over the A+ candidate who coasted along and who has done nothing. Steel sharpens steel. Resilience in face of challenges is important. If the poor GPA is because you were partying and half-assing your work and couldn't be bothered to apply yourself, then please be honest with yourself and don't send a resume. For the interview in our group, we will sit you at a keyboard with the OS, language and tools you selected, and we'll give you a coding project that exercises the skills you reported on your resume. And then we'll see how you work. If you are unproductive in that environment or spend all your time using google and stack overflow, then you are not our candidate.