When I was a freshman in college, I was advised by the Career Center staff to work hard for the highest GPA possible. It was sold to me that your GPA could greatly increase your chances of employment post-graduation. To their credit, they weren’t entirely wrong. If you are not a STEM major, then you should be able to achieve and maintain at least a 3.0. Most employers and internship recruiters sort applications based on GPA and will throw yours out if you don’t meet the minimum requirements.

But this does not tell the whole story.

I feel a lot of college graduates have a difficult time becoming successful post-graduation for different reasons than is commonly admitted. There are quite a few articles shaming liberal arts majors for choosing a “lazy degree” instead of pursuing a STEM major. This accusation does not convince me entirely, mainly because there are also biology majors and math majors who find the current job market a bit difficult as well.

My theory? Projected job growth doesn’t fully determine the usefulness of your degree. A lot of that has to do with marketability. Meaning, can you market yourself based on the skills you can prove you have?

The majority of your learning experiences are done outside of the classroom. At my university, for example, it seems a lot of the social sciences teach theoretical concepts that test well but don’t translate into real life. Now that I think about it, business and marketing majors have a similar issue. Although these disciplines have more “hard” skills, ultimately the lessons and curriculum are largely theoretical. Yes, there are projects and research you can conduct in your courses but how much weight does this have with a potential employer?

If I was looking to recruit fresh-faced graduates, I would look for passionate and determined candidates. I might be an HR manager for a marketing firm and you know what? I would choose the student with a 3.2 GPA with detailed figures from his sales job selling products over a marketing major with a 3.8. Why? The first student could be a psychology major but if they have the skills or certifications along with the data to prove it, why shouldn’t I hire them?

This concept is debatable for some until you realize that plenty of technocrats dropped out of college to start their own businesses. They are now worth millions (if not billions) of dollars. We would like to think this only applies to the Mark Zuckerberg types, but not necessarily. These individuals possessed a skill and worked hard to master it, so much so that a 4-year university didn’t have much to offer.

That said, I would like to make a few recommendations:

First, consider your resume and what you can actually prove you know how to do. Did you conduct a research project with advanced experimental design? Include that. Did you take a foreign language? If you made a great grade in the class, add a writing sample to diversify your interests on LinkedIn. Diversity is on trend these days. Did you start an organization? Keep up with outreach and track the numbers of regular attendees and programming initiatives. The point is to give examples of

Second, you are only as good as the people you know. The best students in classes have good connections with tenured faculty. If you have a 3.9 GPA, I would expect you to have a rapport with the professors within your department. If you don’t, that is kind of a red flag. I do believe this could be the most effective route to a full-time job or a spot in a graduate program.

Finally, I would strongly suggest most students take classes outside of their major. Finally, I would strongly suggest most students take classes outside of their major. Look up marketable skills for liberal arts degrees. What you tend to find is that “soft” skills are ingrained in your core classes, but there are certifications or classes you can take to beef up your marketability. If you’re especially ambitious, take classes in a particularly uncommon language like Farsi or Mandarin. I get quite a bit of interest as a liberal arts major due to my interest in the Korean language, in which I am competent.

The point I am trying to make here is that your GPA is not the be-all-end-all.

It is one tool to separate yourself from the rest. But truthfully, the job pool is full of 4.0 students with minimal job offers. If you want to rise above the rest, the key is not to accumulate as many internships as possible, but to choose carefully and strategically. Cultivate a specific skill set to accompany the transferable knowledge you have from your degree. Every choice you make matters, so come up with a plan of action to give you the most options possible post-graduation.

I wish you the best in all your endeavors.