[Storm]

	Originally Posted by NeverPhased To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Nope my close friend, is 2nd in the class at the moment (will probably land 1st place after this years exams) I know how hard he works, gets up 5am to study etc. Yet he has fallen down every time during an interview process.

There have been studies that interviews aren't good indicators of who will make a good employee. However, no one listens and continue with the interviews. IF your friend was good at interviews, he'd probably be getting great offers. I've heard tell that if you make it to the interview process, they basically already know you work on paper, they are just meeting you to see if they like you. Don't know the truth to that, but it makes sense.

As other have said, this is highly dependent on your field. There are plenty of fields where grades matter, in others it's just the degree. After that it's connections, how likeable you are, hands-on experience, and many other factors. The people I know who got up at 7am and studied 12 hours a day now all have extremely high-paying jobs at prestigious firms. Of course, there were also some people who are just naturally gifted at memorizing and got high GPA and are at great places. There are low GPA people who have great networking skills and got great jobs. Then there are people who went to work for their dad. Then there are people of all kinds who haven't been so lucky. Then there are people who have low-paying jobs, but that's what they want because they don't want the stress that goes with the high-paying jobs. There are many paths to life, and many ways to get what you want. And there are many ways to fall through the cracks.

I went to class in college because I enjoyed them, and because I would rather listen to a lecture and take notes than have to cram at the end. But, I knew other people that preferred to read the material closely and skip class. People learn in different ways, no way is "better" than another way. Did it matter in the job hunt? I don't know, but just getting a job wasn't my only goal. Maybe it was for you, so your approach made sense. I'd agree that studying to the point of not having time for anything else isn't a good approach in a field where just getting the degree matters (note: this is not all fields). In fact, only in a field where your GPA is everything would it be wise to fore go all other aspects of life.

The best thing I learned from school is that everyone has different approaches and goals in life. Comparing yourself to how other people do things isn't usually very useful. Maybe to learn some techniques, but always know that what works for another person might not work for you and vice-versa.

[Idiotes]

Take my response as being related to this part of your post:

"I just feel that all those nerds, who eat the books, spend their lives competing for academic achievement are wasting their time, 90% of my class applied to the jobs I did and I was the one who landed it, they guy who they must think is the laziest most unintelligent being on the planet."

"What's the point in changing the truth so that I'm more likeable for those on this forum?"

This optimises exactly what I was talking about.

"All I have said is the truth and fact so that I could get real responses."

This you can achieve without being pig headed about it.

"Obviously it would be different if you all knew me but you don't!"

You'd be surprised how much you can pick up from someones writing about who they are. Myers-Briggs indicator does a very good job at giving a personality analysis and that doesn't 'know you' yet you embraced it enough to join this site?

"its something I wouldn't discuss with my friends for fear of looking too arrogant."

So you admit that you're being arrogant and somehow you think because this is an internet site that somehow you can be arrogant but maintain that you're not being arrogant? I am confused.

[Storm]

That's a fair point. the first page of this thread is people just put-off by your bragging, not substantial responses that you claim to want.

[NeverPhased]

Originally Posted by Idiotes To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Take my response as being related to this part of your post: "I just feel that all those nerds, who eat the books, spend their lives competing for academic achievement are wasting their time, 90% of my class applied to the jobs I did and I was the one who landed it, they guy who they must think is the laziest most unintelligent being on the planet." "What's the point in changing the truth so that I'm more likeable for those on this forum?" This optimises exactly what I was talking about. "All I have said is the truth and fact so that I could get real responses." This you can achieve without being pig headed about it. "Obviously it would be different if you all knew me but you don't!" You'd be surprised how much you can pick up from someones writing about who they are. Myers-Briggs indicator does a very good job at giving a personality analysis and that doesn't 'know you' yet you embraced it enough to join this site? "its something I wouldn't discuss with my friends for fear of looking too arrogant." So you admit that you're being arrogant and somehow you think because this is an internet site that somehow you can be arrogant but maintain that you're not being arrogant? I am confused.

Fair enough.

[frontaLobotomy]

The grades are nice, but university is mainly about networking. Unless you're doing medicine, building contacts is the most important thing you can be doing.

You should beck out the prestige institutions. Full of well connected morons and imported geniuses to carry them.

[Warrior]

Originally Posted by NeverPhased To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

My friends are quite jealous of me since I tend to do the minimum required work to get through university (studying engineering). I rarely go to lectures and end up having to teach myself the course when it comes to exam time. I have a great year in college, can do what I like for most of the year but then when exams come I'm super stressed but manage to push through. (currently sitting my finals) I have landed a dream, graduate program scheme/job with a major company after going through a long assessment process, all of which excluded college performance etc (thankfully!). I just feel very lucky. I always felt I have a lot to offer a potential employer but struggled to get noticed after attempting to translate this potential onto a c.v. However since applying to these graduate schemes, I've got to the final stage of many and got an offer of the job I wanted after over 10,000's applicants applied for 200 places. I just feel that all those nerds, who eat the books, spend their lives competing for academic achievement are wasting their time, 90% of my class applied to the jobs I did and I was the one who landed it, they guy who they must think is the laziest most unintelligent being on the planet. I know I have a lot of ability academically but I just don't find it stimulating enough hence my disinterest. At the end of the day, I have spent my college time broadening my skills, I have developed websites, developed business knowledge, traveled extensively during the summer months while others did internships. Has anyone else experienced this?

My college experience was somewhat the opposite. I went to every lecture and did all the homework, but that was about it. I never worried about tests, might have studied an hour for them, and sometimes just went in a day or two early to take a test so I could be doing something else later. The time others spent studying, I did other things.

There's more than one way to be successful in college and multiple ways that college success can translate into career success. The biggest thing is whether your college experiences matches what your employer (or potential employer) is looking for. In your case, it seems like those matched up.