Comments on: Job Hunt Post Mortem

By: jared t.

jared t. — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:02:41 +0000

congrats on this brian. i have to say i agree with your gpa graph. the funny thing is, i made dean’s list last semester (3.8 gpa/top 10% of student body), and i actually feel more ashamed than if i had ended up building something cool instead. i was so busy studying for exams and making sure i was doing all of the right classroom projects, that i couldn’t get much done outside. compared to class projects, the real world stuff is just more exciting. it’s more relevant, you get grades sometimes in the form of payments, and there’s a heck of a lot more competition (translation: a lot more people that you can now beat).

i don’t think there’s anything wrong with gpa’s, just like there’s nothing wrong with a guy trying to look for a hot girl. they’ll do all the right things: go tan, get make up, wear the most expensive clothes, and act the role, but at the end of the day, you still might not “click” with her. and she may not be the right person to be involved with.

i’m really beating these dating/women analogies to death. i guess i share your resentment towards companies who consider only gpa, or “looks.” i’m more interested in culture and philosophy, in addition to what a person has done in and outside of school.

best of luck to you in your endeavors!

By: Anant

Anant — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:03:09 +0000

Congratulations on your job Brian, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy working at Boston!

By: Lukas Blakk

Lukas Blakk — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:38:09 +0000

Hey Brian,

Thanks for taking the time to spell the whole process out – this will be very useful for future interns and job hunters. Good writing, and a decent plot Congrats on the new job, sorry not to see you back at Mozilla but it sounds like you really weighed your pros and cons and family nearby sure is a pro.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:28:27 +0000

@Arnie: I'd be lying if I said I didn't resent Google for doing that, but they do probably get more resumes a day than most other companies, so having that as a filtering mechanism probably saves them a lot of time. Personally I think they're missing out on some real gems by setting that bar so high (I've heard in the past that if your GPA is below a 3 they ignore your resume), but they always did seem to value education more highly than a lot of other companies.

By: Arnie

Arnie — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:52:58 +0000

The only place that has asked for my GPA was Google, and after I gave it they stopped being interested (mine is less than 3). I didn’t think that would matter with 10 years of work experience, but apparently it matters to Google.

By: Mavericks

Mavericks — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:06:53 +0000

I was hoping that you chose Boston after reading about TripAdvisor, and I am glad you did.

I guessed it, and I hoped I guessed right.

I guessed that because you seemed to be the person who likes to try something new, and doesn’t mind going into unchartered areas.

I got that feeling from the way you wrote your career fair post.

Anyways, good luck at TripAdvisor. I wonder if they have remote work opportunities.

By: Jeremy Glassenberg

Jeremy Glassenberg — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:48:52 +0000

Brian, congrats on the new job! Have fun in Boston.

By: Robert Accettura

Robert Accettura — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:28:06 +0000

There’s a lot to be said about GPA not being important. All the interviews I did, nobody even asked what my GPA was. They all asked where I went to school and what my major was, but didn’t want any more details. Experience (internships, jobs, etc.) were all they cared about.

By: Ryan Doherty

Ryan Doherty — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:04:53 +0000

Congrats and good luck with your new job at TripAdvisor!

By: Gary Kwong

Gary Kwong — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:50:51 +0000

Brian, you’ve got yourself a new fan of that GPA graph.