Commentary: Grades in U.S. colleges rife with fraud percent, college, grades : OC Register Print Edition What do you think your grades tell a potential employer about you? Be careful, because the obvious answer isn’t right. If you have good grades, does it mean that you worked hard, and that you’ll work hard for them if they’ll just hire you? Unfortunately not. What do grades tell potential employers? That you are intelligent? Maybe That you can follow directions? Maybe That you know what it takes to do the job they need you to do? Not very likely That you had to work hard to earn your grades? Not necessarily This article in the Orange County Resister highlights a concern that’s not new. The easier it is to earn a grade, the less valuable the course, and your degree become. Not only does it hurt you from the perception that employers have, but it also causes you to show up unprepared. Let’s say you play baseball, and to help you get your batting average up, the league you play in has a rule that everyone has to pitch only fastballs, right down the middle – the easiest pitch to hit. Everyone gets on base a lot, and the scores are really high. Lots of high fives and celebrations and pictures in the local paper. Now you show up to play in the major leagues and they’re throwing all kinds of pitches, and you can’t hit any of them because they’re much more difficult, and you haven’t practiced them before. What are the chances you’ll make the big leagues? Zero. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the business world, or the medical world, or any other world is much different. If you didn’t have to work hard or you don’t grow while earning your degree it will very likely show when you show up to work. Will a degree that was easy to earn open doors anyway? Sure, it will still open some. But never forget, all doors aren’t equal, and in the real world the range of opportunities and earnings is broader than anything you’ve seen before. Make sure you know what employers expect of you – not a few weeks or months before you show up to interview, but years ahead, while you’re trying to become the person they’re excited to add to their team. The responsibility to find out, and to do the right things is yours – not your parent’s or your school’s – regardless of how much tuition you’re paying and time your spending. At the end of the day employers need to know that you can help them produce the results that they need to stay competitive. Knowing what those results are, and how you can cleary demonstrate that you are someone they can depend upon are the keys that will help you open the best doors as you enter the workforce and throughout the rest of your career.
