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12 tips on how to get a high-paying job at Google even with a low GPA

12 tips on how to get a high-paying job at Google even with a low GPA

Google is known for its tough hiring process. But the company has devalued test scores and college GPA lately, which has long-been critical tools for filtering talented job candidates.

Google will still ask for and look at GPAs as part of the hiring process.

"She wanted details of GPA and courses I had undertaken in my undergrad school. Wasn't difficult but unexpected." — Glassdoor

If you’re right out of college or applying for an internship, your GPA will matter more in the hiring process. But there are things you can do to stand out from the pack besides your GPA. Here are 12 ways to do it.

1. Get professional experience.

"If you have the right professional experience, it might not even matter if you have no university degree at all. (Of course, having a good degree is always preferable.)" — Lutz Enke, Hamburg Googler

2. Build up your coding skills (if you're applying for an engineering job).

"GPA is only one criteria. When you're starting out, what matters more is how well you can interpret code, come up with different ways to improve it, and how quickly can you ramp up over time." — Gaanesh Kap

3. It's better not to apply externally through the company website (instead focus on internships, campus recruiting, and referrals).

"The best ways to get an interview with mediocre grades is the best way to get interviews in general...If you have to externally apply via (for example) a company web site, your chances of getting an interview aren't very good." — John L. Miller, interviewer at Microsoft, Amazon, and Google

4. Directly reach out to a Google recruiter.

"I have gotten two interviews at Google (both I have failed miserably)...but I got them. The first one I got by going on LinkedIn and emailing Google Recruiters. I emailed 3, and 1 responded." — Mark Kuczmarski

5. Grow a specialty and become what Google calls a "T-shaped" person.

"Google looks for 'T-Shaped people' — very skilled in one area, often the best in their field, but also have other interests." — Staff.com

6. Don't bother writing your GPA on your resume if it's too low.

"We all know Google doesn't care about the GPA if the Engineer is good enough. But still when the HR is comparing your resume with thousands of other resume, you don't want anything on your resume which is not your strength. And, I think having a low GPA does hurt your chances in some way." — Shubham Bansal

7. Wait until you're more than three years out of school.

"If you apply within 3 years [of graduation], Google will ask for your transcript and it will stay in the electronic records used by Google recruiters forever. If you wait to apply and don't volunteer your GPA they shouldn't ask." — Harvey Alcabes, MIT CS alum

8. Juice up your resume with a list of other activities.

"The tough part is getting past the resume screen. You'd better have something else on your resume besides a GPA. They get 3000 resumes a day and they can't interview everyone." — Bruce R. Miller, current Staff Engineer at Google

9. Showcase your engineering skills.

"In general, have some evidence that you are a rockstar engineer that you can present." — Noam Ben-Ami, Analytics Engineer @ MuleSoft

10. Have a track record on open source projects.

"I know that everybody is trying to cheer you up but reality is that unless you have a pretty impressive track record contributing to open source projects, it's highly unlikely. That's not only for Google by the way. Once you get more experienced and have some impressive projects under the belt, grades matter less." — Lee Provost

11. Show you’re passionate about technology and the company.

"One has to love the company that they're interviewing for. Be passionate in what he/she is interested in. You may say that would only score brownie points - somewhat true. But it's that energy that an interviewer might notice that makes the difference." — Arnold W. Mok

12. Clearly communicate how you can help the company.

"At the end of the day, it comes down to this: Can you communicate how you can help the company? Passion, creativity, initiative, and a 'getting things done' attitude are all signals of that." — Gayle Laakmaan McDowell, Author of "The Google Resume: How to Prepare for a Career and Land a Job at Apple, Microsoft, Google, or Any Top Tech Company."

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