In the workplace, most employers, regardless of industry, value job experience more than academic accomplishments, particularly if the candidate graduated years ago.
The situation is reversed this time, though, as a government-link company (GLC) reportedly turned down an engineer with more than ten years of experience because his university cumulative grade pointaverage (CGPA) fell short of its requirements.
According to a Facebook post on the Engineers Malaysia group, the candidate was on the verge of being hired by the GLC but was ultimately turned down because his decades-old CGPA grades were below 3.0.
“My friend has an Ir with a Practicing Certificate (PC) and has worked for 17 years in the engineering industry including consultancy.
“(He) went for an interview with a GLC. During the interview, the bosses agreed to hire him, and the salary was predetermined.
“It is quite painful as (he) was already well established in the industry but (he) was judged based on (his) pointer from decades ago,” Ahmad Mus’ab said in his post.
The company’s human resources department claimed that the demand for a higher CGPA was a new policy being implemented.
To make matters worse, the candidate’s acquaintance was hired despite apparently lacking the required qualifications because of a higher CGPA.
In addition to sharing similar stories and expressing sympathy for the candidate’s predicament, internet users conjectured that the company’s human resources department had devised a new policy as a reason for rejecting the applicant.
“The HR department should have filtered out the pointers earlier before the interview process,” a user said.
“I understand if such policies apply to fresh graduates but this is an experienced candidate,” a netizen pointed out.
“Studying and getting a university degree with good grades do not guarantee success.
“Knowing the right people and networking at the right time is even more important,” a commenter added.
