Do GCSE's Really Influence The Job You Get?

UltraLINX

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As stated in the title.

Just wondering wether GCSE's are influential to employers these days.

Thanks
 
They influence the post high school education.

College / Uni is what gets you a job . .unless you plan on stacking shelves, working in a call centre or being a Subway sandwich artist
 
If you are straight out of school with GCSE's looking for a job, yes. If this ties in with your IT training thread then I expect what you did between then and now is more important. But IT is not my speciality.
Dave
 
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GCSE's are only worth their weight if you plan on taking further education. Get the right ones and you'll have access to the relevant Uni's. On their own they're pointless.
 
GCSEs are only important to shape the future of your education. Like all 'educational' qualifications they simply show that you can read about and research a given topic. From experience and from past work in recruitment, employers are now more interested in 'vocational' qualifications such as NVQs as it shows you can actually do elements of work on a more practical, hands-on manner. Unless of course your chosen career requires a particular degree.
 
> From experience and from past work in recruitment, employers are now more interested in 'vocational' qualifications such as NVQs as it shows you can actually do elements of work on a more practical, hands-on manner. Unless of course your chosen career requires a particular degree.

! I think this massively depends on what you are doing - would be careful making generalisations like that. I've been working for 10 years (in IT) and I've never even encountered anyone with an NVQ or similar. I'm not saying some employers don't value them, but saying 'employers are now more interested in NVQs' is a dangerous generalisation IMO.
 
Like all 'educational' qualifications they simply show that you can read about and research a given topic. From experience and from past work in recruitment, employers are now more interested in 'vocational' qualifications such as NVQs as it shows you can actually do elements of work on a more practical, hands-on manner.

Perhaps I'd better tell my nephew this. He's just got an engineering apprenticeship and the offer was based on his GCSEs.

As others have wisely said, you cannot generalise about this.
 
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For some jobs you're expected to have got at least a C in Maths and English.
 
Bottom line is.... No Qualification whether it be a GCSE, NVQ, BTEC or Degree is going to guarantee you a well paid job.....

I had poor GCSE grades coming out of Secondary school, re-took 3 subjects, so stayed back a year when others in my year went onto A-Levels.. The 3 subjects that I re-sat we're not massive improvements on what I achieved previously but scraped me into a 1 Year BTEC First Diploma in I.T course. Basically blagged my way through college (spending more time playing football and down the cinema), achieving the first diploma in order to get onto the 2 year National BTEC level in I.T. Didn't even complete the first year....!!

With a little improvisation and BS though I have managed to work my way up through the ranks in I.T from a young inexperienced kid doing desktop support (building PC's) to a Technical Specialist in Servers & Networks (MCSE & CCNA Level) within a Global Media Corporation...

So this also goes to show that you can still go far even on poor to average GCSE results...
 
i dont have any GCSE's and i cant get a damn job, does that help? :D
 
I think they are but indirectly.

You need GCSE's to get to A-Levels,

Therefore you need GCSE's to get to A-Levels which then helps you to get a Degree.

And if you have a Degree this opens more oppertunities.

So yes.

However no-one gives a flying **** what your GCSE results were and even what your A-Level results were after you have a Degree and are looking for a job.

:)
 
Perhaps I'd better tell my nephew this. He's just got an engineering apprenticeship and the offer was based on his GCSEs.

As others have wisely said, you cannot generalise about this.

Besides passing tests this is what we've looked at as well, if the apprentices are going to go on and do ONC and HNC courses they might struggle if they can't pass a GCSE.
 
Anything that goes on your CV can be influential to an employer, every part of your CV is read and analysed, some more than others.

At the end of the day as long as you do your best in your exams/education, be it GCSE, A Level, College, Uni or a home study course then it doesn't really matter because you have done the best you can.

GCSE results can be quite important for a number of things, but they will not ruin your life like some people may like you to believe.
 
GCSEs as with all other eucational qualifications (bar micky mouse degrees) affects how people perceive you and will therefore influence the sort of job you get. And also gives you a lot more options to do what you WANT to do with your life instead of what you HAVE/NEED to do to bring home the bacon.
(Again with the exception to micky mouse degrees! Those are about as useful as toilet paper)
 
Anything that goes on your CV can be influential to an employer, every part of your CV is read and analysed, some more than others.

That's why I always personalise my CV by drawing love hearts and kisses on it after I print it out. It shows them you are willing to go that extra mile.
 
It all depends on the job and also how much education you have, i.e. if you have a degree they ain't going to bother with GCSE results.
GCSEs would be useful though if it's the only qualifications you have and little or no employment experience.
Whenever I've looked at CVs with little or no experience the academic education is all you have to go on, but it's a relatively good indication of a persons attitude to work.
 
GCSEs are used for one of two things:

A - to get a job directly
B - to qualify for further education - once you have futher education, go back and apply A or B to that - repeat until you have A.

Simples :thumbsup:
 
I once read a CV that listed "felching" and "watching blue movies" as hobbies...it had been through HR before I noticed!

That's why I always personalise my CV by drawing love hearts and kisses on it after I print it out. It shows them you are willing to go that extra mile.
 
They influence the post high school education.

College / Uni is what gets you a job . .unless you plan on stacking shelves, working in a call centre or being a Subway sandwich artist

Really ?? Maybe you should tell that to Richard Branson and Alan Sugar
 
To all the Kids that failed their GCSE's this week, it's very important to remember two things....


1. You tried your absolute best...



2. No gerkins on my Big Mac please..... :smashin:


:D
 
Really ?? Maybe you should tell that to Richard Branson and Alan Sugar


Those guys are the exception that prove the rule. Referring to them and footballers with no education does not mean you stand a better chance of becoming the next Alan Sugar if you drop out of school!

Education is still a fairly crucial necessity if you want a Job or a Career in the future for 95% of the population and that is being generous! I'ld prob say it's more like 98%

The easiest way to tell the difference between a Job and a Career

You are in a Career when:
> The day flies by and end up putting in overtime without even realising!

You are in a Job when:
> The day can't go any slower and you clock watch from the minute you get in to the minute you leave.

Education gives you more of a chance of ending up in a Career than a Job (but doesn't guarantee it)
 
Those guys are the exception that prove the rule. Referring to them and footballers with no education does not mean you stand a better chance of becoming the next Alan Sugar if you drop out of school!

Education is still a fairly crucial necessity if you want a Job or a Career in the future for 95% of the population and that is being generous! I'ld prob say it's more like 98%

The easiest way to tell the difference between a Job and a Career

You are in a Career when:
> The day flies by and end up putting in overtime without even realising!

You are in a Job when:
> The day can't go any slower and you clock watch from the minute you get in to the minute you leave.

Education gives you more of a chance of ending up in a Career than a Job (but doesn't guarantee it)

Nobody is saying it isn't, but to say that if you haven't got any GCSE's you are going to end up stacking shelves in Tesco's is absolute rubbish.

Myself, and plenty of my friends and colleagues all did terribly at school, mainly because none of us had a clue what we wanted to do with our lives when we were 15 years old. Yet we've all become fair to extremely successful in what we do. The thing we all have in common is not how many GCSE's we achieved but how hard we worked to get to where we are now, once we knew where we wanted to get to.

I'm not knocking anyone wanting to do well in education, it's extremely important, even more so nowadays, but there's more to being successful than a grade on a piece of paper.
 

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