Your GPA predicts how well you'll perform in your career. Wrong.
GPA correlates with job performance at r = 0.1. That's basically zero. Ernst & Young dropped the requirement after finding ZERO evidence it predicted success.
"Your GPA predicts how well you'll perform in your career" is a myth. The supporting research is cited below. Read on for the full evidence.
"Your GPA predicts how well you'll perform in your career"
False. Meta-analyses of academic performance and job outcomes find that GPA correlates with career performance at approximately r = 0.1 — statistically indistinguishable from zero.
You studied hard for four years, maintained a respectable GPA, and put it on your résumé because that's what you were told matters. Academic performance, the logic goes, reflects intelligence, discipline, and the ability to handle pressure — all the things employers want.
The Surprising Truth
Meta-analyses of academic performance and job outcomes find that GPA correlates with career performance at approximately r = 0.1 — statistically indistinguishable from zero. In 2013, Google SVP of People Operations Laszlo Bock told the New York Times: "GPAs are worthless as a criteria for hiring." Ernst & Young UK removed degree and GPA requirements from their hiring process in 2015 after an internal analysis found "no evidence" that academic performance predicted success at the firm. Research shows that cognitive ability tests, structured interviews, and work-sample tests predict job performance with far greater accuracy than any academic credential.
What This Means for You
If you're still in school, grades still open early-career doors — but their predictive power stops almost immediately once you enter the workforce. What you can demonstrate > what's printed on a transcript.
Primary Sources
- [1] Roth, P.L. & Clarke, R.L. (1998). "Meta-Analyzing the Relation Between Grades and Job Performance." Journal of Vocational Behavior, 53(3), 357–374.
- [2] Bock, L. (2013). Quoted in "How to Get a Job at Google," New York Times (interview by T.L. Friedman, Feb 22, 2014).
- [3] Ernst & Young UK (2015). Press release: EY removes degree classification from entry criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does your GPA predict career success?
GPA correlates with job performance at r = 0.1. That's basically zero. Ernst & Young dropped the requirement after finding ZERO evidence it predicted success.
Do employers still care about GPA?
Meta-analyses of academic performance and job outcomes find that GPA correlates with career performance at approximately r = 0.1 — statistically indistinguishable from zero. In 2013, Google SVP of People Operations Laszlo Bock told the New York Times: "GPAs are worthless as a criteria for hiring." Ernst & Young UK removed degree and GPA requirements from their hiring process in 2015 after an internal analysis found "no evidence" that academic performance predicted success at the firm. Research shows that cognitive ability tests, structured interviews, and work-sample tests predict job performance with far greater accuracy than any academic credential.
What matters more than GPA for career performance?
If you're still in school, grades still open early-career doors — but their predictive power stops almost immediately once you enter the workforce. What you can demonstrate > what's printed on a transcript.
How We Verified This Claim
SmartAss Facts evaluates every popular belief against a three-tier source hierarchy: primary sources (peer-reviewed research, government datasets, and court records), secondary sources (reputable journalism citing the primary), and tertiary sources (blogs and general reference sites). Only primary sources are cited. If a claim can only be traced to a blog or an unsourced assertion, it is not used.
For this myth — Your GPA predicts how well you'll perform in your career — we reviewed the cited sources above and checked the claim against the published findings. The claim was then cross-referenced with the SmartAss Facts database of over 5,000 verified facts to identify related content.
If you believe our verdict is incorrect or you have a more recent primary source that changes the analysis, the science always wins — we revise pages when the evidence warrants it. Last reviewed: 2026-10-13.
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Every claim below has been checked against published research.