No. A low CGPA closes a few specific doors, such as some campus drives, graduate schemes and higher studies, but most tech hiring weighs skills, projects and experience far more. If you are still studying, it is also recoverable with steady effort across every assessment.
What people tell me
My CGPA dropped badly after my first year, or I have already graduated with a low grade and no work experience. Every job post seems to want experience, and I worry that recruiters will reject me on the grade alone. I also do not know whether to spend my time fixing my grades or learning development and problem solving.
A composite of the messages behind this question, with personal details left out.
Key takeaways
- Grades matter most at a few filters: some campus drives, graduate schemes and postgraduate admissions.
- For most software roles, projects, skills and experience outweigh CGPA once you pass the first screen.
- In a semester system every quiz, assignment and midterm counts, so consistency recovers grades.
- You do not have to choose between grades and skills; schedule both every week.
- Leave the CGPA off your resume when it hurts you, unless the application asks for it.
The honest answer
A low CGPA is a real disadvantage in a handful of places and a minor detail almost everywhere else. The worry is understandable, especially in South Asia where grades are talked about constantly, but it is usually far bigger in your head than in a hiring manager's.
Two groups ask me this: students whose GPA dropped sharply after a transition to the semester system, and graduates with a low grade and no experience who feel every door is shut. The advice differs slightly, so I will cover both.
Where CGPA actually matters
| Situation | How much CGPA matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Some on-campus recruitment drives | Often a hard cut-off to sit the test | Check each company's criteria early; apply off-campus to those you miss |
| Structured graduate or trainee schemes at large organisations | Sometimes a minimum requirement | Read the eligibility section; focus on schemes without one |
| Masters, PhD and scholarships | Significant, alongside research and recommendations | Strong research output and references can offset a moderate grade |
| Government and some public sector roles | Can be formally required | Check the official advertisement |
| Startups and product companies hiring off-campus | Usually low once you pass the resume screen | Lead with projects and skills |
| Freelancing and remote contract work | Almost none | Portfolio and client results decide |
| Second job onwards | Very little | Experience replaces grades |
Requirements vary by company, country and year, so always read the specific posting rather than assuming a number.
If you are still studying: recover the grade
A drop is common in the first year of a semester system, and the reason is structural. Unlike annual exams, the semester system keeps you in constant assessment. Quizzes, assignments, midterms and finals all count, so falling behind in week four shows up in the final grade.
What works:
- Treat every assessment as part of the final exam. Small marks add up, and they are the easiest ones to secure.
- Attend and engage in class. Most quizzes and exams follow what the teacher actually covers, rarely material outside the syllabus. Take detailed notes and ask questions.
- Revise weekly, not the night before. Thirty minutes a day per subject beats a panic weekend.
- Submit every assignment, on time. A late or missing assignment is a guaranteed loss.
- Speak to teachers early when a topic is not clicking. Teachers notice genuine effort, and it helps you understand the material too.
- Identify the one subject dragging you down and give it extra hours first.
Because CGPA is an average, recent semesters pull it upward gradually. A steadily improving trend is also a story you can tell in any interview.
Grades or skills? Both, on a schedule
You do not need to pick. A realistic weekly split for a student in their second or third year:
| Time block | Focus |
|---|---|
| Weekdays, class hours and one to two hours after | Coursework, assignments, weekly revision |
| Three weekday evenings, one hour each | Problem solving practice on a platform such as LeetCode or HackerRank |
| Weekend, three to four hours | One development project in the area you enjoy (web, mobile or data) |
| Once a week, 30 minutes | Update LinkedIn and GitHub with progress |
Revise the core subjects that overlap with jobs (programming fundamentals, data structures, databases, operating systems). Studying them well improves both your grade and your technical readiness at the same time.
If you have graduated with a low CGPA and no experience
Here the goal is to make the grade irrelevant by giving employers better evidence.
- Build two strong projects in the role you want, deployed and documented. For example, a WordPress developer should show custom themes or plugins built from scratch, not only page-builder sites.
- Get any real experience you can: an internship, open source contributions, freelance work for a small business, or volunteer projects for a non-profit. "Everyone wants experience" becomes solvable when you create some.
- Rebuild your resume around skills and projects. Put projects above education. Leave CGPA off unless the application explicitly asks for it.
- Apply off-campus and through referrals. Referrals often bypass the automated screens where grade filters sit.
- Consider a certification only where it adds verifiable signal for your target role, not as a replacement for projects.
How to handle the question in an interview
If someone asks, be brief and honest, then move forward: "My grades were lower than I wanted in my early semesters. Since then I focused on building projects, and here is what I shipped." Then talk about the work. Interviewers care much more about how you handle a setback than about the number itself.
A word on perspective
A few years into your career, almost nobody will ask about your grades. They will ask what you built, what problems you solved and how you work with a team. The time you spend now on steady coursework and real projects pays off twice: it lifts the number that matters today and builds the evidence that matters for the rest of your career.
If you are still stuck
How to start your career as a software engineer and how to apply for software engineering jobs cover the next steps in detail, and the FYP ideas library is a good source of portfolio-worthy projects. If you want a plan that balances grades and skills for your semester, book a free 1:1 session.
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