Every electronics student asks the same question at some point:
“Sir, Does CGPA Matter for Core Electronics Jobs?”
“Sir, what CGPA is required by companies?”
I have been asked this hundreds of times. And every time, I give the same honest answer. I have been on both sides of the interview table for over 40 years. Let me tell you what I have actually seen. Not what you read in college forums. Not what your seniors assumed. What I have personally seen while selecting candidates across MNCs and core electronics companies.
The Question Nobody Is Asking
When students ask me about CGPA, they are actually asking the wrong question.
The real question is: what does a company actually look for when they call you for an interview?
Here is what they test.
First, they give you a written test. That tests your knowledge.
Then they give you a program to write or a circuit to design. That tests your skill.
Then comes the interview. The interview is the place where, whichever way they turn the question or angle they ask, you can understand and give the answer, or not? That tests your reliability.
So there are three things. Knowledge. Skill. Reliability. That is what companies look for. Not just CGPA.
Knowledge vs Skill: They Are 180 Degrees Opposite
The single biggest mistake college students make is failing to understand the difference between Knowledge and Skill. They think skill is also a kind of Knowledge. That is a big gap.
They are 180 degrees opposite. They are nowhere connected. They are opposite.
Let me explain it.
Think of this as an AND operation in electronics. You have some skill and some knowledge. For us in the industry, it is an AND operation. Even if you have tremendous Knowledge, but your skill is only at level two out of ten, your effective score is only two. We do not consider that extensive Knowledge separately because you are only as useful as your lowest input.
The same is true the other way. If you have high skill but very little Knowledge, like a diploma-level electrician who is very good with his hands but has a limited theoretical base, he also does not get paid well. He also scores low on the AND operation.
To win, you need both to grow together.
The Truth About CGPA and really does CGPA Matter for Core Electronics Jobs?
CGPA tells me one important thing. When you say you have 8.4 and somebody else says 6.1, it gives me some different information. But not the information you think it gives.
CGPA reflects your knowledge. That is all.
In interviews, if you don’t exhibit the Knowledge corresponding to your CGPA, then the CGPA is a waste.
And Knowledge is only one input of the AND operation.
Now here is the tricky part that most students do not understand.
I never said CGPA is useless. Please do not misunderstand me. There are so many factors involved in scoring a good CGPA. And it does get you above the bar. It qualifies you for the interview. A 9.4 CGPA student, an 8.5 CGPA student, and a 7.5 CGPA student can all be above the minimum bar to get into the interview level.
But here is what happens inside that interview room.
If the 9.4 CGPA student has less skill, the 8.5 CGPA student also has less skill, and the 7.5 CGPA student has more skill than both of them, the 7.5 CGPA student gets selected. Not the other two.
Think of it this way. If I am going to select only on the basis of CGPA, why would I even conduct an interview? I can state that anyone above 9.5 is selected. No company says that. Not a single one.
Real Stories From the Interview Room
I have selected many students throughout my career. We have actually let down highly knowledgeable people many times. We selected someone with a 7.5 CGPA or lower because their skills were clearly higher than those of the others in the room.
We recently recruited a person from a prestigious university. His CGPA was 6.5. You know what salary we gave him? One lakh a month. He came into the interview and did wonderfully. We took him immediately.
There was another person who did not even clear the written test the first time. He failed it. Then we saw him on a talk show sometime later. We had a conversation with him and selected him right there. Today, within about four to five years, he founded his own company and is running it successfully.
These things happen. That is why I keep saying never accept it when somebody tells you that you are useless. Never accept that.
What About High CGPA Students?
I am not saying 9.4 CGPA is useless. I never said that.
When a company recruits a student with a 9.4 CGPA, it is not because they memorized and regurgitated answers during exams. No. There are so many genuine factors that go into scoring well. A high CGPA student with strong skills is the best combination you can bring to an interview room.
The problem is when a student puts all their energy into CGPA and nothing into skills. Then the AND operation fails them.
The same is true the other way. An all-skill-and-no-knowledge foundation also fails the AND operation.
You need to build two parallel paths in college. One is Knowledge. One is skill. Build both at the same time. That is the only way to cross the bar and stand out inside the interview room.
One Hour a Day Is Enough
I am not asking you to sacrifice your college life. I am not asking you to give up the tours, the movies, the music programs, the hostel memories. Abdul Kalam himself said do not waste your college days because they are very enjoyable days.
But there is something you can do without losing any of that.
One hour a day.
If you spend one hour every day from your second year onwards across eight semesters, do you know how much that adds up to? Four years of one hour daily is roughly two months of total effort. But it is not continuous. It is spread over four years. And that is actually more powerful than a three-month crash course after college.
Most students take a three-month crash course right before interviews. They go to some institute, spend money and time, and try to squeeze everything into 90 days under pressure.
One hour a day for eight semesters beats that — every single time.
Start from the second year. By the time you reach the middle of the third year, that is where everything starts to click. A lot of people lose patience just before that point. Please do not be one of them.
What Companies Are Really Testing
Think of a mobile phone. When you buy a phone, what do you check first? Does WhatsApp work? Does the video game load? Does everything you need actually function? That is functionality. Companies check whether you know the basics.
Then you press the WhatsApp button. Does it open in one second, or does it take thirty minutes? You will throw the phone if it is slow. That is performance. Companies check whether you can do things at the required speed and quality.
Then you use WhatsApp a hundred times. Does it work all hundred times? Or does it fail on the fifty-second try? That is reliability. Reliability is Knowledge plus skill working together. It means you know how to apply your Knowledge through your skill, consistently, not just once.
That is exactly why Apple charges more than Samsung. Samsung charges more than a budget phone. Functionality, performance, and reliability collectively determine a product’s price. The same three things decide your salary.
My Advice to You
You spent three years in preschool. Twelve years in school. Four years in college. That is nineteen years of education.
A friend of mine who is working in Malaysia called me recently. He said to Balajee, “How come, after nineteen years of education, someone is ready to work for twenty thousand rupees a month?”
He is right.
I tell this to everyone who comes to my sessions. I will not provide training to anyone targeting less than one lakh a month. If your mindset is less than a one lakh-a-month salary, do not even attend. It will be a waste for you. Because the same person with the same Knowledge and same skill is earning ten lakhs a month in the US. The difference is not in their ability. It is in how they understood their own value.
You got into ECE. You were the top student in your school. You worked hard to get here. How can you accept someone calling you useless and then agree with them?
Never accept that.
What Actually Gets You the Job
CGPA gets you through the door for the interview. Skill decides who walks out with the offer letter. Reliability is what makes a company say yes on the first or second question without needing to interview anyone else.
All three matter. But the one thing most students ignore completely throughout four years of college is skill. That is what costs them the job in the end.
You have four years. You have one hour a day. Use both wisely.
