Business and IT grad from a while back, but I don't recall being asked for transcripts...perhaps for co-op jobs of all things.
Grades, except for some very specific positions, are useless in my mind. If I'm hiring between two people, one has a big average but was a mushroom throughout university where all they did was go to class, study, eat, and sleep while the other has a lower average but did work for the student clubs/societies, I'm hiring the second person in the vast majority of cases.
The business world is built so heavily on communication I think it's vital a new grad comes out of school with this ability. Someone who has participated in club activities where they've had to run projects or communicate with the business community is much further ahead in my view. I'm not talking of the beer drinking clubs, I'm thinking of the student organizations like AIESEC who actually do something meaningful and get students out talking to the business community. I'd also include someone who has held down a service job (please leave the BP and KFC jobs for the other thread) because they will have learned to talk and market themselves.
The other advice I'd have for a recent grad is to go have fun for a year. Go backpacking with a friend, see the world, volunteer for some position in a developing country, do whatever your biggest dream is now because once you actually start your "real life" it becomes that much harder.
__________________
|