Please help -How much do A-level grades affect employment

dani56372

My friend grew up with a physically/emotionally/financially abusive mother and an absent father). She was also badly bullied at school.

My friend passed her GCSE'S (exams taken at 16) with all A grades. But when her A-levels came around it all became too much and she just passed (C grades). A-levels are taken at 18. She went on to do a biomedical science degree at a mediocre university and got a 2.1 She then completed 5 internships, whilst working in a shop and passed her masters at a Russell group with a merit. She's now doing her PHD part time (she's 25).

However, she feels like a failure due to her a-levels and she feels despondent when applying for NHS/healthcare jobs as she feels like a failure due to her A-levels. What do I tell her as I'm not an expert. Do employers take A-levels seriously>

duchy

Why tell her anything ? She's at uni-she'll have access to professional career guidance who will tell her straight that with a Masters and a PhD no-one will give a flying fig !
(They might suggest some counselling for low self-esteem however)

persa

Some employers do care about A-Levels. But your friend had 'extenuating circumstances' and her subsequent study strengthens the case that she was disadvantaged rather than plain not good at exams. It's worth her getting used to talking about her A-Levels - so if she has an interview, she can explain this as succinctly as possible - and without getting teary. I imagine it's not a period of her life she enjoys chatting about, but an employer may well ask and she needs to feel confident about handling such a question.

AlexLK

Nobody will care about her A Levels at this stage.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

dani56372 wrote: »

My friend grew up with a physically/emotionally/financially abusive mother and an absent father). She was also badly bullied at school.

My friend passed her GCSE'S (exams taken at 16) with all A grades. But when her A-levels came around it all became too much and she just passed (C grades). A-levels are taken at 18. She went on to do a biomedical science degree at a mediocre university and got a 2.1 She then completed 5 internships, whilst working in a shop and passed her masters at a Russell group with a merit. She's now doing her PHD part time (she's 25).

However, she feels like a failure due to her a-levels and she feels despondent when applying for NHS/healthcare jobs as she feels like a failure due to her A-levels. What do I tell her as I'm not an expert. Do employers take A-levels seriously>

Tell her the reason she feels like this is not the A levels, it's the bullying and abuse she suffered that has turner her into her worst critic. Many many people with A levels grade A would gnaw their right arm off to be able to even study a PH.

Exams assess you on the day and they don't take circumstances into consideration. Nobody cares about the level except the person taking them.

duchy

Agreed ......once you have a Masters it'd be like worrying you wouldn't be qualified because you didn't pass the 11plus despite getting qualifications later. Quite honestly her achievements in getting her masters at a first level uni despite taking her BSc at a mediocre uni - shows her in a better light as she started from further back to any decent employer.

BristolBob

If she is that worried, she can re-take her A levels...

duchy

BristolBob wrote: »

If she is that worried, she can re-take her A levels...

Why on earth would she bother ?
The problem isn't her qualifications -it's her self esteem

Callie22

AlexLK wrote: »

Nobody will care about her A Levels at this stage.

Exactly. I work in an environment where I see lots of CVs for people with PhDs. It's considered a bit weird when anyone with that level of education puts their A-Level grades on their CV - and really weird when they put their GCSEs on there! By the time you get to post-doctoral level employment, what you took at A-Level and what you got is pretty irrelevant.

heartbreak_star

I got 3 E's at A-level, no degree, just an HND due to critical illness in family, and no doctorate because I couldn't afford to finish my degree then do a doctorate.

I'm in a successful scientific research role now.

It's not all about bits of paper with grades on.

If I was her, I'd be having some therapy for her self-esteem issues.

HBS x

Dunroamin

dani56372 wrote: »

My friend grew up with a physically/emotionally/financially abusive mother and an absent father). She was also badly bullied at school.

My friend passed her GCSE'S (exams taken at 16) with all A grades. But when her A-levels came around it all became too much and she just passed (C grades). A-levels are taken at 18. She went on to do a biomedical science degree at a mediocre university and got a 2.1 She then completed 5 internships, whilst working in a shop and passed her masters at a Russell group with a merit. She's now doing her PHD part time (she's 25).

However, she feels like a failure due to her a-levels and she feels despondent when applying for NHS/healthcare jobs as she feels like a failure due to her A-levels. What do I tell her as I'm not an expert. Do employers take A-levels seriously>

Unlike GCSEs, A levels have 5 proper pass grades so Cs are somewhere in the middle rather than scraped passes.