Why do employers ask for my Alevels?

sh4rk said:
You'll be surprised how many big companies will....

The first stages are normally done with electronic forms online, and if you don't meet the requirements you often get automatically rejected.

It's not the ideal system by any means, but unfortunately that's how it works.
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I'm well aware, it's true for placements at university as well.
But in my experience they're happy to accept your CV and application by post or email if their forms don't allow you to fill in an application truthfully.
For example my partners on a placement currently, where the entry requirements had been set automatically at AAA, where as I think she got CCC. She called them and told them she couldn't enter her results on the form, and really wanted to apply, so just sent a CV.
 
vonhelmet said:
All the jobs I've gone for have asked for my A-Levels, though the most recent one didn't ask to see the certificates, which made a nice change.

Fine by me, as my A-Levels were pretty much the height of my academic career.
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i dont mind if they ask -

i suspect its because the recuiter may only have up to A level education and therefore can relate to them - less than BBB = dosser. better = good potential.

etc being an AAB student myself on full A levels (not AS levels), and 2.1 business degree i dont have many fears when it comes to CV work.
 
If you have genuinely gained a 1st then either be up front or lie depending how you feel; I have yet to meet anyone who's employer wanted to see the certificates and having done well at uni, they are less likely to want to see them IMO.
 
Although you have a degree your A-levels results also show how your dealt with a wider range of study. In my experience, the further along the lne of education you go, the narrower the field of study. Therefore, your A-levels show how you performed when that field was wider. Remember, companies may not only want you to fill one exact tole, they're looking for potential too (hopefully).

Having conducted some interviews recently (as an employer) A-level results are good question points (esp when they are poor but degrees are good) and can speak volumes to motivation etc.

I have a good degree and a PhD too, didn't do great at A-level (drink & women) but use that too my advantage in interviews. I know it works for me at least (from feedback).

Good luck anyway.
 
Moses99p said:
I think I got DDD, but am on an AAA course. Sooooo, if I put my A levels they'd assume I'm at a rubbish uni, using your logic.
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Not my logic. Just the rationale for the filter. If it didn't work for 99% of cases, the big companies wouldn't be using it.

Plus you didn't get DDD from what I've read. And I don't see how a person getting DDD would get into an AAA course unless its an oxbridge matriculated offer and then you proceeded to screw up big time.
 
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Thunderbolt said:
I'm well aware, it's true for placements at university as well.
But in my experience they're happy to accept your CV and application by post or email if their forms don't allow you to fill in an application truthfully.
For example my partners on a placement currently, where the entry requirements had been set automatically at AAA, where as I think she got CCC. She called them and told them she couldn't enter her results on the form, and really wanted to apply, so just sent a CV.
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Yeah, as you say you can usually find some way around the online forms, but depends on the company.
 
I'd put in the subjects, but forget to include the grades. If your asked about them, be open about the grades and emphasise the "Bad kid come good, gave myself a kick up the backside" etc.
 
mglover070588 said:
If the degree is done at a crap university in a crap subject. Someone I used to work with at Tesco said 'Isn't uni easier than A-Levels'. I was like wtf no way!

She does social something or other at Sheff Hallam.
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Not always, the big accountancy firms put a lot of weight on A levles as the correlation between A Level results and ACA performance is greater than ACA and degree classification apparently.
 
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Only the top jobs will really care. I think I've only had my grades checked for the Accenture and IBM graduate schemes.

It shows a commitment to a work ethic from a young age. It's quite a telling factor, even if you have turned your life around from when you were at school.. some people have been putting in 100% since that time. It's not the sole factor, but who would you rather have?
 
mglover070588 said:
I am currently studying Manufacturing Engineering and Management at Loughborough.
[...]
Why on earth do some companies ask for Alevels? .
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Because you don't have a degree yet...

I guess if you get a post grad qualification then people aren't going to be too fussed - but if you're applying for grad schemes and all you've got is your 2nd year exam results, your claim that you're on course for a particular grade and maybe a nice academic reference (but no actual final degree result yet) then I guess they probably would want to know the results of the last set of qualifications you completed.
 
ghost101 said:
It's a good way of being lazy about filtering. Since there are so many university courses, making it close to impossible to know everything about them, a simple filter is UCAS points. If the course you got into is an AAA course then its quite good and if its a BBB course then its not as good.
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UCAS points are a good indicator of the popularity of a course rather than how good it is.
Engineering and hard science courses can often have lower requirements than say Law or Medicine or even "business studies" for example....
 
dowie said:
UCAS points are a good indicator of the popularity of a course rather than how good it is.
Engineering and hard science courses can often have lower requirements than say Law or Medicine or even "business studies" for example....
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I appreciate that entirely. I'm not saying its a perfect filter. But graduate job competition at financial firms for example, is so fierce that they can afford to lose that unusual student who ended up graduating 1st in his/her class after not doing so well at A-levels.

UCAS points also completely ignore subject combinations.
 
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