After years of schooling, students are now conditioned to believe that good grades will get them a good job; as if an A is equivalent to success.

If that’s truly the case, then it’s reasonable to assume that a student who proves their dedication to education by pulling straight-A’s will be more favorable in the workplace, right?

Wrong.

Grades don’t measure success; they only measure one’s ability to submit to the rules and regulations imposed in our education institutions.

Don’t get me wrong, I think grades do hold some level of importance, but one needs to keep in mind that test scores and GPA’s are produced within an artificial academic environment.

That’s why it’s hard for some students to realize that all of the A’s accumulated during college don’t hold the same value in careers and future professions.

I’m not foolish enough to expect to land a job after graduation simply because of my glowing transcripts, a precaution that’s been justified by Lazso Bock, the person in charge of hiring employees for Google, during his interview with The Times this past June.

“GPA’s are worthless as a criteria for hiring,” said Bock. “Your ability to perform at Google is completely unrelated to how you performed when you were in school.”

Forget trying to protect a straight-A streak or high GPA; instead, check out the full interview to see what real criteria employers like Bock are looking for in future employees.

Valerie Teegardin can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @vteegardin.