Why are your grades important?

Below is the formula used by TÜBİTAK to rank and filter job applicants before an interview:

If the score that comes out of this equation is less than 3.2, you will not even be considered. 

The effect of CGPA on the score is constant and direct. A one-unit increase in CGPA results in an exact one-unit increase in the score, regardless of the value of x. Mathematically:

The effect of x (exam rank) on the score is non-linear, negative, and diminishes rapidly as x increases. Mathematically:

This means the score is highly sensitive to small changes in x when x is small (e.g., x=100), but becomes insensitive to changes in x when x is large. As your exam rank increases, CGPA becomes more important to differentiate you from others with similar exam ranks.

Here are the plots for two different regions, x = 100...1000 and x = 1000...50000:

Let’s say your Turkish university exam rank was 50,000. Then you would need a CGPA of at least 3.2 – 10,000 / 50,000 = 3.0 (75%) just to satisfy the minimum criteria, which might still not be enough. If  you can't make it to the interview, it doesn’t matter how good you are in other areas.

On the other hand, if your exam rank was 500, you wouldn’t need to worry about your CGPA, because 10,000 / 500 = 20.

As you can see, the university entrance exam rank has the greatest impact because it is a more objective criterion than CGPA, since the difficulty of earning good grades varies widely across universities. However, university entrance stage is long past for most of you, so now you should focus on your CGPA.

If your score is above 3.2, you are added to the the ranking list. For example, if five people are to be hired, typically the top 4×5 = 20 applicants (ranked by their scores) are selected for interviews. If, let's say, your score is 3.3 but there are more than 20 people with higher scores, you will still not be called for an interview.

If you make it to the shortlist, you move on to the interview stage, where your engineering, past projects and communication skills become more important than your CGPA. But to get the opportunity to demonstrate your skills, you need good grades.

To maximize your chances of getting job interviews, keep your CGPA high. If you exam rank is more than 20000, aim for a CGPA above 3.5. A minor/major in another field is not worth the effort. Do extra projects only after you have a very high CGPA.

27.10.2025: In the latest interview batch, 30 recent graduates were invited for 6 engineering positions. They were ranked according to the formula above, and the lowest score (the 30th candidate) was 4.2. A student with a CGPA of 3.7 and an exam rank of 40K had a score of 10K/40K + 3.7 = 3.95 and was not invited to the interview, since his score was less than 4.2. In this case, only a CGPA close to 4.0 would have placed him on the list.