Hey there, just posting to let you know that Creative Assembly Australia is taking in a new batch of Testers, within the next few weeks. Basically the job is located in the Valley (Brisbane), Monday to Friday, 9am-5:30pm, ~$15 an hour. Applicants need only send me an email, you will be contacted to arrange an interview if you fill the criteria we are looking for. The general period of employment is three months, but it could be extended to 6 months.

Creative Assembly is responsible for the Total War series of games. Recently the Australian Studio produced Medieval II : Total War, which hit shelves at the end of last year, and by all accounts is one of Australia's Premium AAA games.

If you are interested in applying for this position shoot me an email and include your resume.

My Email Address is: whamilton at creative-assembly.com.au promoted forum item

Which game is this for?

Unfortunately, I cannot reveal what will be tested at this stage. Gotta love NDAs.

Here is some specific criteria the guy here is looking for. Don't be discouraged from at least applying.

Job Description

The applicant for the QA Tester role should well versed in QA practice specifically in the games industry
They must have clear written and oral communication skills as well as analytical skills.
An ideal candidate would possess a strong passion for gaming with a matched skill for organization
and effort. Bug writing skills will have to be at a high level of competency along with the ability to
correctly execute and create detailed test plans.
The applicant will spend the majority of their time following test plans, identifying and logging bugs
and communicating with the QA Manager and Lead Testers. The candidate will have to be confident
working both within a team and also independently.

Required Skills

- Familiarity with the ‘Total War’ series of games
- Preferably have experience in QA games testing
- Exceptional attention to detail and an eye for quality
- Excellent communication skills
- A team player who has a disciplined and professional work ethic

Desired Skills

- Familiar with Test Track Pro
- Build creation
- Programming/scripting skills
- Experience of working in QA Games Testing

Duties

- Carry out work as instructed by the QA Manager and/or QA Senior Testers
- Test CA games for usability, functionality, design, and compatibility flaws.
- Proactively work with the rest of the team to ensure that the quality of work the QA
department produces is of a consistently high standard.
- Manage test plans.
- Identify, troubleshoot, and descriptively file bugs.
- Communicate clearly with the QA Manager and the rest of the development staff.
- Work overtime as and when required

last edited by Draxy at 18:04:35 01/Feb/07

Hi Draxy

Hey there, where you working now?

he works for ford

nyet, i work for the government now

I find people who say "I work for the Government" generally aren't happy revealing the actual job title they have =] Tell me you your not IT support at a public school or something (not that theres anything wrong with that).

I'd apply but I hear that assoc producer you guys have is like a slave driver!

As a feeler put out there for anyone interested, what would desirable qualities/qualifications be for said job?

Updated the second post with some details.

- Familiarity with the ‘Total War’ series of games

so its a medieval 2 expansion then?

done

As a feeler put out there for anyone interested, what would desirable qualities/qualifications be for said job?

u didnt want my job :(

sniff sniff

how could anyone work with a man as hot as you for 8 hours spook, i mean come on

last edited by paveway at 22:40:15 01/Feb/07

Sorry spooky :/, large shards of glass decided to embed themselves in my feet recently and so I havn't been as mobile as I would like to have been.

I have learned a lesson about sharp objects and feet though :/

is this a 3/6 month contract with no chance of extention? also. what is the career aspects like?

i wouldn't mind doing game testing, but only if it lead into a real it career.

So u just sit there and play the video game for 9 hours a day and write down any bugs u find?

Hopefully they remake Shogun!

I got an email from QUT advertising these positions too. :( I'm no good at programming hahaha

You dont need to be able to program to be a QA tester.

The majority of the work is what Le Cock said, simply play the game, and write down bugs. Next day youll be told that some of these bugs have been fixed, so you play it again and check and then you find more bugs and you report those.

you could spend 9 hours a day playing the same mission over and over and over again so its not like playing the entire game through all day long :P

mywhitewolf, QA testing probably wouldnt lead you into a career in IT. You might be able to eventually go somewhere else, like, design or something if your good at it and the company your employed with has positions but I dont see it as a shining career path. Correct me if Im wrong anyone.

I'm seeing this as a way into the industry, as I'm not having much luck getting games programming jobs in Brisbane. I suppose if you're like me and you have some sort of games qualitifications like a bachelor in animation or something, its a start.

Certainly much better than the job i've got atm.

Hopefully if i get the job itll open some opportunities to get into a games programming job since I've already got the qualifications.

QA/testing is the help desk of the games dev industry

mywhitewolf, QA testing probably wouldnt lead you into a career in IT.

I just want to qualify this statement. QA in a games company might not lead you into a career in IT, but it’s a huge career in industry. If CA is using professional QA tools, then it could be an awesome step into a large and robust part of the IT industry.

You might be able to eventually go somewhere else, like, design or something if your good at it and the company your employed with has positions

Again, a qualification … You might be able to into design or some other aspect of development within a game studio from a start in QA. However, in industry you normally need at least some experience in those areas and/or education.

but I dont see it as a shining career path. Correct me if Im wrong anyone.

A lot of game studio’s hire out of QA, simply because they know that person works hard, has passion and is – in all probability – likable. I don’t think it’s a sure fire career starter.

I'm seeing this as a way into the industry, as I'm not having much luck getting games programming jobs in Brisbane. I suppose if you're like me and you have some sort of games qualitifications like a bachelor in animation or something, its a start.

Please forgive me if I’m wrong, but I have this impression that you’re a suck programmer? If I’m mistaken, then I’m truly sorry … but wasn’t it just a few months ago you were doing introductory level programming in C/C++?

I just want to qualify this statement. QA in a games company might not lead you into a career in IT, but it’s a huge career in industry. If CA is using professional QA tools, then it could be an awesome step into a large and robust part of the IT industry.

Thats exactly right, sorry I should have worded it better. To me the games development stuff doesnt come under IT, but thats just me.

AS for needing qualifications to work on games, thats pretty untrue. It helps sure, but if you can prove that you can do what they want, they wont give a s***.

Animators arnt hugely sought after as much as someone like a awesome programmer or designer or something. Heck, a project with 70 people might only have 3 animators.

anyway, enough rambling, Im simply voicing a "imo" of what iv seen in the industry.

If it's anything like the movie "Grandma's Boy" then count me in!

Last time I posted here for QA Positions a number of questions about QA and the industry came up. For those who would like a job in the industry I will paste what I wrote then and hope it helps in some way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basically Q.A. is one of the few ways to break into the games industry in Australia. There's literally hundreds of qualified people out there working at places like Petrol stations, Woolworths etc with so much talents and un-tapped skill because of how small the industry is here in Oz. Coders and animators have progressed from Q.A. simply because they learn how the development environment works. Someone who understands these processes and has experience in a professional games studio is more likely to get a job, then someone stepping out of uni with a degree in I.T. in almost all cases.

This position is basically a starting block and as you will find, you normally have to start at the bottom, just to get a foot in the door. So if your passionate about the games industry I'd suggest you give it a shot. A few weeks and you have something that looks great on your resume, and possibly have the chance to stay on for bigger and better things. On the same topic, you would be one of the first to hear about new positions at Creative Assembly and are more likely to get the job because the staff would know you and how you work.

As for Q.A. being a s*** job, it really depends on a few things. There are quite a few different aspects of Q.A. For example, the whole sitting there playing a small scope of a game for weeks on end... that's a very rare form of testing, hardly used in the industry any more. It's a good way to burn people out I guess. But basically Play testing on a game like Medieval 2: Total War, would involve following test plans, playing through entire campaigns and so on. As with all quality software, there are regression tests, but these are very simple to carry out and so on. Some guys maybe playing the multiplayer games and making suggestions on balancing aspects and reporting any desync issues. Without going to far into the details, Q.A. is an oppertunity and one you shouldn't scoff as a rubbish position. Most professionals in the industry started with Q.A. as the launching pad.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for the last batch of testers, one has gone to Design, one to programming and a few got full time contracts as well. I know its not alot of jobs, but hell there arent alot of jobs in australia in game dev.

AS for needing qualifications to work on games, thats pretty untrue. It helps sure, but if you can prove that you can do what they want, they wont give a s***.

I didn't mean to refer directly to game development; I was still talking in Industry. I.E. It would be extremely rare for someone to go from QA (in either industry or games dev) to being a designer. With the exception of someone who had prior design experience or education.

Also, most people truly don’t get the term design. Most often when you hear someone say “I designed […]”, it isn’t designed. In general, what they often mean is “I’ve engineered it”, or “I pulled this out of my arse but it looks/feels/plays/runs well created this”. It’s the basic trinity of development (art/design/engineering).

As for not needing an education to make games … personally, I think that’s one of the problems of the games industry.

Please forgive me if I’m wrong, but I have this impression that you’re a suck programmer? If I’m mistaken, then I’m truly sorry … but wasn’t it just a few months ago you were doing introductory level programming in C/C++?

Um I just finished a games programming degree...... and the game I worked on won was Final Justice which won the GameConnect Asia Pacific Independent Games Award. And I've been coding C++ for at least two years.

last edited by эδєє at 16:21:13 02/Feb/07

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Final_Justice.jpg

Um I just finished a games programming degree

Doesn't mean anything. I've seen plenty of people who finishing programming degree's who can't program. UQ, QUT, GU, QANTM ... you name it, I've seen lame f***ers graduate.

and the game I worked on won was Final Justice which won the GameConnect Asia Pacific Independent Games Award. And I've been coding C++ for at least two years.

Honest question. I’m pretty good friends with Khel, and I heard an awful lot about that project. If I went up to khel and said “Hey, Khel, you dirty homo, how would you rate 3dee as a programmer on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being ‘he’s a ninja’ and 1 being ‘he sucks big bits of meaty s***”, where would you rate?

lol I too know all about Final Justice and its epic journey of development..

I have quite a few friends in the industry at Krome, Halfbrick and CA. QA is a good job if you can get through it and be promoted to a higher position like test lead or something, moving on from there (imagine being QA Manager for some huge EA Games! though you would need to be pretty exp to get to that point I guess lol), you can go a long way in QA, it's not just limited to the s***kicker position for the rest of your job there...

lol I too know all about Final Justice and its epic journey of development

O Rly? How?

typo you're 100% correct I've done a few c# subjects and still can't program C# even though I got 6s in them. university for the real world my ass

I'm Mike, Adam's housemate, met you on new years lol

(imagine being QA Manager for some huge EA Games!

Do not incite lies into these innocent peoples minds!

Clearly QA Manager for EA does not exist, because 98% EA games suck so much s*** that clearly nobody tested them before they were released.

I'm Mike, Adam's housemate, met you on new years lol

Ohhhhhhhh ok, I didn't realise you were partyhat, I thought you used a different name, my bad.

I'm Mike, Adam's housemate, met you on new years lol

?!

typo you're 100% correct I've done a few c# subjects and still can't program C# even though I got 6s in them. university for the real world my ass

The only thing I blame universities for is passing them. The fact that people graduate a degree and not understand a core aspect of the degree is the individuals fault. I mean, if you’re doing a programming centric subject, and you can’t program … it’s your fault. You should have transferred to something that you’re actually suited to do.

---
3dee, any answer?

whats with all the question marks?

Clearly QA Manager for EA does not exist, because 98% EA games suck so much s*** that clearly nobody tested them before they were released.

They have an inveritable f***-tonne of testers. For a s***-brick game like Catwoman, EA had nearly 50 testers. Talking to the permanent QA staff there (lead testers) they also got shares in the company on a yearly basis. They work for s*** wages, but when they get out, they are very, very wealthy.

Would highly recommend QA to anyone who wants to break into the industry, or anyone who has f*** all else to do.

The only thing I blame universities for is passing them

The difference in the amount of work required to get a pass grade and a 7 is absolutely enormous for most scientific-oriented (read: non-IT) courses I've encountered. The actual difference in knowledge gained is just as large, to the point where I think those aiming for a pass are closer to being spectators than students.

Sometimes "just passing" is no problem, where you just want a degree to seal your qualifications when you are already employed somewhere good while studying.

But yes, you can get by drinking beer, playing FEAR/cs and watching s***loads of TV and pass without much effort (hey, I did this for a few years), but getting a 7 ... need to make plenty of sacrifices :/

The difference in the amount of work required to get a pass grade and a 7 is absolutely enormous for most scientific-oriented (read: non-IT) courses I've encountered. The actual difference in knowledge gained is just as large, to the point where I think those aiming for a pass are closer to being spectators than students.

I totally agree with almost everything you’ve said here. The only thing I don’t agree with is your separation of it courses. The vast majority of later IT courses require a metric f***ton of work to gain a seven compared to a 4. People who aim for 4’s shouldn’t be in University. Getting a pass in a subject should only happen in your first year – when you’re still getting to understand what it’s all about – or very occasionally.

Essentially, only people who are lazy, a dips*** or people who should never have gone to university aim for 4’s. End of list.

Sometimes "just passing" is no problem, where you just want a degree to seal your qualifications when you are already employed somewhere good while studying.

Then you’re still wasting your time. People who are already uber – because of external reasons, such as work – don’t just get a 4, they get higher marks; usually 5’s or 6’s.

But yes, you can get by drinking beer, playing FEAR/cs and watching s***loads of TV and pass without much effort (hey, I did this for a few years), but getting a 7 ... need to make plenty of sacrifices :/

I never said anything to disagree with this statement.

People who aim for 4’s shouldn’t be in University. Getting a pass in a subject should only happen in your first year – when you’re still getting to understand what it’s all about – or very occasionally.

screw you fatty

i had better things to do than spend all my spare time studying

typo: pic pic pic and I'm currently developing a scripting language + vm. I'm by no means saying my portfolio is absolutely amazing but at least I have an active interest in figuring s*** out for myself and making it as good as I can at the time.

There's people who can get a gpa of 4 and have s*** portfolio coz they never actually bother coding outside uni, thens theres people who get 4's but actually have an idea about lots of thing coz they are constantly wanting to learn and try stuff then try bigger and better stuff and on and on.

In the first year of the degree, the people who never bothered figuring out stuff on their own would keep on coming up to me (and some other coders) saying how the hell do you do all that stuff?? And I'm like, err you err TEACH YOURSELF.

People who are already uber – because of external reasons, such as work – don’t just get a 4

Yeah but if they've got a job, then their argument usually is "why should I go through a textbook to solve problems that's not in my specific field/line of work?" or "it's just a stupid piece of paper you get in the end, doesn't prove anything".

So they stop trying :/

I never said anything to disagree with this statement.

I wasn't implying that there was disagreement. Just stating my experiences, that's all.

Yeah but if they've got a job, then their argument usually is "why should I go through a textbook to solve problems that's not in my specific field/line of work?" or "it's just a stupid piece of paper you get in the end, doesn't prove anything".

So they stop trying :/

Unless they've got a fantastic job with near endless levels of advancement then they've got plenty to learn from University.

Although, it's their loss.

Just stating my experiences, that's all.

I agree with it completely. There is a massive difference between 6/7 students and pass students. For one, most 6/7 students get good jobs not long after they graduate, while pass students don't. I suppose revenge is a dish best served cold :P

last edited by typo at 23:40:15 03/Feb/07

screw you fatty

i had better things to do than spend all my spare time studying

Your pass degree obviously did so much for your career…

---

3dee’s pointless text

That doesn’t answer my question or even prove your point. I asked you a simple question; If I asked Khel how he would rate you on a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being “you’re a ninja” and 1 being “a project would do better without you”, where would you be?

Stop being a prick typo. I hardly think grandstanding against a green grad who probably works at woolies is a fair e-fight :).

As far as I know, animators make good money, *if*, you can get the work.
Don't need to bash your head against a wall at uni doing irrelevant subjects for years either. Just need focus.
This job seems like a pretty relevant way to get into the industry to me.. Even if it doesn't last you have it on your resume and you'll get handy contacts. And! it doesn't _sound_ like real work :)

Not to sound like a prick or anything, I'm genuinely curious about this, but do people REALLY go into animation and programming from QA? I mean, realistically, how often does that sort of thing happen? I've heard a lot of people who graduated at the same time as me saying they're aiming to get a QA job so they can get into "the industry" and then work their way up, but is there really a path to work your way up into programming or animation from QA? I would have thought if you worked hard in QA, you would just get promoted higher in QA, cos I don't imagine there'd really be much opportunity for people to show off their programming or animation skills doing QA.

So all marketing and company lines aside, does QA actually give people an avenue to move into programming and animation or do they just say that to get people to do QA? I'm not dissing QA or anything, I'm just wondering if people who are aiming at getting a QA job and working up to an animation/programming job are barking up the wrong tree or not.

As a tutor I had a lengthy discussion with a first year student whose goal was to get into the games industry. So there are definitely those who want to take that path - I said there are many roles in a gaming development company and to be frank the IT degree can pretty much only lead to one of them at best (i.e. programming) provided of course that you get s*** hot at programming (meaning taking on your own projects beyond uni work) and get significant work experience.

The computer science concepts in the IT degree can help you be a great coder if you pay attention sure, but it isn't an ideal path to the games industry and nor does it really claim to be.

Well, 'games programming' from an Animator's perspective may be tieing together the mechanics of a particular model/state machine. I don't know. I'm not an animator!
It is definitely possible to work from the (outer!) edge into the middle. At the very least, being in the environment, you get a clue for how things actually work and can adapt accordingly.

It's true that if you don't work at uni you will typically spend a couple of years out s***kicking in the wilderness. Personally, I think direction and passion, and the courage to implement changes at the right time, is as important as high grades (says he with 4s) As long as you know where you want to go, the hows of achieving those goals will present themselves in time.

lol typo, i question your social/personal skills if you place such as strong emphasis on education and academic achievement for success

its not what you know, its who you know.

how long have you been working for anyway? i'm guessing three years max?

how long have you been working for anyway? i'm guessing three years max?

yes, i too would like to know how long you have had the best IT job in the world due to your super smarts

I'd prolly be getting more luck with an actual programming job if I could move interstate. But I can't, I'm simply not in a financial position to be able to move to get a job. At the moment, there isn't much opportunity for graduate games programmers in Brisbane. Of the few companies (i.e. pandemic, krome, thq, halfbrick..), most of them were only looking for senior or lead programmers with tons of experience. Tho i sent my resume/portfolio anyway.

It could be better to do a small QA job to get a scope for what REAL game development studios + workflow is like so then you know what to expect.

Developing for my first proper game was a nightmare when you'd have 30 people in a room constantly blabbering on about jacks*** and making stupid loud noises 9 hours a day. I don't proclaim to know what a studio work environment is like, but I doubt they'd subject their programmers to that kind of constant interruption and disturbance.

Thats half the reason why I just could not get work done half the time. Khel and a few others can probably agree with me.

Stop being a prick typo. I hardly think grandstanding against a green grad who probably works at woolies is a fair e-fight :).

I’m only picking on him, if he isn’t good. In fact, I’m leaving myself open for a huge owning; if Khel comes into this thread and says “typo, leave 3dee alone … he was a f***ing huge asset for my team”; then I’ll have absolutely no high ground to defend myself from.

lol typo, i question your social/personal skills if you place such as strong emphasis on education and academic achievement for success

Then it’s obvious you don’t know me, or of me, at all.

its not what you know, its who you know.

Sure, but if your known to be a slacker who doesn’t get any work, then you don’t normally go too far - unless your dad was Kerry Packer or the like.

Kids who work hard at University are given more opportunities to get to know people who can make opportunities happen. I’ve seen it time and time again, the best students have all come out into extremely good jobs considering their qualifications, compared to “pass students” who, for the most part, are still scrabbling to get something better than lvl 1 level helpdesk

how long have you been working for anyway? i'm guessing three years max?

I worked on and off for 10 years before going to Uni, part time for 3 and a half years while I was at Uni and pretty much constantly since I graduated; in some pretty swish places too.

yes, i too would like to know how long you have had the best IT job in the world due to your super smarts

I worked for 2 years at the Australasian Centre for Interaction Design, 4 years for a usability firm in Brisbane, almost 6 months at Boeing until I was head hunted by my current employer.

Essentially, the majority of these positions opened up the doors to the position following. The only exception was my current gig, who didn’t even know I was Boeing when they said “come work for us”

Vote that Khel says 3dee was s***-hot even if he wasn't just so Typo shuts the f*** up.

Vote that Khel says 3dee was s***-hot even if he wasn't just so Typo shuts the f*** up.

That's an oh so bright move. Make an antagonizing remark to someone who enjoys arguing.

its not what you know, its who you know.

That's a generalisation that I find misused very often.

I'd argue that if your academic record is very good, many people will be rushing to know YOU, giving you more initial and ongoing contacts than through industry/work-related activities alone. It's all about maximising your opportunities.

last edited by parabol at 12:30:07 04/Feb/07

ok, i can agree having a good academic record is one way to having a 'successful' career

but its not the only way

besides, i think the truely successful people are those that enjoy what they're doing and do it well.



last edited by Strange Rash at 13:57:25 04/Feb/07

ok, i can agree having a good academic record is one way to having a 'successful' career

but its not the only way

I'm not saying it's just "one path" that you take exclusively. I'm implying that it can make a healthy contribution to your career on top of your normal methods of contact-making and job-finding.

As I said, it's "maximising your opportunities" and not limiting yourself.

A lot of people here are talking about the importance of a good academic record... Unless you're the kind of faggy prick who goes around bragging about getting 7's (and providing evidence), how can somebody know your academic record?

As for the grades and effort discussion, I think it is heavily reliant upon the field of your degree. I put no effort in during first year and got pass/credits, I put no effort in now and get credits, distinctions and even some HD's. Maybe i'm just ubah?

how can somebody know your academic record?

Hate to sound obvious, but from your Resume when you apply for a job?

No need to brag about specific grades (who really cares about the details), but if you've got an Honours level or a couple of awards for specific projects or activities.. then you can summarise and jot them down very briefly.

I wouldn't go much further than that nor specify GPAs unless required. After a couple of years you could probably drop most of those details from your resume as they won't matter anymore once you have enough experience.

last edited by parabol at 15:29:04 04/Feb/07

not one employer or potential employer has ever asked to see my marks (luckily)

i had to admit my s***ty overall gpa (although a good late performance) to a prospective employer recently and I got away with it

but yes i'd prefer not to have to deal with that awkwardness

'brain smarts' does not always equal 'can do'. i've seen it time and time again.

ok, i can agree having a good academic record is one way to having a 'successful' career

but its not the only way

besides, i think the truely successful people are those that enjoy what they're doing and do it well.

I’m not saying otherwise, but the safest position is to be passionate and educated. If you’re just passionate then you’ve got to do all of the hard work yourself. With education, someone helps you shortcut though some of the harder stuff – and some of the easier stuff – and then gives you a letter of introduction that says “Typo can do all this s*** and can do it well.”

On a side but related point: When you look at the statistics on the matter, education is a massive element of successful people. I don’t have the ABS statistics on me – or a link to the ones I used – but on average people with post school education – that’s any type of education – are on average likely to start on a higher than median wage.

not one employer or potential employer has ever asked to see my marks (luckily)

There’s two really easy answers why: 1) When you graduated you didn’t apply for graduate positions because you knew your marks were s***. 2) Your marks are obvious on your resume – no prises, no commendations, no honours year. Of course, now you’ve been graduated for a few years and working, it isn’t as important. At least you’ve set yourself in your type of career.

'brain smarts' does not always equal 'can do'. i've seen it time and time again.

Getting a 5 or a 6 doesn’t equate to “brain smarts’ it equates to “doing a good job of it’. That being said, every student I know who’s gpa was averaging around 6 all did have ‘can do’ ability and are now proving it in industry. While most of the people who went “'brain smarts' does not always equal 'can do'.” aren’t

---

Lastly – seeing I had to justify my point, could spook and strange rash like to cough up how long they’ve been working for and some sort of loose idea to what kind of work they are doing? Actually, it would be great to know your course, how well you did and how difficult it was to get their first job.

im currently the manager/technical resource of the scanning department, but only on secondment (ie management training, work wants me to have management experience)

usually im a perl/dialogue programmer for a print house, we use various windows and unix technologies to get the job done

its varied and interesting work, all our projects are extremely short timewise, its about getting the job setup and working and moving onto the next project. there is very little time for testing or doing things propperly

im sure i could leave and earn more money (like most of the programmers that have come through our work), but i like the people at work, and i like the job and conditions, have been in current job for 10 years

i wanted to work for the government when i finished my degree (ba IT from qut)
so applied for pretty much only government jobs for 6 months, didnt get any joy from any of them (did complete super mario world on the 64 during this period, all 120 stars)

started applying for private sector jobs and got the one where i am now pretty much straight away

im sure i could leave and earn more money (like most of the programmers that have come through our work), but i like the people at work, and i like the job and conditions, have been in current job for 10 years

That's the most important thing about working. Working for a pack of c***s is the worst thing, no matter how much money you are earning.

i agree

'brain smarts' does not always equal 'can do'. i've seen it time and time again.

You don't need to be that smart to get a 6 at uni seriously. It's all about the time and effort you put into your study, your "smarts" probably made up about 5% of the actual grade, the rest is all time spending studying. This is probably true for most people. Generally good grade means you worked hard at uni so as an employer looking to filled for grads positions I would want to know that if anything else the kids will work their arses off given the chance seeing that they don't have much of industry experience to speak of.

Naturally that will changed after the grads becomes experienced. Nobody will ask for your GPA for non-grads positions (why would they), the selection criteria for experience positions are usually different.

Of course your attitude/work ethics at uni and your actual work ethics after uni could be completely different - me, I don't really care too much about uni as I went back to do it because I thought I could improve my skills (which it did some what).

Just my $0.02.