What Recruiters See in College Grads

By Barry Lawrence

As a Career Evangelist, I often have the unique opportunity to conduct polls of corporate recruiters. In fact, I'd love to get new ideas from this community about future poll questions. Just post a comment here or e-mail me: blawrence(at)jobfox(dot)com.

Recently, BetterMondays asked more than 120 recruiters about the things they most look for when hiring recent college graduates. How do employers find the brightest collegiate bulbs when there is little past professional job experience — if any — to help them predict real-work performance? More to the point: What should college graduates highlight in their resumes, cover letters and interviews?

How do employers find the brightest collegiate bulbs?

The poll results were surprising — at least for this blogger. My first instinct was that internships would top the poll. Internships are, after all, as close to real world experience as you can get. Right? Wrong. Internships came in fourth behind degree, GPA, major and school.

Then I thought about internships. How many are really indicative of future performance? As one intern said, "It's more like anyone can get them. You don't have to be the brightest bulb. You just have to know the right people."

"You don't have to be the brightest bulb. You just have to know the right people."

BullsEyeResumes — College, by Marcia Robinson, has a nice blog on getting the most out of an internship, as well as other tips for college students who want to make the most out of their first-job opportunities.

What matters most to recruiters, when it comes to hiring recent grads? Here are the poll results. BetterMondays asked: When hiring a graduate, which are the most important indicators of future success at your organization? (Recruiters had the option to select more than one indicator.) The voting was close, so college graduates need to be prepared to talk about all the indicators listed.

1. Degrees (24.6 percent)
2. Grade Point Average (22.3 percent)
3. Major (21.7 percent)
4. Relevant Internships (19.4 percent)
5. School (17.7 percent)
6. Preferred Profession (13.1 percent)
7. Foreign Language (8.0 percent)
8. Preferred Industry (7.4 percent)

In addition, 16.6 percent said other indicators were most important; nearly 9 percent said they do not hire college graduates. BetterMondays suspects that within the "other" category are the many intangibles that go into hiring decisions: communication skills, professionalism, passion, flexibility, a clear career path and positive attitude — to name a few.

As a recent college graduate, what's been your experience with internships and with interviewing for first jobs? We'd also like to hear from recruiters.

Barry Lawrence is the community advocate for BetterMondays. He is also a career and public relations evangelist at Jobfox.