The college years should be a time of career discovery and exploration. Students are developing a “record of achievement” that employers and graduate schools evaluate as they move beyond UMBC.
Several components of this record include:
Academic Achievement
The grade point average (GPA) is one factor considered by competitive graduate schools and employers. Some employers use GPA cutoffs in considering applicants for internships and job openings. Others stress the student's overall background including experience, number of hours worked during the academic year to finance college, leadership activities, and other key skills or attributes. However, the GPA remains one of the few tangible indications of a student’s ability to learn and perform effectively, at least in the academic environment. Therefore, students need to do as well as possible in the classroom, especially in courses in their major(s).
Continue to encourage your student to make academics a high priority. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that it may take him or her a while to adjust to the rigorous academic demands of college.
Relevant Work Experience
Recruiters are looking for candidates who are a proper fit for their culture and industry. However, without being hired full-time, how can a student demonstrate that he or she can perform at a high level on the job? The best way to impress potential employers during a job search is for students to gain and highlight relevant work experience.
In today’s competitive employment market, most employers recruit students who have related internship, cooperative education, research, summer or part-time job, or volunteer experiences.
Nearly all of the employers taking part in the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) Job Outlook 2014 Survey stated that they prefer to hire job candidates who have pertinent experience. On the other side, just 4 percent of employers said experience didn’t factor into their decision when hiring new college graduates.
For college students, relevant experience is typically gained through applied learning including internships. In fact, an internship is a great way to get your “foot in the door” to a job while developing skills and a network of contacts. In a separate NACE study regarding internships, responding organizations reported that almost half of their 2013 college hires came from their own internship programs.
Simply put, employers are looking for evidence that students can do the job. Relevant work experience provides students with that evidence.
Involvement Outside of the Classroom
Extracurricular activities provide the opportunity for students to gain valuable and career-related
skills, including the ability to work effectively in a team environment; leadership; planning
and organizational skills; and time management. These skills employers seek in their new hires.
Additionally, many employers rate leadership activities even more highly than GPA. Remind your student(s) that it is more valuable to be involved in a few meaningful leadership roles on campus than to be in a “laundry list” of many campus clubs.
Final Recommendation
Be sure to encourage your student to visit the UMBC Career Center (http://www.careers.umbc.edu/) for career guidance including internship and major exploration support.
Also, the Career Center is hosting a Summer Job and Internship Fair (http://www.careers.umbc.edu/news_events/fairs/sf2015.php) on Wednesday, February 4th from 12 to 4 pm in the University Center Ballroom. A great list of employers are attending including Amazon.com, CIA, Firaxis Games, GE, Lockheed Martin, MITRE, NIST, Peace Corps, T. Rowe Price, and World Relief. Please encourage your student to attend.