Michael VanGrinsven, Assistant Director of Recruitment & Campus Development
"When evaluating prospective new hires, we tend to look for a wide variety of activities on their resume. We look to see if they were involved in a leadership role in a campus organization; if they were part of a presentation team for a group project for class; or if they've had actual career or internship experience. Then, we are interested in how they demonstrate or relate those experiences live and in-action during the interview process."
"So, the skills we are looking for are developed in a wide variety of settings. Although accomplishments made inside the classroom are certainly important, if I had to set a priority, I would put more significance on those accomplishments from outside of class. The reason I say that is that sometimes in class settings, its hard to detect who did what. In has been our experience that its much easier for us to gauge their performance on what they've done outside the class because those things tend to be more individually driven."
"We like to see entrepreneurial experience on students' resumes. If they've actually developed their own small business - whether its painting houses, mowing lawns or providing some kind of service - this tells us a lot about that individual. In order to build a business, they've had to communicate well. They've had to figure out how they were going to say what they needed to say in a way that people would decide to do business with them."
"I think that outside work experience is really critical because working students have had to come up with creative solutions to solve problems. Therefore, I would rather see them working than not because it enables them to develop some good problem-solving skills. Also, this type of experience makes them learn how to build a network. It provides a forum where they can start building a network beyond the traditional, but limited, campus setting."
"Hopefully, whatever they're doing from a work standpoint will lend itself to a network. That way, when they graduate or get close to graduation, they have a real network to fall back on to help them with their career search. All the statistics I've seen indicate that up to 70 or 80% of all career positions are found through personal contacts. Typically, career services and the traditional means of campus recruitment account for less than 20% of that number. Therefore, whether you're on campus or ten years off campus, your ability to network is going to be critical to your professional development."
"When taking jobs off campus, students need to consider the long-term benefit of the experience. Its what I call the "residual value" of the experience. Once I leave that position, what will I have to show for my time other than some money in my pocket to pay some bills? If they can do that plus make a number of great contacts that could come back and help them in their career, then its an excellent opportunity."
"During the interview process, I also look for problem-solving skills. We try to ask questions in the interview that get beyond whether or not they possess critical thinking skills. We want someone who is going to be able to solve problems. Every company, every organization has problems. Big or small, you need people who can creatively solve them."
"I think regardless of whether students want this career or not, they've got to present themselves as a strong candidate along the way. We definitely don't like to see a lackadaisical attitude where they are just kind of going through the experience, trying to practice before trying for the job they really want. You want to be able to say 'no' as opposed to being washed out in the process."
"Probably the most
important skills we look for during the interview process are communication
skills. We look for the ability to interact and share thoughts and ideas relative
to the questions that we're asking. Also, we look at an individual's ability
to pose questions aimed at learning more about us. It is the basic element of
engaging people and interacting with people in an effective way."
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