New college graduates are always looking to land the most exciting job. And one of the methods that recent college grads use to land a job is connecting with a recruiter. Either they reach out directly to a recruiting agency or they connect with a recruiter on LinkedIn.
But how do you stand apart from all of the other recent college graduates who are seeking a job? It’s a tough thing to do when there are tens of thousands of other people who are vying for the same role.
As a recent college graduate, how are you to stand apart and attract the attention of a recruiter?
Well, in order to do that it is important to know what recruiters look for in college graduates. It’s not an easy answer. It depends on what type of recruiter you’re working with as well as the type of job that the recruiter is working on.
But there are some standard, one size fits all type answers to discuss.
Does The College You Went to Matter?
So, as a general rule it does matter what school you went to. Unless you are planning on applying for a government job, or you want to work in a hospital or non-profit, then employers do care where you went to college.
And since recruiters are dealing with employers who are very picky about who they want to hire, it makes sense that they will care where you went to school. Recruiters only care about where you went to college because employers care.
There are a lot of online lists that cover the different types of college rankings. Many people are aware of these rankings, but as a rule the “big name” schools—IVYs, and other well known schools, still hold the best rating in peoples lives.
Some of the more popular college rankings include:
Other sites like Forbes are suspect (a lot of the schools on that list would not be considered a big draw).
Another thing to consider is that the recruiter might be impressed with a particular college if it has big local standing. So, while a school like Loyola might not be well known outside of California, in Cali it stands apart from the rest.
Another thing to notice is that there are recruiters who will have a preference for people who went to a good school that they know or that they went to. So, if the recruiter went to University of Michigan and you went to University of Michigan, then
Should You List Your GPA?
A lot of recent college graduates want to know if they should list their GPA on their resume. Is this something that employers ask for or is it something that’s better left off.
Well, as a general rule it’s better to not list your GPA especially if it’s not great.
If the recruiter wants to know your GPA, they will ask. And it’s not common for a recruiter to ask you what your GPA was. If they do, then you can certainly reach out to them and let them know.
However, the recruiter won’t personally care what your GPA was, they will only ask this question if they are working with a client that has a pre-interview screening question that they like to ask.
It’s not a common thing, for recruiters to ask for a GPA. And if they do ask, they won’t ask for it on your resume they will simply ask you are part of your discussion. Some recruiters might even ask you directly.
Instead of listing your GPA on your resume, what you should instead list on your resume instead are scholarships if you did receive them. This is a way to signal that you’re intelligent and hardworking without adding your GPA.
Will Sororities or Fraternities Help or Hurt You?
Another thing that recent college graduates think about is whether or not adding the Greek system to their resume will help or hurt. It's common for people in Fraternities or Sororoties to wonder if it looks good on their resume.
It will definitely help you. I covered this subject in more detail once before, but I’ll briefly summarize it here again.
When a recruiter sees that you worked for or took part in a sorority or fraternity, they know that you are someone who is a responsible, reliable, and somewhat popular. It also stands to reason that you are an extrovert to some degree.
That’s a very important factor when it comes to impressing a recruiter. Remember, recruiters are not your case managers. They are not job career counselors. Recruiters are not responsible for finding you a job.
The job of a recruiter is to make a placement and fill an open role that a company has. If you are someone who is the right person for the role that they are working on, then they will be impressed and want to work with you. If you’re not someone who is right for the role, then they won’t communicate with you.
So, it is beneficial to list sororities and fraternities on your resume.
Remember, when you are working with a recruiter, your aim is to land a professional job in a corporate setting.
Recruiters cannot get you a union job and they don’t get people jobs for the government. Those jobs are not obtained by either adding your name to a list.
But if you’re applying for corporate roles and want to be considered someone to work with then you need to impress a recruiter. Showing that you were someone who was in a Fraternity or a Sorority is going to be impressive.
Do Recruiters Look For Internships on A Resume?
Absolutely. If you do not have an internship on your resume, it’s almost impossible to attract a recruiter. What else would be on your resume?
People who work at retail or restaurants or other non-skilled jobs during their college years often have to in order to pay bills, however it does not impress recruiters or employers.
The fact is that if you want to impress people that you will be someone competent and able to work in professional environment, then you need to show that you have worked in a corporate setting.
Let’s take a look at an example:
Rebecca wants to work in Public Relations. She went to Cornell, but she never had an internship in a Public Relations firm. During the year she was active in a Sorority, and did some volunteer work. During the summers, she worked for a family friend as an au pair or maybe worked at a country club.
Natasha also wants to work in Pubic Relations. She went to a State School. She had two internships, one at a Media firm and the other at a small advertisement agency during her Junior and Senior year. While neither was sin Public Relations, she was exposed to their PR departments. During the Summer she also worked as a Lifeguard.
Kelly went to University of Michigan. She was not in a Sorority but did play a team sport. She had excellent grades (a 4.0) but never had an internship. She traveled with her friends during the Summer and spent time playing sports and volunteering for sports leagues for youths.
Who of these people would most likely be contacted by a recruiter for a PR role?
Easy: Natasha. She has real world experience. She has actually worked in a corporate environment, even though it’s an internships. Rebecca has no experience and the fact that she went to Cornell doesn’t mean anything. Just because someone went to a particular college, it’s not enough to signal that they are an intelligent or hardworking person. People are admitted to college for all sorts of reasons.
And Kelly has no work experience in the corporate world nor does she have any experience beyond sports.
As you can see, it’s important to have an internship on your resume if you want to be consid
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