Q TIPS:
Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Job-hunting tips from the April 10, 2006 issue of
QuintZine.
The largest percentage of 1,200 respondents to a recent survey conducted by CollegeGrad.com
said that finding a job in their major is the most important consideration when deciding which job
offer to accept, placing finding the right type of job well ahead of other considerations,
including salary and location.
College students often spend a great deal of time and effort deciding on their college degree, including
sometimes switching majors multiple times, or dedicating their first two years of college testing out
their likes and dislikes, finally finding the best fit for their skills and personal strengths. Once a student has declared
the major that he or she will graduate with, it's usually something he or she has a vested interest in and
wants to pursue. Following are the overall survey results:
What's most important to you when choosing your first job?
Finding a job in my major: 34.2 percent
A high salary: 26.6 percent
Location: 14.6 percent
Making a difference: 12.7 percent
Company culture: 11.9 percent
For new college graduates looking to enter the work force, participating in an internship is likely to
be even more important in the future than it is now, according to a study published by
the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Nearly 1,000 college career services and HR/staffing professionals
who participated in NACE's study cited internships as an important
issue now; when asked about the importance of such programs
in the future, both college and employer respondents said internships
would be even more important.
Employers rated the current importance of "identifying talent early"
through internships and similar programs at 4.2, and rated its future
importance at 4.6, moving such programs toward the "extremely important"
end of the rating scale.
Complimentary copies of the 24-page
"The Future of College Recruiting and Hiring Executive
Summary,"
are available here
or through the home page of
NACE's web site.
From USNews.com: Those new to the job market may wonder why an employer would want a
new graduate, with so little real-world experience. For several reasons. As somebody fresh out of school,
you probably have plenty of energy and time, so you're less likely to balk when your boss gives
you a project that requires extra hours.
Your technical skills are probably more current than those of someone who has been out of
school for a couple of decades. And you're cheap: You probably cost half of what a
45-year-old expects. Even your inexperience can be a plus because an employer
needn't rid you of the "bad habits" you learned from your previous employer.
The largest percentage of 1,200 respondents to a recent survey conducted by CollegeGrad.com
said that finding a job in their major is the most important consideration when deciding which job
offer to accept, placing finding the right type of job well ahead of other considerations,
including salary and location.
