Graduating from one of Canada’s top universities in 2005, I was confronted by a major problem: What was I going to do next?
The obvious answer, of course, was to enter the workforce. But how?
I had a degree in Economics with above-average grades, a summer internship under my belt, and was very active on campus. But the dozens of employers on campus weren’t knocking down my door.
And I wasn’t the only one in this position. Taking a sample of 6 of my university classmates, all of whom were in Arts or Engineering programs, not a single one of us was recruited on-campus.
Without any previous plans to do so, 4 of us went on to grad-school, and in the end, when we did enter the work-force, it was through a connection.
This suggests a major problem; each year, as over 300,000 graduates enter the work-force, a significant portion of high-potential, high-energy, mouldable, low-cost talent is going unnoticed.
How can we fix this problem?
In short, by ‘recruiting outside the lines’. By looking at degree titles and grades as secondary to the core skills attained while earning them; By looking beyond direct work experience and into life experience.
By realizing that you’re not hiring us for what we already know, but for what we have the potential to do.
Employers that look beyond the obvious will discover a vast pool of talent with backgrounds from a wide variety of degree subjects, uniquely armed with the superior analytical skills required to be truly remarkable members of your team.
Important points for employers:
- Don’t worry too much about what we already know: We graduates are eager to learn. You can train us in your systems, policies, culture, and yes, even teach us the skills required for the job, on the job.
- Focus on our potential: As new-comers in the workplace, we are uniquely qualified to hit the ground running, contribute with energy, and solve new and complex problems through unique innovations.
- Look beyond direct work experience: The fact is, the majority of students are smart, energetic, resourceful and ambitious, and that combination means that Work Experience shouldn’t always be a necessity. Instead, employers should look for demonstrated interest in all areas of a new-grad’s background.
Look at what Penelope Trunk has to say about direct work experience
- Encourage ‘resume-ing outside the lines’: In the summer after my third year, I did an internship at a major Canadian bank. Several years before that, I decided I wanted to be an actress and as a result, bought a domain and started a web community for young actors. I also appeared in two commercials.
Which of these experiences do you think comes first on my traditional resume? The Banking Internship.
And which more accurately sends employers the correct signals about my potential in their company? My acting ‘phase’.
The point is- by encouraging ‘resume-ing outside the lines’, you’re encouraging students to sell themselves far more appropriately and giving them the freedom to present the most accurate signals of their potential is within your organization.
I love Seth Godin’s take on resumes. Though it may be too extreme to work today. TalentCards on TalentEgg are a happy medium - ‘Recruit outside the lines’: Look at degree titles and grades as secondary to the core skills we attained while earning them. University is not ‘career-prep’, but it IS an environment that fosters analytical thinking, the principles of responsibility and independence, and the development of leadership skills - all skills that make new-grads exceptionally high-potential candidates.
In today’s new-grad market, there’s more to hiring than business degrees and grades, and the employers that embrace this and ‘recruit outside the lines’, are likely to be the ones with the most diverse, innovative workforces in the years to come.
I run TalentEgg on this principle.
