GUEST POST :: Today's guest post is written by Christine Adler. Christine Adler is a USF graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree. Although her formal education is in the technical sciences, her practical background is in promotions. These diverse experiences have given her an uncommon, yet very useful, skill-set. Whether giving a presentation, launching a campaign or talking one on one with candidates or employers, Christine is always up for the task. In her free time, Christine enjoys listening to music, having good conversations with friends, trying new foods and giving back. Christine is a campaign manager for HireMeCampaign, a company offering a new and innovative approach to the job search.

As employers run through resumes searching for the perfect candidate to fill their open (entry level-ish) position they are likely to have a variety of people on their hands: The experienced but out of work, the person with 3-5 years experience looking to hop around, and of course, the recent grad.  With all these options, many people wonder why anyone would ever choose the recent grad.  Recent graduates, however, bring a lot to the table and if they fit the position, are great assets to any company or team. 

First things first: Recent graduates are hungry!  They want this first job and they want to ROCK this first job.  Notice, I didn’t say rock, I said ROCK – that’s because recent graduates have just spent 4+ years working on getting their diploma and they are now ready to do what they’ve been dreaming of.  They are ready for the paychecks, the co-workers, the long nights and the possibility of moving up in a company.  Many recent graduates recognize that they’ll be low on the totem pole and don’t take offense to it; they just want to work hard and let that degree pay off. 

In the same token, recent graduates are trainable.  Many experienced candidates (whether 3 or 25 years) have developed routines and, more times than not, some bad habits at their previous place of employment.  Some of these routines might be great but some might be different than how things need to take place at your company.  We all know that changing habits can be hard, and this is no exception.  Recent graduates have a clean slate so the way you teach them is the way they’ll do things.  To an extent, when you hire a recent graduate, you are able to mold them into the employee you’d like them to be.   Of course, their personality and individual thoughts will come out, but in terms of the “hows” and “whens” of daily operation, you should be able to train recent grads with no problem.

Finally, and this is important to remember: Recent graduate is not synonymous with lack of experience or skills!  Many recent graduates have had internships, professional roles in student organizations or even part time jobs during which they have grown into a good candidate.  No matter what the position, a good candidate will take the experiences of the past and use them to better themselves for all future endeavors.  If a recent graduate has had an internship, it’s even better.  They’ve lived the corporate life-style for at least a couple of months and had the opportunity to see, first hand, what goes on in the field.  If they’ve had internships at more than one place, they’ve seen a variety of corporate cultures and positions within the field.  This experience is invaluable and will always be helpful when training and getting the new hire accustomed to your company.

Whether you’re hiring for a large or small company, it’s important not to immediately overlook or disqualify a recent graduate.  Of course, the position must fit, but assuming that it does, I urge you to take some time to consider some of the recent graduates who have sent you their resume.  Examine the experience they do have and make sure you get the full picture of what they can bring to the table before tossing their resume aside. 

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