Internships now key to hiring decisions

Companies are using new approaches to make hiring decisions on recent college graduates, advises Timothy Luzader, director of the Center for Career Opportunities at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. The typical employment interview has changed, he explains.

"The old 'What do you want to be doing in five years?' has been replaced by 'Give me an example of a problem you've faced and how you solved it.'"

This reflects a persistent trend over the past three or four years of an increased emphasis by employers on internships. Luzader reports internships used to be number five or seven on employers' lists, but now experience is a solid number one.

"Companies today court interns and provide them with a long-term positive experience with significant challenges," Luzader points out. "The goal is to convert these interns and retain them as permanent employees."

Luzader emphasizes that there are no sure-fire majors or guaranteed-for-life jobs anymore--if there ever were--but there is one bankable employment certainty. "A college education is a rock-solid investment," Luzader says. "The college major is less important than the skills and perspective students acquire along the way."

Employers rank writing and speaking ability as the top skill they seek in new employees. Then comes decisionmaking, analytical skills, and problem solving.

People skills are important as well, Luzader emphasizes. "This generation that is so comfortable with computers needs to do more face-to-face social networking. No matter how much technology is available, getting a job will nearly always be what we call a 'high-touch' endeavor."

COPYRIGHT 2006 Society for the Advancement of Education
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning