The Leader

Issue date: 11/8/06 Section: News

Career websites can both help and hinder college students when they are frantically searching for jobs prior to and after graduation.

While websites like MonsterTRAK and CareerBuilder seem to be offering helpful hints and tips to getting a job, Thomas Bachhuber of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Career Development Center warns against them.

Bachhuber said those websites can be misleading to students in the fact that they are vague and leave a lot of variables undefined.

MonsterTRAK recently announced the top five occupations for college graduates with the number one being in business operations, human resource and financial services. Most specifically in this category are accounting jobs.

The top five list of jobs is as follows:

1. business operations, HR and financial services
2. sales and marketing
3. office, administrative and customer support
4. architecture and engineering-electrical and mechanical engineers are highest in demand
5. computer, information technology and mathematical

MonsterTRAK specifically called their announcement "Top Five Hottest Occupations for Entry-Level
Professionals." Bachhuber questions this because of the fact that "hottest" is undefined. Also, there is no evidence as to where this information came from.

"There are many other variables and questions," Bachhuber said. "Business operations can be defined in multiple ways, [for example] technical support, business systems development/management, IT, MIS. It also leads students to incorrectly think if they major in one of those areas, they will have more success in job hunting."

Bachhuber said it is not that simple.

When applying for any job, recent studies have found that 70 percent of hiring managers check the applicants' grade point average, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

A high GPA is also important to keep in mind when applying for graduate school. The minimum GPA varies from school to school. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee many graduate programs require a GPA of 3.0 in the major.

Although employers look at a students' GPA there are many other determining factors when hiring.

The most important characteristics to employers, according to CareerBuilder.com are: relevant experience, having a good fit with company culture, educational background, enthusiasm and offering new ideas to the company.

"Employers like 3.0 GPA's, but more importantly, employers want leadership, initiative, team, and communication skills all demonstrated through activities, projects, volunteering, community, internships, part-time jobs, etc," Bachhuber said. "[And] of course, the technical or other job specific requirements must be met."

Candidates with various extracurricular activities and a good GPA will stand out amongst others.

However, employers often keep in mind that many college students work 20-40 hours a week while attending school a CareerBuilder.com press release said. This may have a negative affect a student's GPA.

Bachhuber said the most important thing in searching for a job is for the individual to "develop their own personal job market."

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