Campus Recruiting Isn’t Fair
Many students choose accounting because they hear about a stable and secure career path. However, what many college students don't understand is that the security, security and stability come with experience. It is incredibly important for accounting students to find a job upon graduation so they can start on their career path, but it's not always easy. As a college instructor myself, I can tell you that students sometimes lack the perspective necessary to set themselves up for success. Today I'm going to offer that perspective to help college students understand that campus recruiting isn't fair and what they can do about it.
What is Campus Recruiting?
For the purposes of today's discussion, campus recruiting can be defined as the process in which accounting students at a college or university seek post-graduation employment. This process usually starts with a student organization or office of career services Introducing employers to students and ends with the employer making the ultimate hiring decisions.
Why Isn't It Fair?
I like to tell students that campus recruiting isn’t fair because it’s a fundamentally different experience than what they are used to in the classroom. Recruiting events don’t have makeup opportunities, not everyone has the same opportunity to “pass”, and students can leverage resources outside of campus to achieve the same result. Here are a few examples of these inconsistencies:
Not all employers recruit at all campuses - Firms have limited time and money for their recruiting, so they will try to spend those resources efficiently. Recruiters will pick target schools based on a variety of factors, including their success rate with previous hires, existing campus relationships, and competition. As someone who graduated from a smaller non-target school, I learned this reality the hard way. At a Target school, there will be various opportunities to meet firms and network with recruiters, usually to the point where it's difficult not to be exposed to them. However, at a non-target school, students will need to put in more effort for a fraction of the opportunity. Most firms will still allow any qualifying student to apply directly on their website, but that extra layer of complexity doesn't help students at these non-target schools.
Employers have a limited number of opportunities - When a firm comes to campus, looking to hire students, they are doing so with a very specific plan in mind. My old firm knew the target number of new hires over a year in advance of their start date! This means that not everyone can get an offer at the same firm. When you pair this circumstance with the other items on this list as well as the different recruiting timelines, it's entirely possible that a top student does not receive an internship or job offer.
Employers don’t judge everyone by the same criteria - I like to say that your GPA matters until it doesn't. Many employers will want to see a minimum GPA for a first round of applicants that are still in school as a mechanism to weed out the more dedicated or qualified students. However, once that minimum threshold is met, things like personality start to matter more. Firms want their employees and teams to succeed, and will carefully consider whether or not a potential new hire will fit in with the team. Fitting in with a teen may involve talking about sports, going to happy hours, or sitting in a conference room for exceedingly long hours for weeks at a time. These criteria are inherently subjective, and every firm will have a different preference.
Your peers may have other connections and opportunities that you don’t - I've seen many interns and new hires that got the opportunity to interview (and maybe even got the job) because of a family connection. It is not uncommon to see individuals with well-connected parents having more opportunities than those without well connected parents. However, it's important to not think of this as a binary advantage or disadvantage. Everyone has their own network of friends, family, and professional connections that they can utilize to help find a job. Sometimes those connections are readily available, such as someone's parents. Other times they might require a bit of work, like asking your uncle's friend who is a banker if he knows anyone at a public accounting firm that he works with. Regardless of what your network looks like, the only losing move is not trying to utilize it.
Employers can have different requirements - every job description is different, and every firm will have different requirements of its employees. Some of these requirements are a bit harsher than others when it comes to on-campus recruiting. The harshest reality of many of these employers is that international Visa sponsorship is not a common offering and therefore international students have a very limited pool of jobs to choose from. I've personally seen many international students who were some of the smartest people I've ever met turned away from great jobs immediately because that employer did not want to sponsor an international student.
What Can You Do About It?
Now that you understand why campus recruiting isn't fair, I want you to embrace it. Students who experience any of the above circumstances and give up because of them won't have an easy time finding a job. While it can be frustrating that someone you don't think is as capable as you is getting job offers handed to them, that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep trying.
It's important that you arm yourself with knowledge of the campus recruiting process and start early. Ideally, you're reading this before your last semester, which will give you time to network, find an internship or two, and brush up your resume for future recruiting seasons. Don't let the idea of campus recruiting not being fair get you down, because life isn't fair. The best thing you can do is to play with the cards that you have been dealt and create opportunities for yourself. Use all the resources you have to your advantage. Ask your instructors for referrals, visit your career services center, and join on-campus organizations to maximize your opportunities!