It turns out that your GPA isn't nearly as important for your first job out of school as you might think, the 250 hiring managers who participated in this survey say.
86% of them say the most important thing is your work experience and internships. So be sure to play those items up in your resume.
The next most important thing is your referrals and references. 50% of hiring managers say that having top-notch references is either the most important or second-most important thing in landing a job.
Your GPA is still a bit important. It ranks number three, but only 24% of hiring managers said it was a critical, top consideration.
The school you attended is even less important. Only 18% of hiring managers said that it was a top consideration.
Another 10% say that your extracurricular activities is a top consideration when examining a candidate. 10% also say the ROTC, or being in a military reserve program, is a top consideration.
And here's an interesting stat: Almost half (46%) would offer an "exceptional" candidate a salary that is 10% more than the typical entry-level salary. This means that hiring managers are prepared to negotiate.
Another surprise: Hiring managers do NOT prefer college grads with a specialized tech degree. 83% prefer more general degrees like computer science or software engineering, instead of, say, data analysis, human-computer interaction, AI or game development.
They don't prefer specialized degrees because hiring managers often prefer candidates have several years of experience when filling specialized roles. Many companies would rather hire someone with general skills and train them for such roles.
This why the top 8 tech jobs for college graduates are more general. TEKsystems asked hiring managers what jobs are best for an entry level college grad that provides the most opportunity.
The No. 8 job was Quality Assurance engineer. 27% named this as one of the best entry-level jobs. This job involves testing IT apps and equipment to ensure they work as planned.
No. 7 is a database administrator. 35% say this is a great entry-level job. This job involves running and maintaining databases such as Oracle, or Microsoft SQLServer.
No. 6 is network/systems engineer, with 37% saying this is an ideal entry-level job. This involves designing and installing networks, telecom systems and computer servers.
No. 5 is network/systems administrator, considered a great entry-level job by 39% of hiring managers. This involves maintaining and managing corporate computer networks and computer servers.
No. 4 is a web developer. This is considered a great entry-level job by 48%. This involves writing web apps and developing web sites, the kind that run on a desktop browser.
No. 3 is business/systems analyst, considered a great place to start for college grads by 52%. This job is about analyzing data to solve problems, either helping to define things like new features, or helping track down the source of performance problems.
No. 2 is technical support, which is considered a great place to start by 54% of the hiring managers surveyed. This job puts a college grad in direct contact with customers and can often lead to later roles in product development.
And the No. 1 best job for a new college grad is an applications developer. 60% of hiring managers named it as the best place to start because it gives grads with a general degree the opportunity to learn how to write apps for popular environments like Windows, .NET, Linux and SQL and they can begin to specialize from there.
Obviously, the best place to start depends on your interests. Someone who loves to write apps will be interested in different jobs than someone who loves working with computer networks.
But the key for new grads is this: Go ahead and try and apply. This is an ideal time in your career to experiment. So look for jobs that will let you try a variety of tasks. You can specialize later.
