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September 20, 2006
Recruiter Evaluation Criteria
My previous blog entry (below) shows how the general public and parents view the purpose of undergraduate education. It's interesting to contrast that with the list of criteria 4,200 recruiters gave the Wall Street Journal regarding MBA programs. Here is a list of attributes the recruiters used, along with the percentage who rated the criteria as 'very important.'
| Percent | Criteria |
| 89.0 | Communication and interpersonal skills |
| 86.9 | Ability to work well within a team |
| 86.2 | Personal ethics and integrity |
| 84.3 | Analytical and problem-solving skills |
| 82.9 | Work ethic |
| 74.5 | Fit with the corporate culture |
| 74.0 | Success with past hires |
| 72.5 | Leadership potential |
| 67.1 | Strategic thinking |
| 64.9 | Likelihood of recruiting 'stars' |
| 53.9 | Willingness of student to relocate |
| 50.7 | Well-rounded |
| 43.2 | Student 'chemistry' |
| 38.0 | Content of the core curriculum |
| 35.7 | Students' years of work experience |
| 31.7 | Overall value for the money invested in recruiting effort |
| 29.0 | Incorporates experiential learning into the curriculum |
| 27.1 | Career-services office |
| 25.9 | Faculty expertise |
| 21.0 | Student international knowledge and experience |
| 16.7 | Commitment to corporate social responsibility |
source: Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2006
I understand and appreciate communication and interpersonal skills and I'm pleased to see teamwork, ethics, and problem-solving so high. But having a quality career-services office is more important than faculty expertise? And 5/8ths of the recruiters don't think content of the core curriculum should be ranked 'very important'?
Is it all marketing, then? Career-services will make the 'products' sizzle, regardless of faculty expertise?
Let's just recruit good communicators with high ethics and good problem-solving skills and play volleyball for 2 years! Call in the career services pros 6 months before 'graduation.'
Lots more here.
Posted by DavidK at September 20, 2006 04:45 PM | Permalink