College students should begin to pay attention to their words, actions, and results in the classroom, at work, and while participating in activities. They must come to understand that they are sending messages to the people around them, whether they realize it or not. As students approach graduation, employers begin to heed those messages, so they can decide who they will interview and eventually who they will hire.

Employers need information about the students they are interested in. They will ask you to provide contact information for your teachers, employers, and references, so they can learn about your capabilities and behaviors:

1. That you do well? – Employers will want to know your successes, achievements and results. That information will help them understand your strengths. Were your strengths demonstrated in the classroom, at work, or while participating in clubs and activities? Were your successes related to your field of study? Did you take on a leadership role? How great were your achievements?

two. What gives you problems? – Your mistakes and failures are important. Employers would like to know how often you make mistakes, how serious they are, and how well you recover from failure. They can be important indicators of your ability to solve problems and get things done.

3. Your technical competence – Where do you rank in your class? Are you in the top twenty percent, the middle fifty percent, or the bottom thirty percent? Have you worked as an intern or had a part-time job that allowed you to demonstrate your technical skills? Not all employers expect to hire the best student in their class. However, they want to know if you are proficient with the things you were supposed to learn.

Four. Maturity and behavior – Your voice, speech, gestures, idiosyncrasies, temperament, smile, kindness, dress, grooming, jewelry, tattoos, personality, attitude, flexibility, work ethic, honesty, willingness to admit mistakes, manners, respect for others and disposition to accept responsibilities. . What kind of impression have you made with teachers, employers, mentors, business professionals, community leaders, and university leaders?

5. Communication skills – Every job with every employer needs people who can read, write and speak correctly, so that they can interact effectively. Your ability to communicate will help or hurt you. Wise students try to improve their communication skills as they progress through college.

6. Ability to adapt to a professional work environment– Interacting with adults is quite different from interacting with other students and teenagers. You are expected to act like an adult in all phases of your job. Most of the people you come in contact with will be older, more experienced, and probably more competent than you. Therefore, employers will attempt to make the following determinations:

to. Have you had experiences that show you can build good relationships with student leaders, teachers, college leaders, supervisors, subordinates, peers, people from other departments, customers, vendors, contractors, politicians, business leaders, and community leaders? Fitting in generally means getting along and hopefully impressing.

B. Can you be trusted to operate with little guidance and assistance? New employees must prove their worth with their attendance, punctuality, attitude, initiative, productivity, quality, decisions, willingness to help others or work as a team, and much more.

vs. Business manners, etiquette, and professionalism count. Every organization has a set of expectations in each of these areas. You must demonstrate your best qualities to the people who will serve as a reference.

D. Are you flexible enough in your words, actions, and thoughts to adapt to a work environment that is different from your past experiences? New hires are expected to fit into the existing culture. The culture will not change to suit you.

7. Your potential – The best employers are thinking several years. They prefer to hire students who will be promoted within the next two years and again a few years later. Few employers look for candidates who can only do the job at hand and have little potential for advancement.

The messages you send to the people you work with and for whom you work – in college, at part-time jobs, and in the community – are the messages that will get across to employers. Those messages should be tailored to the needs and wants of the hiring employers. Brilliant references that are backed up with hard-hitting examples and stories will make you a highly desirable candidate. Therefore, during the college years, wise students do their best to send positive messages to everyone.