Many Grads Aren’T Chasing Dot-Com Perks
While risky dot-com ventures continue to attract a fair share of top college grads, more prefer environments offering “big company” benefits such as mentoring programs.
A new survey by WetFeet.com found that many business graduates favor jobs with management consulting and investment banking firms over dot-coms, even though nearly two-thirds of respondents named Internet-related ventures as the single hottest industry today.
E-business consulting ranked as the second most desirable career. It also was listed as the second hottest industry.
Here are other findings from the Student Recruitment Report 2000:
* Quality job training was named the most important factor in graduates’ job selection, far outweighing dot-com incentives such as stock options, as well as quality of life considerations such as the ability to dress casually.
* The Internet has become a key job-search tool for students. More than 90 percent of MBAs and nearly 80 percent of undergraduate students report using company Web sites in their job search.
* Undergraduates expect a base salary of $45,000, while MBAs expect to pocket a base salary of $93,500 plus signing and year-end bonuses totaling about $37,000. Overall, women expected to earn $6,000 less than men did.
Applicants put creative touch on resumes
Job-seekers hoping to stand out in a sea of applicants sometimes turn to creative resumes to attract attention.
Enterprise Rent-a-Car invited applicants to take their best shot. Here are some of the more creative responses:
* A game board with resume playing cards.
* A man’s shoe with a note saying, “Now that I’ve got my foot in the door,” accompanied by a CD-ROM resume.
* A videotaped stand-up comedy routine.
While such non-traditional approaches can be effective, experts warn that they can also backfire.
“A resume is a business document, and you’re communicating with other professionals who usually expect a professional style,” said career consultant Louise Kursmark. “Also, it’s a good job market, and so you don’t need to go out of your way to impress them.”