Honestly this is getting incredibly tedious and I’m losing interest. At this point you’re just nitpicking and it seems like you’re arguing just to argue.

If you’re competing against fellow graduates with experience, and all you have is class projects (which they also have), your class projects do not give you a competitive edge over those people. I’m not sure how this keeps getting lost on you, quite frankly. It seems as if there’s a continued confusion here between specialized degree programs (like dentistry, engineering, accounting, etc) and generalized programs. I’ll say it for the last time: specialized train you specifically for that career and graduates are more likely to get jobs without having to have work experience along with it, simply because they’ve been trained in the needed skills. For generalized programs, work experience is key to gaining those skills and a competitive edge.

It’s an incredibly nuanced topic and I think the intricacies of it keep getting lost on you. You’re basically arguing facets of the topic against other facets, and not looking at it as a whole. You’ve made valid points, but none of them can negate the fact that, in general, graduates with experience have a competitive advantage over those without experience.

Plenty of straight A and other high GPA students….including those with awards and honor rolls who obtained high level career paths all did all those things you mentioned in colleges….whether public or private. Where in the world have you been?

There will always be outliers, and I’m not sure what point you’re trying to prove here. Some people can handle partying and school and achieve a high GPA, but certainly not the majority of students. Of course the people who cheated got good grades….that’s why they cheated. Unless you’re advocating for constant binge drinking, an increased risk of eventual alcoholism, and cheating your way through college, just give up this line of thinking. These qualities aren’t exactly something for your average college student to aspire to lol.

Oh yea that makes a lot of sense doesn’t it…..first employers don’t like that there aren’t enough graduates and then when they have too many they put down the high pop of graduates instead of scolding themselves for pushing to for more graduates.

Here you seem to be trying to argue against the laws of supply and demand… I’m really not sure how to help you with this one. Enroll in an economics class if you’re truly interested in understanding it, maybe? I’m not going to blame businesses for responding to our economic climate, decisions of our workforce, and excess supply of graduates (a result of people wanting an education, leading to a high demand for a limited supply of educated people, eventually leading to the supply outpacing demand). Sure, they could scold themselves for wanting employees who are well educated and trained in that specific field...but that would be pretty silly. “Ugh, darn us for wanting to hire educated people! What were we thinking, bringing value to our company like that?!”

Ahead? You said the company got their shortlist down to two likable applicants.

Um….yes….the applicant came out “ahead” of the other applicants, earning a spot in the top two. I’m not sure what’s confusing about this. It’s really straight forward.

The number is dismal because American graduates cost more than those in the global market.

That is one of the factors… yes… but not the only reason. To attribute such a complex problem to just one reason is quite naive and inaccurate.

And they’ll keep applying because what the hell….job hunting is a big crap shoot. Sometimes in comes down to this: ‘Pick your candidate out these 10 resumes I’m handing you on this pile or face being fired. Understand? Good. Now get busy. We need this position filled by the end of the week. I’ve got the board screaming at me about it.’

A time crunch doesn’t mean they’re going to close their eyes, shuffle the applications, and pick one randomly lol. They’re still going to choose who they think is best, and it just so happens that the majority of businesses choose applicants with experience over those without. Fact. :)

Don’t be so valley girl. You likely did it because you could and that you want to college for another reason. BUT….it’s your experience. Pushing that on others is simply not fair.

I’ll be valley girl if I choose to be, and it just so happens, I’m choosing to be in this paragraph. But thanks for the tone policing! I’m not here to please you. Life isn’t fair. I worked much harder than the average graduate and gave myself a competitive edge. If others don’t want to give themselves a competitive edge, then that’s their business, but they shouldn’t be surprised when they’re not chosen over the people who have worked harder than them and therefore have a more valuable skillset. Whining about how it’s “not fair” doesn’t inspire anyone to succeed lol.

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You keep arguing your opinion against facts and research. I don’t know how to say this politely, but it really doesn’t matter if you agree with any of this. I just enjoy helping people learn, which is why I even bothered in the first place. It’s like saying “the sun is 92.96 million miles away” and you respond with “but it looks much closer than that! I think it’s closer! It’s definitely closer.” It just….really doesn’t matter what your opinion is. It’s a fact.

Here’s some reading material with selected quotes, though I hope you’ll read the entire articles rather than just the quotes I put here. I hope you can gain a better understanding from them, but something tells me you’ll just keep denying facts that have been so repeatedly proven that at this point they’re considered common sense. If you can come back with facts and research, proving specifically that just a diploma is more important than a diploma+experience for the majority of businesses, then I’ll listen again. But I think you’re losing sight of the message. The sum of what I’m saying is that work experience gives you a competitive edge. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the patience to teach common sense anymore, and I’m getting annoyed. I try not to post online when I’m annoyed, but after your onslaught of responses (39 of them? seriously? lol), I figured you at least deserved a reply for putting that much effort into it. If you’re not willing to learn or reevaluate though, continuing this is just a waste of time.

This won’t come as a shock, but if you want a job as an investment banker after getting an MBA, you’re better off if you’ve already worked in investment banking. But just how important is this background? And is there any point in applying if you have, say, a consulting or even a nonprofit past?

In a recent study, Paul Oyer, an economist at Stanford Graduate School of Business, found evidence of just how much hiring companies value industry experience, and which factors make them more or less risk-averse.

Along with University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Camelia Kuhnen (who earned her PhD at Stanford GSB), Oyer examined how MBAs at a top business school applied for and received offers for summer internships and then full-time jobs. Their findings support the assumption that companies want to minimize risk when it comes to hiring decisions. For example, they found that a candidate with industry experience is 1.66 times more likely to land an internship than one without. For full-time job offers, the odds of securing an offer jump to 2.38 times more likely for a candidate with industry experience. On the other hand, the research also pinpoints the types of companies that are more willing to take a chance on someone with less certainty around their specific industry fit.

The Bottom Line

While labor market growth remains tentative and has been undermined by the creation of low paid, temporary work, the issues facing unemployed graduates stretch far beyond an ailing economy. A failure to appreciate the importance of workplace experience and its benefits is a significant cause for concern, while some graduates may also be carrying a sense of entitlement that is preventing them from being proactive in their search for work. With vision, desire and a long-term career plan, however, it is possible to gain valuable workplace experience and succeed even as the job market falters.

In at number one: young people are more likely to be successful in their job hunt if they have done some good work experience. Fact.

Want some evidence? Well, over half of the graduate recruiters that took part in a recent research study by Highfliers said that, “graduates who have had no previous work experience at all are unlikely to be successful during the selection process and have little or no chance of receiving a job offer for their organisations’ graduate programmes.”

Having a degree is a tremendous asset when it comes to making yourself more employable, but it’s not the only way to stand out to potential employers. Work experience is an important part of becoming ‘workplace-ready’: “building useful skills that cannot be taught in the classroom as well as contacts that students otherwise would not be exposed to,” explains Avanade UK’s general manager. “A perspective employer will always looks favourably on the effort taken by those who have done work experience, which empowers new talent and gives them an edge to push for the most sought after graduate positions in the field.”

Below are just a few examples of how you can benefit from undertaking work placements. Whether you’re doing a week-long stint or a year in industry you’ll be gaining skills that will make you much more employable.

As a degree is a foundation and increasingly the majority of job applicants have a degree, employers are less impressed and focused more on experience or shall I say — what sets you apart from the crowd? Perhaps this is why there has been in increase in apprenticeships in recent times — focusing on grooming new joiners with practical experience.

Obviously this also differs in some vocations and industries where a certain level of education is required to progress beyond a certain point, i.e. accountancy, engineering etc.

A significant percentage of employers prefer students with work experience outside of a college environment to students with no experience and high GPAs, according to new data.

The Chronicle of Higher Education and American Public Media’s Marketplace conducted a survey of 704 employers to better understand student and employer perceptions of career preparation. In all eight fields of employment surveyed, more employers responded that they prefer experience to academic records.

“Employers place more weight on experience, particularly internships and employment during school vs. academic credentials including GPA and college major when evaluating a recent graduate for employment,” the Chronicle report released Monday stated.

Associate Director of Marketing & Communications at the Center for Career Development at BU Eleanor Cartelli said in an email employers are looking for a mix of professional experience and academic excellence.

“Grades and GPA certainly do matter, but for most employers they matter in combination with what you learned and how you can apply that to a non-academic setting,” she said. “Internships are valuable to employers because candidates can demonstrate that they know what it is like to work in a professional setting.”

These three are from outside of the U.S.

Leading employers value work experience among graduates more than the grades or the university they have been to, according to new research. Figures show that 58 per cent of employers rated work experience as “the most popular qualification among those presented” — with a student’s personality coming second, with 48 per cent favouring this.

Only 15 per cent said that they were looking for a degree from a specific university — such as the US Ivy League or the Russell Group, which represents 24 of the most selective universities in the UK — while 16 per cent said that grades from a prestigious university were important.

It’s a debate what matters most when it comes to getting a job in a tight economy. Is it experience or education that will help you grow in your career and make a decent living? Studies show that graduates with work experience are more likely to get employed compared to those that don’t.

Experience is more valuable to the majority of employers, who are looking to stay within budget and optimise productivity. Hence why work experience is so important. A solid balance of both a decent GPA and suitable professional experience will get you through the front door better than either factor on its own. In the current climate, the majority of employers will prefer to interview experience over your GPA. This also includes experience in extra curricular working spaces related to university degrees.

Leading recruitment agent Michael Page points out that having an X-factor appeal to your CV is what really gets the attention of employers — a balance of both role/industry specific experience and tertiary qualifications boasting a mid to high GPA. Attaining an internship and/or work experience from the commencement of your degree is a great start. Even if you’re halfway through your studies, it’s never too late to begin sourcing relevant experience.

While trends show that employers favour professional experience or proven role specific skills, this doesn’t mean your university course doesn’t matter. Not at all. In fact, efficient management of both a professional work placement and maintaining a mid to high GPA is a perfect strategy to help build your CV ‘X’ factor. Plus, what’s not to love about having extra knowledge, discipline, proven analytical and research skills and a hard working attitude?

When thinking about your career path, the best thing to do is try and put yourself in a position where you can attain as much relative experience both theoretically and practically. Equipping your CV with employer relevant details will put you in the box seat after receiving that piece of paper and handshake from the vice chancellor. The evidence show that experience is particularly important, but academia is very far from being a non issue. Working hard and seizing opportunities are notions that have transcended industry trends as long as there have been universities and graduates.

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There are countless links and studies I could continue giving you, proving this, but that would just be overkill after as many as I’ve given you here. If you don’t get it after this, you’re simply not going to get it.

You can argue your opinion against Stanford economists instead of me. I’m sure you could email Dr. Paul Oyer (who got his Ph.D. and MA from Princeton, MBA from Yale, and is a Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and also a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economics and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Labor Economics) or Dr. Camelia Kuhnen (who received her Ph.D. in finance from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and two bachelor’s degrees — in finance and neuroscience — from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and also served as president of the Society for Neuroeconomics and is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research) and tell them they’re both wrong. Maybe you could also tell them it’s just “bullshit” and “they know squat” as you so eloquently stated before.

Maybe while you’re at it, you could also contact Stanford itself, Boston University, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, LinkedIn, Investopedia, AllAboutCareers, GradConnection, The Independent, AIESEC, and all of the other websites and resources aimed at helping college students be successful and tell them they all have the wrong information too.

I wish you all the best.