How to Achieve Career Success if You’re Graduating from a Non-Target School

Whether you’re interested in tech, investment banking, or another sector, the job market only seems to be getting more competitive. The appetite for top-notch graduates is always huge, and, for better or worse, there’s a method recruiting firms and in-house hiring teams use to quickly get to the best candidates.

Companies race to snag top students from “target” schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, which can leave degree-earners from other universities feeling passed over. As such, the road to scoring an entry-level job at a top company is more challenging if you went to a school that isn’t as recognizable.

That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though. Whether you graduated from a community college or a mid-tier university, success can easily be in the cards for you with a little know-how, networking, and hard work.

Here’s how.

What are Target, Semi-Target, and Non-Target Schools?

The terms target, semi-target, and non-target are used to describe how heavily recruiters in various industries conduct on-campus recruiting. Whether a school is target or non-target varies by industry, company, and even department.

Target schools are generally considered to consist of Ivy League schools and top liberal arts colleges. These include the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Brown, Yale, Duke, and the like. For example, the aforementioned universities have a large number of Wall Street firms recruiting on campus each year.

Semi-target schools have a limited number of recruiting firms from top companies from year to year, and the positions recruited for tend to be back- and middle-office positions as opposed to front-office positions. Examples of semi-target schools include Emory, Vanderbilt, and Notre Dame.

Non-target schools are schools where few or no firms for a given industry recruit for any positions. Students from non-target schools need to put in considerably more effort and time to secure a first-round interview with a top company in their industry of choice.

No matter where you’re graduating from, hard work, persistence, and networking are the “secret sauce” to career success

How Your School’s Classification Can Impact Your Career

If you’re graduating from an Ivy League or widely recognized university, it’s likely that you’ll be handed more opportunities to network and meet with recruiters prior to graduation. On-campus interviews aren’t uncommon, and industry-focused networking events, private Q&As, and exclusive recruiting events happen every year at these schools.

The alumni network also plays powerfully for these groups of students, providing connections, meet-ups, and introductions rather than cold calls. This isn’t to say that a great university will substitute for hard work, but a top-tier university certainly gives its students the upper hand by way of visibility and direct connections.

A personal introduction to a recruiter scored through networking can make the difference between sending your resume into a black box and your contact info landing right at the top of the hiring manager’s Monday inbox.

For semi- and non-target university students, the avenue to Wall Street or your career of choice may have a few more speed bumps. Recruiters, who are often driven by how many candidates they can close within a given quarter, are incentivized to go to the source that’s been most reliable in the past.

Therefore, the onus is on you to prove that you’re a candidate who’s just as worthy.

Network, Network, Network

Whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, have a few friends or dozens, or enjoy connecting or don’t, networking is an extremely valuable part of your career.

Better yet, it can play a huge role in landing your first job out of school.

Semi- and non-target university students will need to rely on their contacts more than target university students, who have recruiters coming to them for interviews. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the friend of a friend who works at your dream company or to ask your acquaintance’s family member for an introduction. In most cases, people are more than happy to help if you simply ask, and it can be the difference between sending your resume into a black box and your contact info landing right in the hiring manager’s Monday inbox.

A few good ways to get started with networking before graduation include creating a LinkedIn, exchanging emails with college classmates, and connecting with recruiters directly to let them know about your interest.

Lucrative, elite opportunities often come from unexpected places.

If you’ve created an account on Hallo, you can join our entirely remote, live Q&As with top companies like Apple, Coinbase and Robinhood, etc. for free, no matter where you’re earning your degree.

Start Paying Your Dues by Way of Experiences

Instead of waiting until the last semester of college to get your act together, start paying your dues beginning early by taking on experiences and leadership opportunities outside of the classroom each year. A few examples include internships in your field of interest, participating in co-ops, contributing to special projects, and more.

These unique opportunities can help you gain soft and hard skills for your field of interest, and they’re a great way to showcase initiative, expertise, and leadership on a resume. Not to mention, who’s to say that one of your extracurricular activities won’t be the source of a reliable networking connection in the future? Lucrative, elite opportunities often come from unexpected places.

Know Your Industry of Choice Inside and Out

Knowledge of the industry you want to join can help you stand out from the competition. By actively keeping tabs on what’s going on in your vertical, you’ll be able to convey to recruiters and hiring managers that you’re truly interested in the industry, and it will position you to have more effective and creative ideas to contribute when you’re hired.

Casual conversations about the “news of the hour” and the “state of the industry” can also earn you respect, which could land you an interview down the line. Spend some time researching the vertical, reading news articles, and becoming as well-versed in the happenings of the industry as you can.

Other ways to stay up to date on your industry include having conversations with trusted professors in the field, landing a mentor who’s open to sharing what’s going on at a high level, and asking recruiters for updates on how teams and executives are navigating the current climate (our live Q&As are the perfect place to do this!).

Maintain a Solid GPA

We’d never argue that target university students have it easy; after all, they worked hard to get into and graduate from a top-tier school. But semi- and non-target school students need to stack more cards in their favor, which isn’t always necessary if you’re a Harvard or Columbia grad.

For this reason, maintaining a solid GPA throughout the entirety of your undergraduate career is essential. Even if you have excellent internships, amazing connections, robust leadership experience, and more, a poor GPA is an eyesore for recruiters and can indicate a lack of drive, intelligence, or work ethic that may cost you an interview or offer.

Land Leadership Roles or Show Initiative

Great, so you followed all of the tips we listed above and now you’ve landed an interview! You’re seated in a room with distinguished-looking peers and start to wonder “How will I win over the hiring manager if the final decision comes down to me and one of these highly refined candidates?”

Answer: Play up your leadership skills!

Before you graduate, look for opportunities for leadership roles in school clubs and off-campus activities that relate to your field of study. For example, if you’re a journalism major, can you contribute to the school’s newspaper? What about the local newspaper in town?

If you can’t find a related activity you love, consider creating one. It’s not uncommon for students to start a club, host events or fundraisers, or start a blog about their industry of choice. Whatever you choose, if you’re passionate about it and consistent with it, you can build traction and visibility that show you’re someone who brings perseverance and consistency to any task.

No matter where you’re graduating from, hard work, persistence, and networking are the “secret sauce” to career success. If you’re not enrolled at a target university, don’t despair; just because target university students may get more visibility from top companies by nature of their degree, that doesn’t mean you’re not equally as qualified. Just use the tips given above as a checklist of sorts to make sure you’re doing everything you can to improve your competitiveness, and before you know it, you’ll be on the fast track to success!