CollegeGrad.com, an entry-level job site, has released its survey results on what college students view as the best sources of entry level job information.
by Site Staff
March 5, 2007
Milwaukee — March 5
CollegeGrad.com, an entry-level job site, has released its survey results on what college students view as the best sources of entry level job information.
Among those polled, 59 percent named the Internet as their best source for job information.
“There has been a fundamental shift in how college students conduct their job search,” said Brian Krueger, CollegeGrad.com president. “As recent as 10 years ago, the Internet was only a minimal factor in the entry-level job search. Now, it is the dominant way that college students search for entry-level jobs.”
With the advent of powerhouse search engines, free online encyclopedias, job networking sites and more, the Internet has become the standard method for nearly all research, especially job research.
“Instead of recommending that we look in our textbooks for information, my professors will often tell the class to ‘Google it,’ if we don’t know something,” said Kelsey Paulson, senior biochemistry major at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “And the Internet is definitely the first place I go to research grad schools, employers, jobs and other career information.”
College students are typically tech-savvy, and they know right where to go to research the latest news, trends and other information needed to conduct a well-informed job search.
Krueger advises students start putting those skills to good use early in their college career.
“Graduation is too late to start the job search process,” Krueger said. “Students need to start finding all the Internet resources available to them early in their college career and then learn to use those resources in their job search.”
The other sources noted in the survey results, job fairs, career centers and classmates, altogether totaled less than the Internet as a source.
“The Internet is even more important to college students than other job seekers, since it provides them with a more level playing field in competing for entry level jobs with students from other colleges,” Krueger said. “College grads are no longer restricted to interviewing only with those companies that are coming to their campus.”
The following are the overall survey results:
What is your best source of entry level job information?
- The Internet: 59 percent
- Job Fairs: 19 percent
- Career Center: 13 percent
- Classmates: 9 percent
The survey was conducted nationally using an online poll placed on the CollegeGrad.com home page during January 2007.
The results are based on more than 500 respondents.