What Fresh Graduates Should Have - From the Point of View of An Employer...

It's that season again here in the Philippines where another half a million young Filipinos finish college and trudge upon the employment line looking for that dream first job!  And like any employer, we cast our nets again this time hoping to be able to catch that 'perfect' fresh graduate who we think would be successful in our company, for the long haul.  So I got to thinking, what are the traits that I usually look for when I hire people and I came up with this list -

1.  Di siya mayabang.  You'd be surprised at how many applicants come across as 'know-it-all' or 'trying-hard-to-please'.  I prefer applicants with a quiet dignity in them, someone who is clear with what he has accomplished in school and knows the details of those achievements.  You say you were 'Best in Thesis' but you cannot detail to me the methodology you used - something's wrong with that picture!

2.  Trainability -  I always look for this.  I don't care if you're laude laude or president of the La Salle European Union Youth Organization or Miss PLM - I need someone who I think we can train.  I really prefer fresh graduates because they can still be molded according to our corporate culture.  I need someone I can train to work like how we do it in the company.  If I feel this person is too rigid or wants to please to much or is not clear with his past accomplishments, then he did not do much in college and may not be trainable at all.

3. Respectful, polite and courteous.  We are in the service industry so I need them to have these qualities even under duress. Otherwise, it's not a fit.

4.  Smart and resourceful.  It's difficult to work with someone who is not resourceful and who has no initiative.  That's why we hire fresh graduates because they bring in something new into how they do things and we pick on those ideas if we feel it can work for everyone.  Being smart is also important since our work needs some intelligence since it involves processing of information. 

Fresh graduates always complain that they have no working experience.  Just be clear with what you have achieved in college, whether academic or extra curricular.