Who would you rather hire

SingleSue

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

I would take that information into account, but I would want to know the reasoning behind why one person did nothing but degree work and why the other one worked and volunteered.

Maybe the person that got a first lived at home, so did not need to earn money, and was encouraged by parents to give their all to their work, or it could be that they were helping care for someone within the family at the same time?

Maybe the person that was volunteering and got a lower degree as well as a part time job used that money to finance smoking or drinking or some nefarious habit?

Nothing is ever quite that simple.

I agree, it isn't always so simple.

For my son, the job whilst as uni bridged the gap between his student loan and his accommodation/general living costs as I could only give very limited financial help.

His main volunteering was done prior to going to university (a leader at Beavers and a youth worker at the local youth club) and whilst he was studying for his A levels however, he also for a couple of his years at uni was in the role as a senior resident for which he had to undergo various training so that he could administer first aid, safe handling, drug awareness, health and safety, fire prevention and emergency action, counselling skills and goodness knows what else in return for a reduced fee in halls.

This role entailed overnight's alongside daytime shifts which quite obviously had an impact on his studies (first years can be a little demanding)....there was not a lot of time for drinking or any other kind of hell raising . In his time as a senior resident, he was witness to and had to deal with several suicide attempts and one or two deaths as a result of suicide.

He's a caring lad is my eldest despite putting on the appearance of being a tough one. He spent his childhood being a young carer to his siblings who have multiple disabilities and a fair amount of his adulthood so far helping out with my care as I too became disabled.

Would it have been preferable for him to have got a higher classification? Well yes but to be honest, I am proud of him doing what he could to help others, some in their darkest times to get through and I wouldn't have him any other way, a life is more important than a higher degree classification.

JayRitchie

fewgroats wrote: »

I think the posters above might be sugar coating it. The one at uni is more likely to get a job (but it would depend on how long they stay unemployed). The one who volunteers gets the stress from volunteering and stress from Job Centre Plus that they haven't got a real job.

I'm not sure thats the comparison the OP is looking for. My reading:

- candidate 1 has a first class degree but little or no working history
- candidate 2 has a 2.1 and worked part time and volunteered while at university.

Assumed both have just graduated.

JayRitchie

For me - I recruit accountants - if the degree subject and university ranking were similar I would invite the candidate with the 2.1 (which meets internal criteria) who worked while at university and did volunteering.

I find that having done real work - I like candidates who have worked in busy service industry jobs - is a massive help when they start graduate level work. I'm a bit suspicious of volunteering unless its specific, ongoing and show responsibility such as working with the scouts etc. My experience is that a lot of voluntary work young graduates put on their CVs is far less extensive than they present once asked about it and far too often wealthier kids trying to pad out their resumes.

For those saying they would look for more information - you really don't get a lot of useful experience on graduate CVs! They are young with limited time in the workplace.

amandacat

The difference in grades wouldn’t make any difference to me in coming to a decision. The volunteer experience may impress me a little more initially if reviewing applicants. But for me the basis of my decision would be the interview and how the person came across, their attitude and understanding of and motivation for the job they’ve applied for.

username901

A 2:1 shows the person has a perfect balance of subject knowledge and how to enjoy themselves and will fit in to most work environments. Someone with a first will be clever but dull AF as they spent all their time studying. A 2:2 means they went too far in the other direction. A third means they're an alcoholic or drug addict.

bouicca21

In my line of work I’d be wanting neither, I need the third candidate, the one with the PhD.

Samsonite1

Did they do the same course at university? I always check the course syllabus of any degree because for example, I found that one uni had a "Computing" degree that involved 3 years of MS Office, whereas other similarly named degrees covered a whole array of different and complicated subjects.

Secondly, I would look at relevant experience. In this case, it is unclear what has happened - if they have both just graduated then there is not much to be had, but if we are talking years with no job, that is different.