How much time do you give entry level employees a chance to prove their worth? If it's more than three months, you're behind the competition.
That's what a survey from educational technology company Fullbridge found when it asked nearly 400 large company executives how much time they needed to decide if a new hire was a keeper.
More than three-quarters said they make the keep-or-let-go decision in less than three months. And 27 percent said they know whether an entry level person will work out within two weeks or less.
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Those who are generally given the shortest timeline for proving themselves are college graduates. And those who have had internships elsewhere are preferred over recent college grads with no internship experience.
"College graduates are expected to come in and perform on day one," said Candice Carpenter Olson, co-founder of Fullbridge.
Among survey highlights:
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If they had to choose, executives are almost four times as likely to say they would prefer to hire a candidate with previous internship or training experience over a candidate with a high college grade point average.
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54 percent would prefer to hire an entry level candidate with previous internship or training experience
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32 percent would prefer to hire an entry level candidate who graduated from a top college/university
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14 percent would prefer to hire an entry level candidate who had a high college grade point average
Respondents were asked to identify the top qualities they look for in entry level candidates. Here's the list:
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Internal motivation to succeed (23 percent);
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Ability to solve problems (21 percent);
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Commitment to the company's success (17 percent);
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A "can-do" attitude (17 percent).
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
