Most Common Questions College Students Have About Working For You

By Danielle Wirsansky on May 13, 2016

It is a recruiter’s job to sell the company they work for to potential employees, especially students who have just graduated and are now entering the workforce. They are just starting down a career path and you want to nab them so that they settle with your company.

It’s the recruiter’s job to make students want to work there. Recruiters try to give as much information as possible to a potential employee while they are pitching it, but sometimes little details that a student might be interested in knowing about slip through the cracks. Read on to see some important questions that students are sometimes shy to ask but almost always want to know about before they decide to work for your company.

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What is the dress code?

Remember, this might be a student’s first real foray into the workforce. They want to be professional and live up to the company’s standards, but the dress code is different for each company. However strict or lax your company’s dress code is, make it clear to these students what kind of dress code they can expect. Do people dress up on Halloween? Does the company practice a Casual Friday policy? Is there a strict dress code and what will happen if they violate it? Is there a company uniform, and if so, is it provided or do they need to provide their own?

Additionally, what is the company’s policy on tattoos and body piercings? Many students are much more progressive about body modification. Some companies are keeping up with the changing trends, but others are not. If a student’s body piercings or tattoos will be a problem, it should be made clear at the outset so that there is no confusion further down the line. A student could be hiding a piercing or tattoo at their interview, but should know if something they already have or perhaps are planning to get done might not be acceptable for your company.

Students do not want to embarrass themselves by coming in dressed up too much or too little. They want to represent the company well so give them the opportunity to do so.

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Are hours flexible?

While students are used to doing lots of hard work, they are not necessarily used to working 9-5, as the saying goes. What flexibility will they have in the hours they come into the office? Is it possible for them to work from home? How strictly will the time they come in and leave be monitored? This is not to suggest that a student would or should be allowed to continually get to work late or leave early. But will a student be judged or penalized if they enter at 9:05 a.m. rather than 9:00 on the dot? Can they stay after to make up for getting in late? How precisely are their hours counted?

Students just want to make sure they understand all the rules and start their new jobs on even playing fields. They are not looking to disappoint, but to make sure that they live up to the company’s expectations. This is an important point to get across for potential employees because you will clearly outline what the company is expecting and put the student at ease so they can come in confidently and with full understanding of the work situation they are entering.

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How can I move within the company to different roles?

It is likely that a student, fresh out of the classroom and into the workforce, will be starting in an entry level job. Students are content to start at the bottom, but they (usually) have no desire to stay there. They want to know that they will have the opportunity to grow, branch out in other directions as they develop more interests and skills, and be promoted to higher positions.

For example, they might start by answering phones and providing customer service. But once they know the system well and the company’s product, can they then advance and become quality assurance product testers?

What hoops will students have to jump through in order to get ahead? And if a student is interested in pursuing a specific career path, what do they need to achieve their goals? Does the company ever provide opportunities for employees to attend workshops or conferences? What support does a company provide if an employee wants to pursue continuing education?

They want to know that the company is interested in developing them as employees and will invest in them just as they are investing their time with the company. When recruiters are able to confidently tell a student that they have the ability to grow within a company, and especially that a company will promote this growth, they are one step closer to successfully snagging that student as an employee.

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