7 Signs A Student Will Be A Great Employee For You

By Elana Goodwin on April 17, 2016

When you’re hiring a student employee, you want to make sure you’re hiring a student who will be responsible, capable and hardworking. Besides listing prior work experience and other activities, there are signs and indicators you can extrapolate within a resume that will tell you a lot more about the student than you’d think.

Here are some aspects of a potential student employee’s resume you should take note of.

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1. GPA. While you shouldn’t necessarily rule out students who don’t share their GPA’s on their resume, a sign of a student who would be a good employee is one who divulges their GPA. This shows above all that they’re honest and upfront — especially if their GPA isn’t exactly a brag-worthy number.

Of course, if they do boast a high GPA, it’s a good indication that the student is studious and takes their academics seriously. Additionally, you can also conclude that they’re dedicated and hardworking — all qualities a good employee should have, and all qualities you’d want any student employee to possess.

2. Notable positions. Another sign a student will probably be a good employee is if they list some notable positions on their resume. For example, a student who is president, VP, secretary, treasurer, board member, etc. shows leadership, initiative, and passion for whatever group or activity they had a position in.

It’s a good sign that not only will they be actively engaged and involved, but that they want to take their involvement a step further. A good employee will show initiative and be proactive and wiling to step up to the plate and handle whatever task you throw at them.

3. Campus group activities. Involvement in groups on campus can also elude to good employee traits. Besides showing their love or pride in their school, it demonstrates their desire to be involved and to pursue their interests and/or hobbies in addition to whatever other duties they have to juggle as a student.

4. Duration of positions. This one is a really good and important indicator of a great student employee that potential employers should look out for. The length of a position held by a student — whether it’s a job, leadership role, or other activity — says a lot about a student. Having held a job for a longer period of time shows commitment, loyalty, and reliability.

This isn’t true in every case — for example, some positions may only be allowed to be held for a semester or year, and some jobs may have been left because of going back to school or a changing class schedule.

However, if you’re hoping to hire someone who will work for you and stick with your company for longer than a semester or year look at their track record. Someone who’s had other jobs or positions for multiple terms or years may be more likely to keep their job at your company throughout their years at school — meaning, you won’t have to hire and train a new student employee every year (or at least until that student graduates).

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5. Volunteer work. While not all students will list volunteer work on their resumes, and some may have a hard time fitting any volunteering in with their busy school schedules, a student who volunteers will likely be a good employee.

Volunteering shows a student wants to give back in some way, likes to help others, is generous with their time, interested in the community, and makes time for things that are important to them — even if they’re not being paid to do so. These qualities will only positively impact their ability to be a good employee for you.

6. Prior work experience. There’s no real substitute for a student having past work experience; that being said, freshmen especially may not have gained any real work experience in high school, so you can’t really hold that against them.

For those potential student employees who do have prior work experience, that’s a good sign they’ll be a good employee as it shows they’re able to balance work and school/life, are capable, and will probably not require as much hand-holding/training as a complete newbie would. Score!

7. Spelling and grammar. Beyond what a resume says about a student, you can tell much about a student and their abilities by looking at how their resume is written.

If a student has a good resume, you’ll be able to tell that they’re either a good writer, pay attention to detail, and want to make a good impression, or that they went to the career services center on campus and got help with their resume because they want to make a good impression. Either way, a well-written and polished resume says much better things about a potential student employee than one riddled with poor spelling and grammar.

So when the student’s resume lands on your desk or in your inbox, make sure to look out for the above mentioned indicators and you’ll be on your way to hiring a great student employee.

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