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Employer Quotes
The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Engineering
They are talking about this topic: Experience & Credentials
The quotes below are about this issue:
Internships and other forms of practical experience are highly sought after in new hires.
| "When we have hired people right out of college, they have been very well prepared in general. And then we can kind of mold them. But sometimes we need someone to just hit the ground running. When I'm looking for experience, I'm looking specifically in our industry [packaging], and that is what's so difficult." | Northwest |
| "If somebody came to us fresh out of college as a mechanical engineer, and they could come into our facilities and know what we're doing as an industry and what the requirements are, that would definitely be helpful. But there are so many industries out there, so it would be difficult for educators to cater to each industry. We understand that." | Northwest |
| "If a candidate is coming from a different industry, and they're going to take six months to a year to really add value and get up to speed, you have to be really careful with that. In fact, that is a deal breaker." | Northwest |
| "I think if an engineer maybe didn't do as well on his GPA, but he grew up on a farm, he will go up on our list just because farmers usually know how to apply things. With a 3.5 GPA and a farmer background, you're hired. If they grew up on a farm, they just know how to apply things. They think a little differently, and that would just be a plus." | Northwest |
| "We hear that a lot about farming—that if it is a manufacturing-related position, they'll sometimes take a farmer without any experience whatsoever and train them over a candidate that maybe has six months over them and is an engineer. So, how do you implement that into a college career?" | Northwest |
| "Maybe [MnSCU college] ought to buy a farm here and have everybody out there fixing stuff." | Northwest |
| "What involvement did they have while they were going to school? Did they treasure their engineering club? What kind of activities were they involved in? I like to see that on their resumes." | Northwest |
| "I would hire someone who had an internship over someone who didn't just because I know they have some experience." | Northwest |
| "It is just getting a candidate with that specific knowledge, and then the skill sets that match the salary." | Northwest |