College GPA matters less than relevant experience when applying for tech jobs. Recruiter Jolene Henderson shares six key tips: gain experience, network, research company values, tailor resumes, define career goals, and enjoy the learning process.
“How important will my university GPA be to future employers?”
“What can I do now to create value for future employers?”
To tackle these important questions, I sat down with Jolene Henderson from Podium, a fast paced software company headquartered in Lehi, Utah. Jolene is a Sales Recruiting Manager at Podium, and was kind enough to share six helpful tips for college students applying to tech jobs in Utah.
Tip 1: Gain relevant experience
“Everyone wants to come to a software company.”“ Henderson explains.
“People who have experience at their young age getting into a career are the ones that are going to stand out in the interview process or even in the application stage. Because especially for marketing and finance, we get hundreds of applications.”
“I don't need to know your SAT or ACT scores. It’s just like, can you do the work?”
“That's how I feel a lot of the roles are, do you have the experience to be able to come in and do the work that we're looking to hire for?
Tip 2: Use the “Student card”
Henderson was recruited into her first tech role during her academic career at BYU, and later became a campus recruiter herself. When asked to share tips for student success, she encourages students to use “the student card.”
“Use that student card to make connections at companies.”
“Hey, I am a student interested in your role at a company like yours. Can I pick your brain? And then if a role ever opens up at that company, you have a connection now, right?”
Tip 3: Do your research, value check
Henderson would encourage students to be prepared to answer questions like: “why you would want to join our company?” And mean it.
“Another thing that we really look for is someone that aligns to our values.”
“Here at Podium, we have a list of operating principles that we've posted on our careers page, along with our values. Obviously this is not something you can put in a resume.”
Henderson explains the why behind this:
“Someone that wants to be at my company is huge…because we want to see people grow in their career. We don't want people who are just coming and then leaving soon after. We love to see people who have staying power at companies.”
Tip 4: Tailor your resume/Linkedin profile
When asked what she wishes she knew as a student before she became a recruiter, Henderson offered a valuable insight about the importance of tailoring your resume, and especially your LinkedIn profile.
“It starts with that resume, and it starts with that LinkedIn profile.”
Henderson encourages students to avoid using the same resume, but instead to tailor your resume each time you apply for a position, using keywords.
“Have keywords in your resume that tie back to like the job description.”
Henderson confesses that she didn’t do this as a student.
“It explains why I didn't get a ton of interviews as a student, but I was just using the same resume over and over again.”
“For example, I'm hiring for this finance role that requires experience in pricing and packaging…I am searching in my search bar, do they have pricing in their resume?”
Henderson transitions to the importance of LinkedIn.
“Have your LinkedIn that's fully outline all of your experience. As a recruiter, I love being able to compare the two resumes and LinkedIn...
“If there's the gap on the resume, I can look at LinkedIn and see it's because it was kind of a pivot, or it was a different type of experience.”
Tip 5: Know where you want to go
“Another big thing we look for is someone that knows where they want to go.”
“It's really nice to be able to see students or individuals being able to speak to where they want to go in life, in their career, and not being like ‘oh, I want to test this out’, whether it's true or not.”
Henderson shares a common indicator that someone doesn’t know where they want to go.
“If someone's applying to a bunch of different entry level roles that aren't even in the same department, it's kind of showcasing to me at the application stage that they don't actually know where they want to be.”
Tip 6: Enjoy the process
“If you can do well in school, it shows that you can prioritize things you can do well. But I think the biggest thing is: what are you learning?”
“Look at the bigger picture, not so much the material behind it, but what [you are] learning in the process behind it?”
Henderson opens up about an experience she had taking a physical science class at BYU.
“Physical science, I'm not using any of that material in my life. I'm not using the material that I learned, but I learned how I was able to improve.”
“How am I receiving feedback? What is my grit? What is my process? How am I staying organized? More of those, like softer skills that you don't really test for, but helps me in my job, to be able to take on challenges.”
“It's inevitable you might do well in school or you might not. I was kind of an average student. I did well in some classes and not so great in other classes. But in hindsight, what did I do to get me into my career? Was it the connections? Was it the extracurriculars? For me, the extracurricular is what helped me get my job, because it gave me experience, it gave me connections.”
Click the links for more information about Podium or Jolene Henderson.