- KPMG is helping to turn college graduates into young professionals
Accounting firm KPMG’s online program KPMGCampus.com, offering a suite of resources that help students navigate the competitive world after graduation, was created in an effort to not only find the best talent, but also help groom them. The site’s Branding U toolkit specifically focuses on helping graduates with the process of standing out and impressing employers through online assessment tools, interview strategies, and real-world examples, says Kathleen Schaum, West Coast-based director of recruiting for KPMG. To aid in providing information that would best serve graduates, KPMG polled hundreds of recruiters to get a sense of where interviewees fell short. These were a few of their findings:
In your eyes, which of the following is the most common shortcoming among candidates seeking a job?
Improper attire 0.58%
Lack of etiquette 30.99%
Resume failings 15.79%
Poor interviewing skills 52.63%
When deciding between two very close candidates, what is the number one behavior that typically gives a candidate an edge?
Attire 0.00%
Confidence & 56.73%
presentation
Asking appropriate 5.26%
questions
Eye contact/ 13.45%
Engagement
Solid answers to the 24.56%
questions
What is the one key element that always gets your attention from an interviewee?
When a candidate uses 64.53%
relevant aspects of previous work
(paid or volunteer) to demonstrate
that they can do the job
When a candidate shows 28.49%
an understanding of the role and asks insightful questions
When a candidate 6.98%
acknowledges limited
experience but expresses
that they can do the job and asks for it