<p>Do employers put more value on expertise in the field or all-roundedness when assessing their applicants?</p>
<p>I know this can be a very vague question and may depend on the situation.
However, I’m addressing especially those circumstances faced by people who are totally new to the job market or have just graduated.</p>
<p>I noticed that most employers for generic jobs (especially in the business world) look for people with transferable skills that are not necessarily related to the role or position of the employment.
To that we may add languages, unique hobbies and interests and other activities that distinguish the applicants from the masses.</p>
<p>But to which extent is “all-roundedness” required?
Is all-roundedness prioritized to the expense of expertise in the field?
(Often people say that “Grades are nothing. Even if you don’t have high grades, as long as you are interesting, are all-rounded, etc. they will take you in”)
To what extent is this true?</p>
<p>Who would normally be more valued by a company?</p>
<p>A business student who participates at all business case competitions in the world, writes business blogs, business articles in the student newspaper, attends business conferences, does business?
or…
A business student who takes dancing classes, travels around the world, volunteers for the Red Cross (with first aid and emergency training), sings in a rock band, and writes fiction?</p>
<p>Fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, the GPA is still an important factor. Employers use it to separate resumes because it’s a number. Since they have so many resumes to go through, they can’t give much thought/analysis to each resume. Numbers like a GPA are easy ways to just look at a one-page resume, read on if it’s acceptable, throw it out if it’s not, move on, repeat. It’s just efficient and a logical way of doing things. Is it a perfect measure? No, but employers see a correlation between grades and performance/work ethic. They look for academically motivated individuals because it <em>usually</em> is a statement of how hard they like to work.</p>
<p>That being said, there are still people who have other “wow” factors on a resume that can help in getting the interview. One of the most important things is fit. The interviewer will be considering how interesting you are and how easy you are to get along with but also if you can handle the work, etc. That means being well-rounded and sociable is important, but you can be well-rounded AND relevant at the same time. Nobody said you can’t be a dancer and still win case competitions. So ideally you would be a mix of both and not everything or nothing, like your hypothetical situation suggests. If person #2 has absolutely no interest in business, then why is he/she applying for a business position in the first place? So they need to back up their interests and still know why they want the job. If they can, then it’s okay. Person #1 just seems like he/she has no life other than business. You don’t want that either. However, if he/she has a desirable personality, then it’s okay. It really depends on what they’re looking for. But you can still have interest in business and be person #2, and you can still have other activities and be person #1. Either way, just try to establish rapport with your interviewer, show your determination for that job, and sell whatever skills/experience you have.</p>