Does Location of School Matter?

Marian
Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:17:26 +0000

Networking plays an important role in many people’s job searches.

But there’s another route to getting a job for people who are finishing up a college degree – on-campus recruiting. This does not require networking. What it requires is being at a college where the specific employer recruits and having the qualifications that the employer is looking for.

On-campus recruiting can be a powerful tool for finding jobs. At colleges with strong national reputations, it can help students get jobs all over the country (and sometimes, even in other countries). At colleges with strong regional reputations, it can help students get jobs in that region.

If you want to work in the Washington, DC area and you attend a nearby school with a strong regional reputation (such as, for example, the University of Maryland at College Park or George Mason University), you will have opportunities to get jobs in that area through on-campus recruiting that you would not get if you attended a similarly strong school in a different part of the country.