A lot of college students go through school not knowing what companies are looking for in a prospective candidate (that's you!). Given this, students make key mistakes and don't pursue things that would be appealing to recruiters for college internships (involvement that would be personally fulfilling at the same time!). Opportunities are missed, and in the long run, students end up wondering why they don't get any attention from companies even though they may have done well in their academics. This can be a key missed step in how to find a job.

I want to use this article to teach you the basics of what companies look for so that you can more strategically select the opportunities that will hopefully maximize return for you in the long run.

I look at it this way: In college, you can get involved in just about anything you want, and most people do. If you're going to be actively a part of something, why not take a few extra steps and make it a useful addition to your resume and have it pay its dividends in your salary too?

I am a recruiter for the company I work for, mainly recruiting Mechanical Engineers at the University of Michigan. The following is some insider information as to what we look for! There are three key things we are looking for in a candidate:

1) Scholastics (GPA) 2) Leadership 3) Technical abilities (Job Experience)

Scholastics should be important to everyone if you're at college. Otherwise, why are you there? We look for a minimum of a 2.7 GPA (on a 4.0 scale), although a lot of companies will look for a 3.0, 3.2, even a 3.5. The bottom line is that you absolutely need to keep your GPA up as high as possible.

I helped myself out by doing a history minor, which was a breeze for me. My lowest history grade was an A-. This approach can help pad your GPA and make up for tough engineering classes that are hard to get an A in.

Ultimately, there is nothing that can replace good old fashioned studying and learning. Everyone is different in how they learn, all I can really suggest here is to understand how you best learn, and to do it quickly and efficiently.

If you have a bad grade in the middle of a semester, seek resources to improve it. Here are a few ideas that aren't rocket science (even though I was at one point a rocket scientist while I worked at NASA): -Go to your professor or Grad student during office hours, -Study with a friend -Get a Tutor -Go to the departmental learning center -Read the textbook -Go to class

Listing classes on your resume can be helpful, but is not always necessary. In general, we look at your bottom line results: the Grade Point Average. At the end of the day, thats really what counts. So, as simple as it may sound, keep it as high as you can!

Let's move on to Leadership. Any organization is going to have some type of leadership structure, managing board, etc. Get involved with this. That's the very best thing I can tell you to do. Get involved, elected, appointed, whatever. Once you do that, the rest will follow: hairy situations, confrontations, tough decisions, etc. How you respond to deal with these situations is what gives you your examples to share with recruiters and to put on your resume.

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