The Real Hiring Problem Isn’t Recent Grads—It’s the Process

Every year, hiring managers express frustration with recent grads, citing a lack of professionalism, communication skills, and workplace readiness. A recent survey by Intelligent even found that one in eight hiring managers plans to stop hiring recent graduates altogether in 2025.

But is the problem really with these new professionals? Or is it with the way companies hire?

While there’s always room for young professionals to improve, especially in areas like communication, professionalism, and workplace readiness, the bigger issue is that many hiring processes focus on the wrong signals, filtering out great candidates before they even get a chance to prove themselves.

Employers Say They Want Core Skills—But Do They Hire for Them?

Hiring managers often say they value work ethic, coachability, problem-solving, and communication. These are the skills that make a new hire successful in the long run.

Yet, the hiring process at many companies still prioritizes GPA, major, and school prestige—none of which are strong predictors of these skills. This disconnect means companies are overlooking highly qualified candidates who have the potential to thrive but don’t check the traditional boxes.

Who Gets Overlooked?

• Student-athletes – They bring discipline, teamwork, and coachability, but might get screened out due to a GPA cutoff.
• First-generation students – Many have incredible work ethic and resilience, but they may not attend a “target” school.
• Liberal arts majors – Consulting firms and investment banks recognize their critical thinking skills, but many companies still default to hiring only specific majors.

By relying too much on automated resume filters, career fairs, and outdated hiring criteria, companies miss out on great talent.

Traditional Hiring Methods Are Broken

Many of the standard campus recruiting methods aren’t designed to assess real skills. Consider these common practices:

• Resume books and GPA cutoffs eliminate qualified candidates based on factors that don’t predict workplace success.
• Career fairs favor students who already have networking skills—not necessarily the best future employees.
• Automated filters overlook non-traditional candidates who may have gained valuable skills through internships, part-time jobs, or extracurriculars.

This outdated approach reinforces inequities in hiring and limits access to diverse, high-potential talent.

A Better Approach: Skills-Based, Experiential Hiring

If companies truly want to hire recent grads with strong workplace skills, they need to evaluate candidates based on real work—not just resumes and interviews.

How Employers Can Improve Their Hiring Process:

1. Focus on Skills, Not Just Credentials – Instead of filtering candidates by GPA or major, assess their ability to solve problems, collaborate, and adapt.
2. Incorporate Micro-Internships and Project-Based Hiring – Short-term, real-world projects allow companies to see how candidates work in action before making a full-time hire.
3. Expand Recruiting Beyond "Target Schools" – Some of the best candidates come from non-traditional backgrounds but are often overlooked due to rigid hiring criteria.
4. Rethink Interview Processes – Behavioral interviews and case studies can reveal problem-solving and communication skills better than a polished resume.

Companies that embrace experiential hiring will not only attract better entry-level talent but also see higher retention rates and stronger long-term employees.

The Solution: Fix the Hiring Process, Not Avoid Recent Grads

The answer isn’t to stop hiring recent grads—it’s to rethink how we assess talent.

Employers who modernize their hiring processes to focus on skills and potential rather than pedigree will gain a competitive edge and build stronger, more diverse teams.

Instead of writing off Gen Z, let’s fix the way we hire.

Want to See a Better Way to Hire Early-Career Talent?

Discover how Micro-Internships can help you engage and assess candidates based on real work, not just resumes.

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