Discussion: Who would you hire? The full-time or part-time student?
Imagine the following scenario: You are a recruiter and you have to choose between two job candidates.
Candidate 1, his name is Carl, he finished his Master's degree as a full-time student, has no work experience but graduated with “distinction”. He got the financial means to complete his studies by his parents.
Candidate 2, his name is Mark, it took him two years longer to complete his studies (was a part-time student) since at the same time he had to work in order to afford to enroll in the degree course. He was not a first class student but still gained good results.
So, who would you hire for a managerial position?
Posted by Karin Schroeck-Singh at 28 Jun 2009, 3:34 AM 
Categories: Discussions, Recruitment
Tags: hiring people discussions
Categories: Discussions, Recruitment
Tags: hiring people discussions
A very interesting question you have raised karin. This is my point of view. I would hire the best person for the position.
On the face of it it looks like a very easy decision, everyone would prefer to hire Mark. But is that really the right decision? Yes he worked his way up to complete his education. But the most important question is did he learn something from that work experience? Does Mark's work experience have any bearing on this particular position that is vacant.
Who is better academically?
Carl or Mark?
In my view they both did the hard work. Dont forget that a part-time degree is usually longer around 2 years so there is less academic pressure. On the other hand a full-time degree is only 1 year and very intensive. So in this case academically Carl wins the race. Since he graduated with a distinction. However we also have to commend Marks achievement of single handedly working his way up, but the fact remains that academically Carl has won the race.
Who has more real world experience.
Carl or Mark?
This question has already been answered its of course Mark. However, in the question you did not mention what kind of work experience does Mark have? Now lets say that the position being offered is for a Software engineer. Does Mark's work experience in any way add to his qualification?
Let us say Mark worked as a painter and his spare time studied for a MSc Computer Science. Now being a painter is all well and good but it does not make Mark a better programmer than Carl. The fact still remains Carl is a better programmer because he has proved it by achieving a distinction.
However let us say that Mark was an intern at a Major Computer Programming firm while doing his degree. And the pressure of the job was so great that he could not really devote that much time towards his studies. However was still able to manage decent grades and secure good recommendation letters. This then in my view puts Mark far ahead of Carl. Because not only does he have real world experience but he has also shown an ability to balance his priorities.
So all in all it really depends on the work experience and the particular position being offered. We as human being have natural empathy towards the underdog. And we love the stories of struggle and success. That is what makes legends. However in this day and age of credit crunch and bottom lines companies want to hire the person who can do the job the quickest and without much add guidance/spoon-feeding.
I am afraid that there is no black and white answer to this, but such is life.
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