MW Employers to college students: Skip the perfect GPA and go get a summer job

By Venessa Wong

College students with any sort of work experience are twice as likely to be employed shortly after graduating

Working "in any capacity" during college is "the single strongest predictor of post-graduation employment," according to a recent ZipRecruiter report.

Hiring managers say many applicants for entry-level jobs today lack a critical element on their resumes: work experience of any sort.

"Any time a resume is decorated with experience - regardless of what they've done - that will stand out more than the person who is next in line with no experience at all," said Bill Shafransky, a senior wealth adviser at Moneco Advisors in Fairfield, Conn., who has reviewed applications for internships and entry-level hires.

Even unrelated, low-skill jobs on a resume can be valuable for entry-level candidates, reflecting an eagerness to work hard and succeed, Shafransky told MarketWatch. "I can teach somebody how to do a financial spreadsheet. I can teach someone how to do financial modeling. I can't teach somebody how to be personable. I can't teach effort," he said.

Related: I spent months waiting for the perfect job after college. It's one of my biggest regrets.

The share of American students who have jobs has been declining for decades, as many shifted their focus to academics and extracurricular activities. While 30.5% of high school students and 46.4% of full-time college students were employed in 1993, by 2024, those figures had fallen to 19.8% and 41.4%, respectively, according to the most recent government employment data.

In a 2026 survey by ZipRecruiter, 16% of graduating students and 9% of recent grads did not work for pay at any point during college.

For many, the decision not to work places them at a significant disadvantage when they graduate into today's competitive job market, where some employers are requiring three to five years of experience even for entry-level jobs.

Others who want to work say getting a foot in the door has been difficult. Teens and parents of teens told MarketWatch that young workers rarely hear back about entry-level service jobs, for instance in food service, unless they have a personal introduction or connection to the employer.

And teens are competing with older workers for similar jobs: People age 25 and over accounted for 56.9% of minimum-wage workers in 2024.

From the archives (June 2025): Teens from upper-income families are far more likely to work summer jobs than poor teens. What's going on?

Working "in any capacity" during college is "the single strongest predictor of post-graduation employment," a recent ZipRecruiter report concluded.

In ZipRecruiter's survey, 81.6% of recent college grads with work experience - whether that's an internship, part-time job, full-time job, apprenticeship or gig work - were employed shortly after graduating, compared with 40.7% of those who had no experience. Those with experience were also nearly twice as likely, at 20.8%, to have landed a role before receiving their diploma compared with those who didn't work, at 12.7%.

The unemployment rate for recent college graduates has been elevated in recent years, hitting 5.6% in March, compared with an average of 4.2% for all workers, according to the New York Fed. Another 41.5% are underemployed, meaning they are working in jobs that typically do not require a college degree.

"When you're looking at the lost opportunity for an 18-year-old not getting a summer job at an ice cream stand or whatever it may be, having experience on a resume is extremely important in trying to begin a career," ZipRecruiter economist Nicole Bachaud said.

"Don't wait until graduation. The earlier you get into a real work environment, the better positioned you'll be," said Sneha Puri, an economist at Indeed. "Work experience before graduating allows you to build skills that are hard to replicate in a classroom."

Related: How teens can turn a summer job into an extra $500,000 in savings when they're older

Why employers look for work experience even for entry-level jobs

Karolyn Leonard, global director of talent acquisition at the marketing company Tms, said her company received almost 700 applications for 36 internship positions this year. More than half of the applicants had some work experience on their resumes, including jobs in food service, other internships or being a student-athlete.

"You want to hire somebody who has had some sort of experience dealing with a manager or co-workers. It's helpful to understand if people have been on a team before" and "have that dependability and reliability," she said.

The company also considers a candidate's grade point average and whether they are studying something related to the position.

Other ways younger candidates can stand out

Still, "not everybody has the ability to go to college and do an internship," Leonard acknowledges. Extracurriculars that "highlight team leadership, whether it's in a sorority or fraternity, or the newspaper, certainly help us see that those individuals are motivated and are more likely to succeed," she said.

In the latest survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 17% of graduating seniors did not participate in an internship or other experiential learning program (such as an apprenticeship, co-op position, study abroad, faculty-led research project, on-campus student work or clinical experience).

For those looking for a place to start, an Indeed post identified dozens of jobs that often don't require prior experience, such as data-entry clerk, veterinary assistant and customer-service representative.

And some teens are turning to entrepreneurship to fill the gap - starting their own car-detailing or landscaping business, for instance. Survey data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor found that Americans ages 18 to 24 are starting businesses at higher rates than older generations.

Leonard also emphasized the importance of practicing networking skills starting at an early age. "Whether it's your friends, your parents, your parents' friends, your parents' coworkers - there's a lot of people out there who can help you," she said. And even if they don't know of any opportunities, "a lot of people are open to just giving some advice."

Need advice on a money-related issue in your life? MarketWatch's Dollar Signs advice column is here for you. Submit questions anonymously here or write to us at dollarsigns@marketwatch.com.

-Venessa Wong

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June 18, 2026 14:55 ET (18:55 GMT)

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