Ball State University in Muncie Indiana is a mid-sized university that specializes in a wide variety of course studies but is probably best known for its nationally recognized Teachers College. Ball States student enrollment is about 18,000.

I recently interviewed Bruce, the director of the Ball State Student Center and although they don’t do a ton of student hiring, the same ratios of applicant to interviews, and interviews that turn into a job are similar to most other retail businesses.

Bruce says that the majority of applicants are students and that they process about 125 student applications a year.

They don’t take the application process lightly. They have a new process for student positions. They invite 10-15 students to an “informational” meeting were they provide basic information about the job responsibilities and expectations.

Based on the attendees interaction during this session 3 or 4 will be scheduled for an actual interview with the supervising manager.

Bruce says that of all the students who apply for a job at the BSU student center, 10% receive an interview.

For adults or staff positions, about 6% receive an interview.

No matter how you slice it, whether 1000 are applying for a job or 10, the percentage of who get an interview is low. Being prepared when you make your first appearance is key.

Who gets hired? Less than 5% of all student job applicants get a job and only 2% of those who apply for staff positions get hired. Bruce states that the Student Center usually employs about 85 part-time college aged young adults.

I asked Bruce what the strongest attribute he looks for in a student applicant is.

“The primary attribute that we look for is a self-starter with a strong work ethic, somebody that wants to actually work and is not just looking for a position and a paycheck.”

Strong words that hold true with almost any work position.

So what did we learn from Bruce?

We learned that the BSU Student Center is picky about who they hire, we learned that they don’t hire very many students. We learned that the student center doesn’t interview many students relative to the volume of applications that are turned in.

But I think the biggest lesson from a mid-western mid sized university is that the student center is looking for students that REALLY want to work after they are hired.

Many young people think the job is over after they are hired. There are right and wrong ways of getting the job you want, check out the Job Kit. But learning how to be useful and productive after you get the job is a key element in progressing in that job or the next.

My bet is that all the university jobs are the same and that only the cream of the crop will get hired.

Thanks Bruce and happy hiring!