Do employers value leadership schemes for students?

June 2, 2008 12:03 AM

How would something along the lines of Monash University's Ancora Imparo Leadership programme (general) or its Leadership in a Technological Environment programme (engineering-specific) be viewed by prospective employers?

Are these useful initiatives that a student should endeavour to be a part of in order to earn brownie points, or will an employer see them as a waste of time? Also, if an employer would indeed look upon these in a positive light, would one also include mention an Engineering Excellence award or is this needless?

I know these are specific examples, but the question I'm trying to ask is whether these programmes are a) inherently useful and b) attractive to employers.

Many thanks for your wisdom!

posted by PuGZ to education (2 comments total)

It depends on how the program is and what you get out of it. I've been in such programs which have a fancy name/affiliation but really did not achieve anything, and I've been in others which were lots more interesting and productive.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend them just to get brownie points. The people who go into those programs just to impress someone often don't contribute as much as those who go in because they have a genuine interest in leadership and want to improve themselves and others. This is what the employers would notice eventually - you could go to a million leadership programs on Earth, but did you actually achieve anything?

Some employers have been interested in the things I've done in the past, and it has helped me get awards for different things. I would say, though, that the main benefits come from the experiences themselves, not from what people think of them.
posted by divabat at 12:19 AM on June 2, 2008

The Engineering Excellence award is not a leadership program of any sort, it's simply an academic scholarship. This would definitely appear on your resume as evidence of having achieved good school results and then maintained them at uni.
posted by jacalata at 2:02 AM on June 2, 2008