I’m in my final semester of my degree and recently I have a catch up session with high schoolmates and we were talking about our first job.

Things start to get interested when my friend say joining a club/society in university will definitely boost your resume when you go to work. However, I disagree of what he mentioned when I believe having a title of presidency of a certain club may makes it look nicer but I have seen tons of university club that did nothing but having fun and wasting time building friendship dramas or rather trying to find their dream girl or dream guy lol.

What I believe was using the extra time to build a small business to earn some cash or maybe educate yourself with many new skills and knowledge in revolutionary technologies. (Crypto for life?) 😜

I shared my views on these matters and my friend disagree of what is my POV and insist that having a good title would impress the interviewer instead. He felt that I’m too realistic and I felt that he’s too naive.

Well who is wrong and who is right? 🤔

i would agree with your friend. some reasons :

1) blending in clubs will enable you to meet new people, hence more connections. sure you can do this without joining a club. but imo it's easier because everyone's on campus so having a gathering would usually just a quick message in a group as compared to say meeting unknown people online which will take longer time to be comfortable with.

2) depending on which club you join and also depends on if you're active or not, you can learn new skills and hobbies. i join a club that usually makes events and some of the members there are very active. through them i learnt how to handle events. i even joint outside uni events, getting to know new people working in companies. of course if the club you join doesn't benefit your future career or hobby/interest, then don't bother to join

3) having a title is at the very least better than getting a 4.0 cgpa. both looks good on paper, but at having that title means you actually did something that people have given trust to you to hold that position. of course if your club didn't do anything and you still held the president title, then that means nothing. title + what you did helps most in your work ethics and such.

well what you said isn't wrong either. you said you'd rather spend time doing part time earning money or working. both joining a club and doing jobs will in the end give the same results. you get to know more people, learn new skills, and also get a title. it's just that they are both of different methods to achieve the same goal

TL;DR : you and your friend are both correct

Having one title with facts to backup your contribution is very important.

Neither of you is completely wrong. There are some truths in both opinions. Clubs and societies lets you learn about working life in terms of dealing with office dramas and politics, client expectation, communication skills etc. No need to be president also ok as long as got some experience. For Me a maximum of 2 semesters is enough to be an active club member.

Doing small business teaches you humility and various other qualities that clubs cant give. Both of these will impress interviewer too. Personally, I went both routes and both gave me great stories to share during interviews and great pointer in working life.

I have recently been offered a role in a company and will be starting very soon (tomorrow is my first day actually!) and I would have to say that specifically my involvement in University societies played a VERY major part in them believing that I am the right fit for the role. In my opinion activities conducted in these societies are quite important as they provide extra incentives to the hiring company to hire you akin to you already conducting your training should your involvement in the said societies has a direct correlation with the job role that you apply for.

Conclusion: Your friend is right but one has to know how to back up the statement with facts to the interviewer and provide reasonable examples

This post has been edited by adriankan: May 6 2018, 10:14 PM

Appreciate the insights guys. Was abit curious about this for some time since i went for a couple of interviews and they never ask about club/society I have join about and much more towards about my FYP instead. 😀

I've interviewed candidates... Honestly...

1 - For a job, no. If the club participation and the job application is a mismatch, there's not much value. And employers know that in club projects the challenge is not the same as a full time job. Kids are always protected in club activities.

2 - For scholarships and further education, yes. This is because universities are looking for a particular profile to boost their image.

The value of club activities should be in the extra socialisation and personal development that you are gaining. But it doesn't really translate to work opportunities directly. Maybe you just become a better person lah if the project that your club did is tough.

Depends on the job.
If they are looking for kaki bodek, for the time I was at Taylor's ...
the student council were busy defending management and their practise of not returning marked assignments to students, only giving marks on a sheet of paper with no indicator of where marks were made and lost - the lecturer had arbitrary power.

One of the student council members is now actively promoting "Women in Tech" ... despite coming from such a shady background of assignments given marks without justification.

for me i think it's doesn't offer much difference if you have many certificates from clubs.. i still remember when i was interviewing for my job.. and the interviewer put aside the sijil and everything.. he said i dun care much for this sijil.. because i know u are qualified for the job with ur degree and your accomplishment.. he only said that what he wanted was us.. how we talk and how we sell ourselves to them

It will be somewhat relevant I believe when employers are filtering out resumes. If say the employer himself is a member or former member of the club, maybe he will favour you etc because he knows what you can gain from the club etc...

Of course when it comes the actual interview, your speaking skills and other skills will come into the test, but it might just help you to get through the filtering of resumes.

But in the end, join if you are interested. No point forcing yourself to join if you are not interested and end up doing no good to you and just wasting your time.

It’s for building relationships and get to know more people around.

In real life, you need connections. At all stage.

So in a way. It is relevant and help to build social skills.

But the title there is not relevant. After all your employer will scan you performance and capability.

it only matters if you get into a position of power. being a regular memebr means nothing. try be the organization committee or someone that can affect change at least. else dont bother and concentrate on your GPA

Damn I have to double check where this thread is...

For me, I concentrate more on my CGPA and FYP (and mini projects)
The co curriculum is an after thought
Mainly an event to expose yourself and make connections with seniors
Administrative and management were never my strength
So being a committee of some sort of event does help me pick up the skills
But it messes up time management
And in some cases a must as it affects your chance to stay inside university hostels

Being involved in clubs/after class activities is a plus point. Even moreso if chosen into the club's committee. But it's only a plus if it is in line with your career and job.

At the same time, if you are able to operate, run or manage your own business at this stage in life, that is good too. But provided no conflict of interest with your full time job, prospective companies would see it as a positive too.

Personally I never put too much thought into what club or society an applicant puts in his/her resume. Unless fresh grad. But if you already have couple years work experience, I would overlook the clubs bit.

In short, both are right. Depends which you prefer to do.

This

Being in a club, part of the committee, president, secretary, treasurer, etc... if you are active you gain skills that are useful later in your life, you host meetings, events, AGM etc.. being a sleeping member to put in CV, then it will bring nothing to the table.

Doing small business brings the entrepreneur skills out, thinking out of box, meeting people, etc... but if you sit in bedroom playing with mining, etc, then you probably not gaining much skills.

In life, its always about striking a balance and go for the best of both options.

networking is very important. VERY IMPORTANT.

look like most of response here from college .....

Hmm I also have a strong feeling you're right when my friends who started working few years ago say it does give any prominent differences and would rather build their own small business.

really depend your future interviewer that view your resume.

some might give a dam bout that, some will not give a shit what position you hold in those university club...

cuz at the end of the day, all we want is "Can you do the job".

we have people with high cgpa , and good track record for joining various club at U, but do their job like shit. vice versa, some with average grade, spm cert only, but able to do their job nicely, way better than those degree grad.

so there is no sure answer for this. totally depend on how they view your CV.

If you got good cgpa, then you dont any of these club activity to boost your resume. Otherwise if your cgpa is like shit then being a preaident in club might add some point for you..