Career Services
Career services are a crucial aspect of university education that helps students transition from academia to their professional careers. Such services offer essential guidance on career paths, job search skills, interview preparation, and networking opportunities with potential employers. In providing career services, universities can enhance student satisfaction and prospects, while also reinforcing their dedication to student success and attracting and retaining students.
Universities can offer a range of career services to support students in their career development and job search. These services may include career counseling and advising, job search workshops and training, resume and cover letter writing assistance, mock interviews, networking opportunities, access to job and internship postings, career fairs, and employer information sessions. Additionally, some universities may offer specialized career services for specific student populations, such as international students, graduate students, or students pursuing specific fields or industries.
Initiatives Senior Leadership can Take
Any campus wide initiative need to be pioneered by the senior leadership. Consider the following approaches to prepare your students for success beyond college. The first step in this direction may be establishing a career center. Creating a career center at a university can be a great way to support students and alumni in their career development. Here are some steps that universities can take to create a career center:
Assess the needs of students and alumni
Conduct a survey or focus group to understand what types of career services and resources students and alumni are looking for. This can help inform the design and offerings of the career center.
Determine the scope of services
Decide what services the career center will offer, such as resume and cover letter review, career counseling, job search assistance, employer networking events, and career workshops.
Allocate resources
Determine the budget and staffing needed to run the career center effectively. Consider hiring full-time career counselors, administrative staff, and student workers.
Choose a physical location
Select a location on campus that is easily accessible to students and alumni, such as a central location in a student center or library.
Develop partnerships with employers
Build relationships with local and national employers to create job and internship opportunities for students and alumni.
Create marketing and outreach materials
Develop marketing materials to promote the career center and its services to students and alumni. Use social media, email, and campus events to reach out to the university community.
Evaluate the success of the career center
Set goals and metrics to measure the effectiveness of the career center. Conduct regular surveys and assessments to gather feedback from students and alumni on the services provided.
Tips to Improve Career Services
Establishing a career center is only the first step. The university needs to ensure that the students are maximizing their benefits from the services offered. So here are a few tips that may help.
Make the center visible
Having a robust career services center at a university is not enough if students, especially first-generation students, are unaware of its existence. To make career advising more visible, universities should identify the social media channels that students are most responsive to and design awareness campaigns in those channels. This will help bring in first-generation students who may be unfamiliar with the service and struggling to find internships.
Discuss career prep early and often
Creating career-ready students should not start late in their academic journey, but rather at the beginning of their college experience. Institutions should integrate career readiness into every step of a student's experience, from orientation to extracurricular activities, on-campus employment, and the curriculum. This can include skills assessments, experiential education requirements, and career preparation courses. One approach is to match each incoming student with a student success coach who provides one-on-one engagement with the Student Success Center's resources before they work with an academic adviser, as done at Kansas Wesleyan University.
Create Career Champions Across the University
Colleges and universities need to prioritize career services and graduate employment outcomes, and not just limit it to resume reviews and on-campus interviews. Career service professionals need support from the university, including adequate staffing, budgets, and institutional backing. The College of William & Mary has made career development a key part of its strategic plan and promoted experiential learning through scholarships and campus partnerships. Students who use career services have a more positive view of their educational experience, leading to happier alumni.
Make Career Planning a Part of Coursework
Faculty should prioritize skills development in their classrooms to prepare students for the workforce, without necessarily changing the curriculum. Faculty can highlight practical competencies such as communication skills, critical thinking, collaboration, and project management. A for-credit or no-credit class offering can also engage students in career-preparation skills. Nazareth College offers a one-credit Job Search and Professional Preparation Communication course that helps students develop their resumes, cover letters, networking skills, and online presence.
Restructure the Services
To encourage collaboration and drive student traffic, some colleges reorganize their reporting lines or physically move their career offices. James Madison University has merged academic advising and career services into a single office, where advisors discuss academic and career planning with students simultaneously. Other colleges combine counseling services and career services to reduce stigma and make it easier for students to seek help. At Howard Community College, the same staff members provide both counseling and career services, building relationships with students to help them with discussions about majors and careers.
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