Career services impacts students throughout their lifecycle by: 1) Aiding in student recruitment by promoting career preparation opportunities to prospective students. 2) Supporting current student success by helping develop career readiness and offering internship programs. 3) Facilitating alumni advancement by providing professional development resources to graduates. Despite closer alignment with institutional goals, budgets for career centers have decreased in recent years, limiting their ability to provide impactful resources throughout the student lifecycle.

1. Career Services and the
Student Lifecycle
David Kozhuk
uConnect
May 28, 2015

2. My Story…
• UMass Amherst graduate sought to recruit
students at his alma mater
• Students disengaged from their career
center and overlooking great opportunities
• Founded uConnect to help students get
the most out of their career center
60% of 2013 graduates said they had never
once used their school’s career center
-McKinsey & Co.

3. uConnect: Platform

4. uConnect: Cross Campus

5. Q: It’s clear that career
services impacts student
success, but how do they
affect the student lifecycle?

6. Career Services and the
Student Lifecycle: RECRUITING
• Admissions officers are getting serious
about promoting career services
• Bentley University is leading the
conversation about millennials in the
workplace
For the first time in history, career preparation was found to
be the most important criteria considered by high school
students when selecting a college.
-Eduventures

7. Career Services and the Student
Lifecycle: STUDENT SUCCESS
• Colleges are including career readiness as
part of their core curriculum
• Connecticut College’s funded internship
program has been a huge success
A survey of national employers found that less than 30% of
recruiters found students to be adequately prepared
for the workforce.
-AACU

8. Career Services and the
Student Lifecycle: ADVANCEMENT
• At the request of their alumni, schools are
providing dedicated professional and
career development resources
• The Alumni Career Services conference
has quadrupled in size in last two years
Students involved in career services while on campus are 10x
likely to give back to their school as alumni
-Utah State University

9. Why So Few Resources?
• Despite pressure from the media and closer
alignment with institutional goals, budgets in
career centers actually decreased 1.8% from
2013 to 2014.
Q: Why aren’t schools dedicating
requisite resources to their career
center?

10. 4 Trends in Career Services
1. Collaborations with faculty, advising and
student groups creates institutionalization
2. Greater visibility and stronger leadership
drives greater awareness
3. Tailored messaging and marketing brings
down the barrier to entry for students
4. Personalized career services increases
relevancy and student engagement

11. 4 Ideas to Go Home With
1. Promote career services right on your
admissions website
2. Integrate career readiness into your core
curriculum
3. Empower your alumni to leverage their
alma mater to advance their careers
4. Provide students with a rich user
experience they will love