Key Strategies Your Career Services Center Should Implement

 

This post was updated in September 2022

As a member of the career services center, you have the unique opportunity to mold students into solid working professionals. You have the capacity to create the leaders of tomorrow. You have it in your hands to be a mentor to those with little direction.

But what key strategies do you need to implement so your students are better than ever, especially in a constantly shifting market?

While on a mission to guide your students into professionals who are not only good at their jobs but who are also engaged, creative thinkers, updating your strategy can upgrade the value and effectiveness of your career center.

Check out the strategies below to see how you can optimize student success in your career services center:

Social media training

Studies show that 96% of recruiting teams use or plan to use social media in their hiring efforts. Though you may already use this strategy, if your students aren’t trained on the ins and outs of social media in the professional sense, they may be losing out on opportunities to stand out from their competition in the job search.

Social media training doesn’t have to be a huge investment. You can easily show your students how to create a robust LinkedIn profile, implement privacy settings, recognize a scam, reach out to thought leaders, and comment on blogs. Sharing guidelines will not only enhance their presence but will also help them to navigate a job search in an increasingly social and web-driven world.

Direct communication lines

Do you know what’s frustrating? Having a question you can’t get answered immediately. It is a common issue for students trying to access career services resources — maybe they’re on a tight deadline to turn in a cover letter but aren’t sure how to address it. Maybe they realize it’s been two weeks since applying for an internship, but aren’t sure if now is the time to give the employer a follow-up call.

To ease these frustrations and tackle questions on a case-by-case basis, there needs to be a direct communication line between you and your students.

There are a few ways to do this. If you don’t prefer students have your personal phone number, establish a point of contact on social networking. Live chat features are great. Or, you can prompt students to email you if you’re certain you’ll be able to give responses quickly.

Consider establishing set hours during which students can get live answers to their questions so you’ll know when to be dedicated to your Twitter feed or inbox. Whatever you decide, helping your students to actually use your career services center starts with a direct communication line — and it helps if it’s an efficient one.

Job search software

These days, many professionals use job search software to find the career of their dreams. Your students are no different. The key to is help them focus on the right kinds of software to not only be savvier in their searches but to also get a leg up on the competition.

Resources like CareerShift are a great way to get your students in gear because much of the legwork is handled in the lengthy job search process. For example, our platform allows students to search, store, and manage multiple job listings. Organization is often an obstacle for students, especially when it’s suggested it takes at least 80 applications/interviews to land a job in today’s competitive job market.

They can also get up-to-date contact information and create better cover letters, resumes, and other application materials when relying on a dedicated job search resource over their own devices. All of this assists your students on the path to having a successful job search experience — and you’ll be the person they thank!

While you’re probably constantly making moves to optimize your career center, try the above strategies for added efficiency. You’ll find more students using your career services center and getting more out of the resource overall.

What do you think? Are you missing these strategies? What’s stopping you from implementing them?