Dive Brief:
- Inside Higher Ed reports on a new survey conducted by Gallup and Purdue University, which suggests that the percentage of college students using campus career centers has nearly doubled in the last five years, but only 17% of more than 300,000 students surveyed say that the centers are helpful in actually finding a job.
- The survey also shows that students visiting the career center at least once were more likely to be gainfully employed, to have a positive outlook on the university and its role in their lives, and to have donated to the college.
- Some campus officials say that students should be conditioned to visit the career center multiple times per year, and not just once as an optional graduation resource.
Dive Insight:
It is up to campuses to promote career development services for students, much in the same way that campuses are obligated to design majors that help students to learn professional skills in addition to theory and liberal arts training. Moreover, for the schools boasting high resources, career development offices should be in every school with a specific focus on the majors housed within it, similar to how some schools silo recruitment and admissions offices.
This increases opportunities for individual schools to build relationships with corporate partners, to connect with graduates in professional pipeline development and to tailor outreach in a meaningful and rewarding way for students.