The best way for colleges to increase students’ confidence in their ability to help them launch stable, successful careers is for colleges to increase their investment in career services. Historically, colleges haven’t felt forced to focus too heavily on that aspect of their offerings, because the economy was promising and students were likely to find employment in some capacity.
A relatively easy and inexpensive way for colleges to better appeal to this increasingly important student priority is to provide students with resources to connect with potential employers. Up until recently, Covid-19 forced most colleges to scale back on their recruitment events and on-campus informational interviews. But now, there are technological platforms that allow students to make introductions, plus facilitate ongoing connections.
Cost savings is an added benefit of colleges using these tools. Rather than dedicate time, space, and money to the resources and materials needed to host in-person career fairs, they can easily do so online, with an even greater success rate for students and participating employers. Having students fill out information about their skills and interests in advance, and having companies do the same, allows for micro-targeting that gets the right students in front of the right recruiters, in much less time than it would usually take with students having to physically wander from booth to booth.
In hosting these virtual events, colleges can go the extra mile and impress students by picking companies they’d be most interested in working for from a diversity and inclusion standpoint. Gen Zers are taking a hard look at company policies on inclusion, diversity, and social issues, and have some pretty clear guiding principles and opinions about employers who are on the wrong side. In fact, nearly 1 of every 3 Gen Zers has decided not to apply for a job because they feared being treated unfairly because of their gender, ethnic, or racial identity.
It’s abundantly clear that more so than ever before, students are looking to colleges to implement concrete measures to guide them towards their next step before they’re willing to invest. And whether that’s graduate school, a career path or one of a million other options, it’s never been more critical for colleges to prepare them to take that leap. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways in which they can do that–without breaking the bank.
Casey Welch is the president and CEO of Tallo, an online platform that connects talent with opportunities.
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