Dear Aspiring Career Services Professionals: Preparing for a Career in Career

Written by: Alexis Tai, Career Specialist, Liaison to the College of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona and Janelle Farkas, Manager, Career Education at Chapman University

According to a recent Forbes article, getting a good or better job is the #1 reason why Americans value higher education, and if they do not believe their degree is delivering on better career outcomes they will seek other alternatives. This means the work that we as career services professionals do every day is having a direct impact on not only the students and alumni we serve, but the future of higher education in general.

Leadership knows that as the cost of tuition is rising, enrollment is dwindling, and one of the best ways to combat that decrease is to ensure students have positive and meaningful interactions with career offices so families and students believe the return on investment of their degree is worth it.

With the increased accountability for career services to deliver quality outcomes, we—as newer professionals with 4-7 years of experience in the field—want to set expectations for incoming career services professionals and ultimately better help our students and alumni. Below are recommendations for preparation:

Anticipate competing expectations. Some families and students alike think we are a “placement” service. However, according to NACE, the average number of students each of us is responsible for exceeds 1700. Realistically, there is no way we can know 1700 unique career paths, unique needs, and unique desires. Oftentimes we might be tasked with “hand-holding” a student throughout a particularly challenging time in the career development process. As we gain more experience, we start to be able to read our students better, increasing our understanding of what each individual needs in that moment and understanding the level of support needed might change depending on the student’s circumstances. In a world that is increasingly prioritizing offering exceptional service, and with the added pressure of Career Services being so important, we find ourselves walking this boundary often.

Accept delayed gratification. Many of us receive pressure to meet with as many students as possible, and there is an increasing trend to work with students “early and often.” But when do we really know if what we do “works”? We track First Destination data, which measures where new graduates end up within six months of graduation. Which means if we are working with primarily first and second year students, trying new programming, new events, new types of engagement, we might not know if any of that was effective until three to four years later. However, our role is to provide resources, support, tools, and assistance to help our students and alumni manage their career and self-development even after they have left their career offices behind. The lack of hard metrics is a facet of the job we need to cope with while still maintaining high quality services.

Focus on both the present reality and the future of work. While observing trend data to support students is important for any educator, the impetus is on career services professionals to both prepare our students for the current realities of our economy while looking forward at how career trends may impact job prospects down the road. A few years ago, job outlook data from the Occupational Outlook Handbook or O*NET may have sufficed, but now career trends are about far more than obsolescence and the creation of new jobs. The “future of work” is constantly evolving, as exemplified by the new norms around hybrid work and the increased attention on what it means for us to advocate for true diversity, equity, and inclusion in the employer partnerships we foster. The question must constantly be: will this program, workshop, or advising style serve our students both today and 5 years down the road?

Pivot constantly. While our focus on the present and future is paramount, career services professionals must also be aware of the ever-changing expectations of all stakeholders, which includes the changing needs of industry, our students, and university leadership—and act accordingly. This means changing not just the content of our programming, but also the mediums in which they are offered. As we prepare students for the reality of a hybrid future of work, we must model that flexibility even now in our workshops, programs, and appointments.

Despite the considerations we have outlined, knowing that we make an impact with our students and alumni and watching them develop over time is incredibly rewarding. Predicting some of the potential challenges will give us time to plan accordingly, so that we can continue to provide exceptional service to our students and alumni.

Alexis Tai	Janelle Farkas