How to Engage University Students in Careers Services: Effective Strategies
Students undergo plenty of change and formative experiences during their time at university. But nowadays the process of studying towards a degree raises the burgeoning question of what to do afterwards. This can, unsurprisingly, ignite some career anxiety in soon-to-be graduates.
Given the UK's competitive graduate labour market, university careers services can play a crucial role in equipping students with the tools and confidence to navigate the post-graduation world. But how can these services entice a diverse student body to embrace the valuable resources they provide? In this article, we explore the key, practical facets to bolstering student engagement in university careers services.
Understanding the Modern Student
Today's students are unique and moulded by the circumstances around them. They juggle academic pressure with part-time employment, extracurricular activities, social commitments, and an ever-present awareness of the ever-changing job market.
Unlike previous generations, the career paths of current students are less linear, often veering towards entrepreneurship, freelancing, or unconventional pursuits. This is key to remember: engaging these students requires acknowledging their priorities and offering flexible, accessible support that fits seamlessly into their dynamic lives.
Embracing Diversity and Personalisation
Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all career advice. Students require guidance tailored to their individual aspirations, be it launching a social impact venture or scaling the corporate ladder.
Careers services must recognise that students – and their career ambitions – are not a monolith, and instead embrace adaptability and inclusivity. This could look like leveraging data-driven insights and AI tools to recommend relevant opportunities and resources or offering personalised one-on-one consultations and mentoring programmes. Remember, a student passionate about marine conservation needs a different roadmap than one aiming for a career in investment banking.
Going Digital
This generation of learners is more tech-savvy and digitally fluent than those that came before it. So, engaging them could look like embracing new digital platforms and technology.
Careers services can harness the power of online platforms, mobile apps, and social media to reach students where they spend their time. Think engaging career quizzes shared on Instagram, informative webinars streamed on YouTube, and virtual career fairs bustling with industry professionals.
It’s important to make sure these digital experiences are accessible. Offer flexible appointment booking systems and make online resources readily available, catering to diverse student schedules and learning styles.
Making Careers Exciting
Traditional career discussions are arguably not the most thrilling topic and this can be off-putting for students, especially as they’re simultaneously trying to balance academic and extracurricular activities.
To truly capture student attention, careers services need to think creatively about how they can make career planning and discussions interesting and exciting. There is plenty of scope for innovation: as the careers team at Brunel University have shown, industry challenges can be a great way to engage students in careers services, all the while bolstering their employability skills and helping to strengthen partnerships with employers.
You can also make career planning exciting by using more traditional methods. Showcase diverse career paths through engaging workshops and panel discussions featuring successful alumni and industry experts. Take a look at the interesting and innovative career paths your alumni are pioneering and use their experiences and insights to inspire future generations of students.
Sharing Success Stories
Demonstrating a proven track record of successful graduates can be a huge source of motivation for current students. Share inspiring stories of graduates who successfully navigated the job market with the help of careers services. Showcase their achievements on social media, feature them in blog posts, and even invite them back to share their wisdom.
These real-life success stories serve as powerful motivators, convincing hesitant students that careers services are not just a dusty old filing cabinet, but a springboard to fulfilling careers. It could also encourage a student to think about a certain industry or role that they hadn’t previously considered.
Beyond the Service: Building a Supportive Ecosystem
Careers services don't exist in a vacuum. To truly thrive, they need to be part of a holistic ecosystem of support. Foster strong partnerships with university leaders, academic departments, student unions, other professional service teams, and external organisations like businesses and professional bodies.
A collaborative approach to employability that extends beyond career services alone allows for a wider range of resources and opportunities, ensuring that no student falls through the cracks.
The Feedback Loop: Refining the Recipe for Success
The best services are constantly evolving and responding to the changing needs and environments of today’s students. Regularly gather student feedback and track engagement metrics to understand what's working and what needs tweaking. This could include careers registration data, asking students to fill out surveys after events or conducting focus groups.
Be open to experimentation, pilot new initiatives, and adapt your approach based on data and student input. After all, student engagement is not a one-time feat, but an ongoing journey of refinement and adaptation. That’s why it can be beneficial to engage student partners, via the likes of Student Unions or the formation of student advisory groups, so that you can regularly review your services and their impacts.
Increased Engagement, Enhanced Employability
By implementing these strategies, UK universities can transform their careers services into vibrant hubs of engagement, empowerment, and career clarity. A well-equipped student can become a confident graduate, and ensuring their success is not just an institutional responsibility, but an investment in the future of the UK workforce. Career support needs not only to be student-centric; it should be an institutional priority.
For further insight into how your can enhance graduate employability in your institution, explore free resources on HE Professional or browse our agenda of upcoming events.
