Students attend college for multiple reasons – gain new knowledge and skills, expand career and earning potential, and enhance personal growth. College offers an opportunity to explore interests, to be exposed to diverse perspectives, to create networks, and to build confidence, independence and realize a sense of accomplishment. Parents invest in higher education to “enhance the future prospects and well-being of their children.” For both student and parents, college is a pathway to a career, higher earnings and a better quality of life. The culminating event of a career launch – a job – serves as the foundation for the work of campus Career Services offices. Changing demands for skills and knowledge require that Career Services work with multiple campus partners and business constituents to contribute to student career readiness. The role of Career Services is constantly changing and transforming to meet industry demands.
With these ideas as a foundation, career services and campus staff engaged in dialogues on June 16th at Saint Elizabeth University facilitated by Flexpaths, Innovators in Workplace Change founders, Robin Roschke and Meryl Rosenthal around organizational structure, metrics (moving from transactional interactions to more holistic and integrated approaches). As a well-respected human capital firm for over 20 years, the Flexpaths team brought an understanding of the current challenges to the discussion and were able to expand topics into new areas by introducing new ideas like leveraging technology to provide greater time for student interactions. It was universally recognized that students need to engage with Career Services in their first year so that no opportunities are missed. As described by Flexpaths, “it is a four-year journey of awareness, exploration, engagement and launch.” Student delaying until later years run the risk of missing a step or jeopardizing time spent to get the foundation in place for their career launch.
Time was also dedicated to comparing past employer expectations with current expectations that impact curriculum, student engagement in community services and internships – indicators of career readiness. A strong GPA is no longer enough to secure a position. Students must be able to demonstrate basic skills – communication, critical thinking, time management, as part of their career readiness. With a decreased number of career entry points, “advanced soft skill, professional norms, workplace navigation and digital fluency” are critical to earning and keeping a job.
The dialogue advanced when career services were joined for a working lunch by employers in multiple industries who addressed these and other topics from their perspective. A series of questions were poised to employers to confirm the understanding the talent acquisitions processes, student opportunities, career readiness, and what is on the horizon for employment. The recognition that universities and employers must find a way to expand the dialogues served as a prompt for ICUNJ to explore opportunities to bring faculty and employers together to explore closing knowledge and skill gaps. There is more to come in the months ahead.
ICUNJ express its appreciation to the companies who sent representatives to answer questions, share insights and contribute to our opening discussion.
