Every year over 3,000 career services professionals and employers gather at the National Association of Colleges and Employers annual meeting. This year, administrators, faculty, and leads from the Florida Consortium joined the convening to learn more about talent development, trends in recruiting, and career readiness solutions designed to empower students. With over 200 educational sessions, several keynote speakers, and panels it would seem that the themes of the conference would be varied but that was not the case. The major discussion point throughout the conference: what does an employable student look like and how can higher education do a better job of preparing students? The question of employability perplexes both employers and colleges. Some experts suggest teaching both student/job seekers and employers how to micro-target. For example, associate vice-provost at the University of California – Irvine found her career center got good results when students spent time on defined job searches. A poorly constructed search can lead to ineffective job placements which hurts both students and employers. Micro-credentialing is another way colleges/universities can help students’ prepare to join the workforce. Peter Thorsett and Lynn Chisholm, career services professionals at the University of South Florida have developed a comprehensive badging program that is career focused and rigorous. Badges can be verified by employers or faculty which offers added credibility for students and confidence for potential employers. The verification component is a game changer in badging. In just one year, over 500 at USF students have participated in this badging program. The duo plans to expand the badging program across USF’s large student body in the fall.
Major takeaways from NACE 2018:
- Leverage probing questions such as : “What are you curious about” or “what problems do you want to solve” to better advise students on career tracks
- Increasingly, colleges are asking employers for recruitment data to see how effective they are in their job placement efforts
- Project based assignments can be used to help students gain work experience. This also helps employers engage more candidates
- NACE Executive Director Marilyn Mackes believes candidates will be evaluated by their potential in the not so distant future. This could lead to a shift away from traditional evaluation methods.
What’s next for the Florida Consortium?
- Federal Government Statewide Conference & Career Fair, June 20, 2018, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM
- Transfer Student Success Conference at the University of Central Florida, September 18, 2018 8:00- 5:00 PM
- Troy Markowitz, Vice President of Partnerships at Portfolium has been invited to lead a keynote address at the 2019 National Student Success Conference, February 27- March 2019. Markowitz will discuss hiring trends that impacts students.
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