1. DETC Conference April 16, 2012 Maui, Hawaii Kim Dority, Dority & Associates, Inc. Career Smarts for Students Use Career Info to Drive Recruitment, Retention, Placement, and Referrals

2. Institutional goals: increase… Student learning Student satisfaction Student success

3. Recruitment Retention Placement Alumni engagement Business goals: increase….

4. Bottom line: increase… Lifetime value of every student

5. The good news: You have an extraordinary competitive advantage here Students are clearly career-focused Faculty are often former or current practitioners Curriculum is more often practical, reflects real-world knowledge

6. To make the most of that competitive advantage… Incorporate career-focused information at each connecting point in your student lifecycle

7. Recruitment… (Pile on reminders of why they’re interested) Website: career options, alumni profiles, cool jobs E-mail follow-up: job/career info embedded in contact message Phone: “speaking points” sheet Select access to student-only career webinars

8. Retention… (Keep them motivated, confident, focused) Ongoing career-related messages Webinars on career skills topics Connections to alumni mentors Students/alumni-only virtual career center (think: tools)

9. Job placement… (Give them the tools they need to succeed) Support job/career focus throughout students’ entire program Provide tools to help build job-hunting and professional skills throughout program Develop “ready to launch” support program Emphasize: degree is ticket to the game, not a guarantee of starting position

10. Alumni outreach… (Develop alumni “bridges” before graduation) Provide value-added career content/counsel as an incentive to stay connected Groom and reward “ambassador” alumni as career mentors Also focus on those who’ve overcome obstacles

11. Ways to provide career information “Push content” Career-skill webinars and workshops Online career-path information and job-hunting skills tutorials Alumni connections On-call career advice

12. Keep your career messages… Motivational, aspirational Confidence-building Focused on how-to, why-to Realistic and documentable Goal: a career-building process that they can rely on and use as needed throughout their careers

13. Your positioning: You’re a trusted partner, as invested in their career success as they are You’re a key component (and sometimes the only component) of their career support network now and in the future

14. Your demonstrated message: You’ll help them make the most of their student status You’ll provide a safe environment for them to learn career skills By helping them build their career “platform” in school, you’ll enable them to graduate with a degree AND career options

15. Types of career information your students need Degree-focused career-path options Job-hunting skills Job-landing skills Career development strategies Professional etiquette

16. Degree-focused career-path options What kinds of jobs can I get with this degree? What cool jobs are alumni doing with this degree? What are this career’s options for part- time/contract/telecommuting/ entrepreneurial/international/etc. work?

17. Job-hunting skills How do I find job openings? How do I research industries and/or potential employers? How do I write a resume? How do I become visible to employers? How do I network to find a job? What about internships, job-shadowing?

18. Job-landing skills How do I interview effectively? How do I negotiate confidently? How do I find salary comparisons? How do I evaluate whether a job is right for me? How do I impress my employer from Day One?

19. Career-development strategies How do I create an elevator speech? How do I identify, focus on, and build my professional strengths? How do I build my professional brand? How do I build a professional network? How do I get started on (and actually use!) LinkedIn?

20. Professional etiquette How do I avoid blowing up my career on social media? How do I request an informational interview? How do I follow up on a job interview? How and when do I write thank-you notes? Career karma – understanding that what goes around, comes around

21. How your students can jumpstart their careers in college Ten practical, easy-to-do actions you can encourage your students to take to start building their career opportunities while going through your program….

22. Action #1 Set their individual career agendas early on in their degree programs

23. Action #2 Multipurpose their course assignments

24. Action #3 Create their own learning assignments

25. Action #4 Explore how many different ways their degrees can be used

26. Action #5 Figure out what type of work they enjoy

27. Action #6 Start a career journal/log to record their career ideas, questions, plans, and action items

28. Action #7 Hit the college library (either on campus or online)

29. Action #8 If your school has a Career Services person, push students to check in early and often

30. Action #9 Practice doing scary stuff

31. Action #10 Use their college years as an opportunity to practice taking a leadership role in their careers – and in their futures

33. Thank you, and good luck with your career-strategy initiatives! Kim Dority Dority & Associates, Inc. Career Information as a Strategic Asset kimdority@gkdority.com www.linkedin/in/kimdority