How Careers Services Can Increase Student Engagement
Employability has become a touchstone issue across UK higher education in recent years. With the advent of new forms of measuring student success, such as the annual Graduate Outcomes survey, and the introduction of the Office for Students’ (OfS) Condition B3 of registration, providers are increasingly assessed on their ability to support progression beyond university.
Yet many employability professionals report difficulties in getting students to engage with careers services during their time at university. A recent report by AGCAS found that student confidence, ‘flakiness’ and resource constraints present major challenges for careers professionals trying to engage students with their services.
In this article, we explore 3 interventions careers services can deliver to increase student engagement. The objective of these interventions is to connect with students across the student lifecycle. Some are smaller, while others require greater resourcing and investment, but they can be adapted by institutions to increase the impact and reach of careers services, and ultimately support enhanced employment outcomes for students.
Create Employment Opportunities for Students
One of the best ways students can bolster their employability is by undertaking meaningful work experience that allows them to build transferrable skills.
While careers professionals spend a great deal of time sourcing these opportunities externally for their students, it’s also worth considering what experiences you can offer within your institution.
Many universities run part-time employment schemes, which see students apply for and undertake paid roles within the careers service. Responsibilities and activities for the student employees might include:
Acting as a representative who promotes information about the careers services to their peers, usually on a course basis
Supporting employability professionals in the delivery of careers events and activities
Undergoing training to act as a peer mentor and provide support to other students
Through such schemes, students gain valuable experience working in a team, conducting administrative tasks and undertaking marketing responsibilities by promoting careers events on social media or in newsletters. By having students as the face of your careers service, you also enhance the approachability of your services and make sure they’re well marketed to the student body.
When designing your programme, think carefully about the title you afford to the role. You want the title to appeal to potential graduate employers, so ‘consultant’ or ‘ambassador’ might be preferable to ‘assistant’ or ‘administrator’.
You might also consider working with other departments across the university to support them in delivering similar schemes. City, University of London recruit Widening Participation, Student Voice and Marketing Ambassadors to support them on a range of activities across the university, enabling them to work on university strategy such as EDI and APP planning, and support teams in crucial outreach with local schools.
Embed Employability into the Wider Student Experience
Embedding employability into curriculum design is critical to developing the reach and impact of your employability interventions. Students aren’t guaranteed to interact with professional service staff during their time at university, so their academic experience is fertile ground to ensure exposure to the employability agenda. And, if students engage with employability discourse in their course, they may be more likely to seek out your services.
Many careers professionals have begun collaborating with academic staff on curriculum design. There are also some useful resources available to practitioners, such as AGCAS’ 2022 report on integrating careers and HEA’s framework for embedding employability into higher education.
However, while embedding employability into the curriculum can be a high impact intervention, it isn't the only aspect of the student experience worth considering. For example, how can your students translate their engagement with extra-curricular activities into employability skills?
Several institutions, including the University of Liverpool and Goldsmiths, operate a Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) programme. HEAR is a formal degree transcript that provides a full record of a student’s achievements at university. Besides academic work, the transcript recognises extra-curricular activities, prizes, employability awards and work experience that has been verified by the university.
With the seamless integration of academic and experiential achievements, interventions such as HEAR can improve graduate employability and encourage students to uptake career-enhancing extra-curricular activities early on in the lifecycle. It will also give you the chance to effectively advertise your careers services and the opportunities and support they offer.
Tailor Messaging to Engage Students Early On
Traditionally, employability professionals have operated under the ‘careers service’ banner. Yet it’s worth considering how the conventional language around employability could be off putting for some students.
Students consistently report feeling that the careers service is only there to support students who already have an idea of what field they want to work in. Similarly, many don’t engage with services until shortly before graduation if at all, which limits the impact professionals can have on enhancing their employability and guiding them on their options.
Engaging students early in the lifecycle, preferably at enrolment or induction, can mitigate this. First year students might not find language such as ‘careers’ and ‘employability’ particularly enticing, as it may seem far way off for them. So, consider changing the script – Solent University and the University of York both frame their services as ‘Futures’, which might have greater appeal for students at the start of their journey.
York also avoids using terms like ‘employability skills’ and instead offers a programme of activities, events and awards that encourages students to recognise and build on their ‘strengths’. The programme includes personal action plans that students can start working on from their very first day.
By changing the framing of the employability agenda in your institution, you can engage students in careers discussions early on in the lifecycle and work towards improving their graduate prospects throughout their time at university.
Understanding Impact
This article has explored 3 interventions university careers services can deliver to enhance student engagement with their activities. Offering events and activities that create meaningful experiences for students, grow the reach of your messaging and connect with students early in the lifecycle can all contribute to greater impact – and, in the longer term, greater reward when it comes to student outcomes.
