Is “centre” the new dirty word in career services?

The old dirty word in career services was “placement”. It was a remarkably tenacious word: when I first got involved in this field twenty years ago it was already blacklisted. And yet it still holds on by a fingernail in a few dark corners. It lurks about feeding the myth that students can go to a “placement office” and be handed the job of their dreams.

Once upon a time, the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) was the University and College Placement Association (UCPA). It dropped that name about 25 years ago (we won’t discuss the strange interim name ACCIS which didn’t stand for anything). And in the U.S., the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) was the College Placement Council (CPC).

But despite these name changes, it has taken forever for the word to die. Most career advisors have dropped the “placement officer” title and most career services offices have dropped the word from their names. Many rested on the word “employment” (“Student Employment Service”) before leaping onwards to “Career Centre” or “Career Services”. Not wanting to lose the brand equity in the name “CAPS” which used to stand for Career and Placement Service, the University of Alberta recently rebranded it’s office “CAPS: Your U of A Career Centre” – but now “CAPS” is just part of the name and no longer an acronym. Are McGill’s or Concordia’s CAPS offices next? (Recommendation: if you must keep the acronym, go with “Career Advising and Planning Services”).

But now, in the age of social networks and virtual worlds, the word “centre” may just be the new dirty word, a word of the past. “Centre” implies a place, an office somewhere on campus. But where is the centre for the job seeker? In the networked world, isn’t the centre the job seeker herself? The reality is that students don’t want to visit a “centre” – except perhaps for a personal appointment.

And this isn’t just a question of online versus in person. Students are looking for career development support and education throughout their institution. They were told that a post-secondary education would get them a job – and a better, higher paying one at that. Therefore, their school should ooze career education through its pores wherever they go. I don’t think this is an unrealistic expectation. Students are the customers and the customers are demanding a job as the #1 outcome of their education – so let’s give them what they need to get it. Understanding that “the customer is always right” is a basic tenet of successful customer service, this means that we must give them what they need on their terms (not ours).

This is not about placement and may not even be about an in-depth career development experience. It’s whatever level of career education they need to get the result they came for. Many career services offices have already discovered what may just be the Holy Grail: the power and reach possible by connecting with students through their faculties and departments. Next stop: professors who recommend career development workshops.

So perhaps it’s time to discard the word “centre” and the implication that career education should happen in a obscure office somewhere – or even on the career centre website. I’m not saying we don’t need an office for the career services staff. In fact, I would put the career services office right up there next to that of the VP Academic. After all, the customer wants their education to lead to employment – so career education needs to become an integral part of the post-secondary experience.

Of course, “centre” sometimes has another meaning. It can refer to a place of “influence”, “action”, or “leadership” as in “the centre for public policy” or “centre for innovation in…” If career education is going to spread throughout the institution and be embraced by administrators and academics alike then it will need leadership. Campuses will need something with a name like,… well, a name like the one they have at the University of Windsor: “Centre for Career Education.” Hmm. “Centre”: now there’s a word for the future!

10 reasons why campus recruiting today is a lot harder than it looks.

What is the true state of campus recruiting today? Sure, we know that the hiring numbers are down for most big employers – way down for some. But what is it actually like to be hiring on campus right now? Students should be “desperate” for jobs, right? And employers should be swamped with great applicants?

While meeting and talking with recruiters at the NACE Conference in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and the CACEE Conference in Vancouver recently, it was obvious that things are not as they seem. So I posed two questions to the hundred or so employers who attended my presentations at these conferences.

First, I asked if they had colleagues back at the office who had the impression that hiring on campus must be an easy task these days. The answer was a resounding “yes”. Those who aren’t on campus, think it must be like “shooting fish in a barrel” (sorry for the poor analogy, that’s what one recruiter actually said to me). So my second question was simply: is it true? Not surprisingly, the answer was a near unanimous “no”.

Given all the media stories about this being the worst possible time to be graduating because of the lack of jobs, it is understandable that some might think this makes hiring a simple task. But in conversation after conversation, I have learned just how challenging hiring in this market can be.

Why? Here are ten reasons that I have observed:

1. Budgets have been slashed for advertising, sponsoring campus activities, career fairs and other events. Some are even unable to pay career center job posting fees!
2. Fewer staff available – many recruiters have been laid off or assigned to different roles; people are being stretched the limit (and are often feeling demoralized by the “slash and burn” approach to business)
3. Planning is impossible – nobody will commit to the required hiring numbers and roles to be filled; it’s a moving target.
4. Some are required to hire “under the radar”: they are trying not to be detected when hiring on campus on the one hand, while laying experienced people off on the other.
5. Students are asking tough questions like, “why should I trust that you won’t lay me off too?” Students are wary of certain employers and industries no matter how reassuring employers may try to be.
6. Wading through masses of poor applications: many students are “blanketing” the market with applications to every opportunity without bothering to customize their cover letter and resume. Filtering down to the great candidates is far more time consuming.
7. Wading through masses of excellent applications from inappropriate candidates. Similar to the above point, except in this case students who are not right for the role are doing a great job of making themselves appear like a good fit. Again, this creates a burden on the filtering process.
8. Research says: students are no more likely to accept an offer this year than last. According Ed Koc’s research at NACE, students are no more likely to accept an offer in 2009 than the were in 2008. The good candidates are still very demanding.
9. Research says: the good candidates are still very confident. Our upcoming research report on the Canadian market (the From Learning to Work Report) indicates that although students are aware of the hiring downturn, they are still confident that they will get a great opportunity.
10. Future retention hell: hiring a “star” candidate that you couldn’t normally attract may create a retention nightmare later. This means employers have to take a long close look at whom they are hiring before making an offer.

On this last point, I am convinced this will be the real challenge of the future. Soon enough hiring will pick back up and when it does the coming battle for talent will be further complicated by all those recent hires who jump ship to the job they really wanted when they were hired during the recession. Now is the time to focus on retention by making your workplace a great place to stay.

Have you experienced any of these 10 challenges? Do you have others to add? Please click “Comment” below to add yours.