Report Shows Career Centers’ Dramatic Shift to Providing Services, Support Online

October 5, 2020 | By NACE Staff

TRENDS & PREDICTIONS
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TAGS: best practices, coronavirus, nace insights, technology, trends and predictions,

Spotlight for Career Services Professionals

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, career centers have dramatically increased their ability to serve students online, according to the forthcoming NACE Report: COVID-19 Quick Poll Series.

Besides career assessments which were only modestly offered online before COVID-19, services that were not typically offered online now are available online. For example, nearly 45% of respondents are offering both career assessments and group workshops exclusively online this fall. (See Figure 1.)

In addition, both individual and drop-in counseling sessions were offered exclusively online by fewer than 3% of respondents pre-COVID. In fall 2020, 29.9% of respondents are offering individual counseling sessions and 34.2% are offering drop-in counseling sessions exclusively online.

Career centers’ collective ability to adapt their service provision during a crisis could be beneficial post-COVID as well. If and when career centers return to more normal operations, they will now have increased capacity to serve students online if they choose to do so.

NACE conducted a series of monthly coronavirus quick polls—from March through June 2020—to assess the impact on and response from colleges and employers in our field. The four quick polls addressed a variety of topics, including office closures, travel restrictions, internships, plans for fall recruiting, on-campus activities, changes in budgets and staffing, revoked offers, delayed start dates, virtual onboarding, and changes in service provision. NACE Report: COVID-19 Quick Poll Series will be available later this month. Full results of NACE’s Coronavirus Quick Polls are available at www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/trends-and-predictions/coronavirus-quick-poll-preliminary-results/.

Figure 1: Changes to services offered pre-COVID-19 to fall 2020, overall

Service/Program
Individual counseling
Hybrid MixPre-COVID-19
Exclusively
in Person
55.9%
Exclusively Online42.3%
Not Offering1.5%
0.2%
Fall 2020
Hybrid Mix69.0%
Exclusively
in Person
0.9%
Exclusively Online29.9%
Not Offering0.2%
Drop-in counseling
Hybrid MixPre-COVID-19
Exclusively
in Person
23.2%
Exclusively Online68.6%
Not Offering2.0%
6.2%
Fall 2020
Hybrid Mix49.9%
Exclusively
in Person
4.7%
Exclusively Online34.2%
Not Offering11.2%
Group workshops
Hybrid MixPre-COVID-19
Exclusively
in Person
23.1%
Exclusively Online69.2%
Not Offering5.3%
2.4%
Fall 2020
Hybrid Mix43.8%
Exclusively
in Person
6.7%
Exclusively Online44.5%
Not Offering5.0%
Career assessments
Hybrid MixPre-COVID-19
Exclusively
in Person
40.8%
Exclusively Online34.3%
Not Offering16.4%
8.5%
Fall 2020
Hybrid Mix43.4%
Exclusively
in Person
3.1%
Exclusively Online44.5%
Not Offering9.0%
On-campus interviewing
Hybrid MixPre-COVID-19
Exclusively
in Person
32.4%
Exclusively Online51.5%
Not Offering4.3%
11.9%
Fall 2020
Hybrid Mix39.8%
Exclusively
in Person
5.7%
Exclusively Online39.8%
Not Offering14.7%
Interview prep
Hybrid MixPre-COVID-19
Exclusively
in Person
51.6%
Exclusively Online39.7%
Not Offering7.4%
1.3%
Fall 2020
Hybrid Mix55.2%
Exclusively
in Person
4.8%
Exclusively Online38.3%
Not Offering1.7%
Service/Program Hybrid Mix Exclusively
in Person
Exclusively Online Not Offering
Individual counseling Pre-COVID-19 55.9% 42.3% 1.5% 0.2%
Fall 2020 69.0% 0.9% 29.9% 0.2%
Drop-in counseling Pre-COVID-19 23.2% 68.6% 2.0% 6.2%
Fall 2020 49.9% 4.7% 34.2% 11.2%
Group workshops Pre-COVID-19 23.1% 69.2% 5.3% 2.4%
Fall 2020 43.8% 6.7% 44.5% 5.0%
Career assessments Pre-COVID-19 40.8% 34.3% 16.4% 8.5%
Fall 2020 43.4% 3.1% 44.5% 9.0%
On-campus interviewing Pre-COVID-19 32.4% 51.5% 4.3% 11.9%
Fall 2020 39.8% 5.7% 39.8% 14.7%
Interview prep Pre-COVID-19 51.6% 39.7% 7.4% 1.3%
Fall 2020 55.2% 4.8% 38.3% 1.7%
Source: NACE Report: COVID-19 Quick Poll Series, National Association of Colleges and Employers
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