The unusual and uncertain times experienced by the college Class of 2021 in its final year was reflected in its outcomes, which improved from last year, but remained down from pre-pandemic levels, according to NACE’s First Destinations for the College Class of 2021 report.

Employers are strongly committed to in-person college recruiting activities this fall as they are largely unencumbered by travel restrictions that organizations imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to results of NACE’s Quick Poll on Fall Recruiting and Career Services.

Based on their forward-looking staffing plans for the upcoming year, it appears employers are expecting similar or higher levels of recruiting activity this year, according to preliminary results of NACE’s Summer 2022 Quick Poll on Fall Recruiting and Career Services.

After witnessing the impact that the pandemic had on early undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in the tech industry, IBM scaled up its early talent ID program.

The overall average salary for Class of 2021 graduates is $55,911, which is only 1.2% higher than that for the Class of 2020 ($55,260). The fact that the increase in starting salary is small may simply be a case of timing as the Class of 2021 was still experiencing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the job market.

Economic uncertainty often causes employers to amend their expectations of new hires. The 2008 economic recession and the unexpected events of COVID-19 are two examples where mindsets around recruiting shifted, and the entry-level employment landscape yielded unexpected results.

“Speed interviewing gives students strong, real-world practice on their interviewing skills in a low-pressure environment,” says Susan Proctor, who is the employer development manager in the career center.

While looking to use gamification to create a fun and interactive career development program for her students, Merry Olson hit on an idea that has created much interest among career services practitioners.

Intern conversion is a business imperative at all times, but especially in the current job market, when many organizations respond to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic by shrinking programs and budgets.

The Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teachers College, Columbia University recently published a new practitioner packet that provides guidance to colleges seeking to redesign their new student onboarding practices.

Career fairs are part of the lifeblood of career services programs—and important events for students and potential employers. Many career centers are thinking of moving their career fairs online in the fall.

While virtual internships are essential in the current work environment, it is important to recognize that many benefits of a traditional internship are lost when internships are done online, says Matthew Hora.

Yale University’s Office of Career Strategy is undertaking an aggressive personal outreach effort to graduating students who indicate they are “still seeking” on the university’s first-destination survey.

It’s true: What a student learns from an internship is most important. However, how important is it for a potential employer to know that a student was offered an internship even though the position was rescinded due to COVID-19?

The employers that could best weather the coronavirus pandemic in terms of their college recruiting programs will find ways to adapt to current conditions and still deliver on the aspects of their programs that are most important to college students.

In this time of disruption and uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, when many career services practitioners are working from home, it is crucial for them to stay connected, says Tammy Spenziero, who is in a unique position to offer guidance on working remotely.

From March through June 2020, NACE conducted a series of monthly quick polls among its members to gauge how their operations and plans—including job offers and plans for summer internships—were affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This report compiles poll results.

NACE is conducting a quick poll of its college and employer members October 19, 2020, through late November; the poll focuses on how career fairs—long a mainstay of fall recruiting—fared in the virtual environment for students, career services, and employers, and also looks at member mobility.

INROADS has co-developed a program to help organizations recruit students at a greater number of HBCUs across the United States for paid internships.

Language is a key element of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and can help or hinder efforts in this area.

There are several key steps that organizations can take to best support “onlies” and provide a healthy space for them to excel at work.

Using before and after assessments, career coaches at the University of Cincinnati analyze the outcomes of their course for undergraduate business students and identify future directions based on the data.

There is a disconnect between students’ use of employer websites and their perception of the usefulness of those sites. Here’s why and how to fix it.

The Stony Brook Center for Remote Internships & Experiential Learning provides practical resources for employers operating remotely during the pandemic and beyond.

Throughout the spring, the URR functions of employers in the transportation industry were particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The reopening plan developed by the UNLV College of Engineering aims to minimize direct contact for services that can be effectively delivered online.

PwC is providing its more than 3,600 summer interns with an experience that is preparing them for the new virtual world.

Following the Great Recession a little more than a decade ago, many organizations learned a costly, yet valuable, lesson.

Students with hearing loss may face challenges associated with communication that may be exacerbated during this pandemic, with requirements for wearing masks and physically distancing.

Career services staff share their plans and ideas for how they might handle drop-ins in an in-person or virtual environment this fall.

Companies that currently do not have jobs or internships should try to provide students with learning engagement support or development, and strive to make connections with them.

Swinburne University created the AccessAbility Careers Hub, which provides targeted career education for students with disabilities.

Last March, a group of five Florida schools shifted their joint in-person reverse career fair to a virtual “venue” in just two weeks, but with positive results.

CDK Global’s retooling of its internship offboarding process has expanded opportunities for interns to stay connected with the firm.

For talent acquisition, given its emerging technology-intensive ecosystem, is what role does human interaction appropriately play? Where is the humanity in the technology of talent acquisition?

Attorney Edward Easterly addresses some of the key legal questions that have arisen in regard to the coronavirus pandemic for career services, employers, and new college graduates and interns.

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WCU’s career center and autism program developed a sensory-friendly event where differently abled students feel more comfortable and confident interacting with recruiters.

Larger companies are more likely to recruit virtually during the 2020-21 academic year, according to a forthcoming report from NACE.

Although AOIC requires potential interns to be enrolled in college, in certain cases, summer interns who did not return to school because of COVID have been allowed to stay on.

Although college hiring has indeed been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, steps employers have taken have allowed them, at least to this point, to blunt its potential full impact.

By the end of April, more than half of employers planned to move their internship programs to virtual and nearly half expected to delay intern start dates in responses to the pandemic.

Last spring, career services offices were asked about the main ways in which they were engaging students, as nearly all contact had become virtual. In addition to email, phone calls were a popular tool.

The percentages of career centers offering virtual career fairs and employers taking part in them has climbed steeply this fall.

The KU Engineering Career Center’s social media takeover program is especially important now, when employers are unable to engage students in person.

Employers were more likely to make changes to their recruiting methods than they were to their recruiting schedule for the 2020-21 academic year.

The value of Eaton Vance’s summer internship program is evident in the attention the firm dedicated to its transition to virtual last spring and its management last summer.

How do virtual internship programs compare with their pre-pandemic counterparts? NACE members share what they have heard from students about their virtual summer internship experiences.

The University of Georgia Career Center has facilitated more than 20 employer Instagram takeovers this semester.

The terms “resiliency” and “wellness” are employed in many settings, but how do they impact and what do they mean to our students applying to jobs, internships, and graduate programs, while surviving a global pandemic?

Long-promoted as a viable replacement for employers’ physical presence on campus, virtual career fairs had not gained significant traction prior to COVID-19.

Can an employer mandate that its employees (or interns) obtain the vaccination? The answer, not surprisingly, is not a simple “yes” or “no.” The ADA as well as other laws and regulations play a role in determining what, legally, an employer can mandate.

Even though the job search environment has undergone substantial shifts over the last five years—accelerated more recently by the COVID-19 pandemic—core aspects are intact.

Offering regular activities keeps interns engaged with the organization, which is crucial, especially in a virtual environment.

Employers anticipate hiring fewer interns and co-ops this year than they did last year, according to NACE’s 2021 Internship & Co-op Survey Report.

College hiring appears to have rebounded from the fall as employers now expect to hire 7.2% more new graduates from the Class of 2021 than they did from the Class of 2020.

Solo or small-staff career services offices can take steps to sustain a satisfactory level of career services and, in some cases, grow their operations.

Many challenges with managing an internship program as a sole URR practitioner can be overcome by being resourceful, especially by involving colleagues.

More than 40% of employers are planning to hold a hybrid internship program this summer. Also, the highest percentage prefer to attend both in-person and virtual career fairs.

According to results of NACE’s 2021 Internship & Co-op Survey, an average of 62% of interns were white and nearly 58% were male.

While many institutions and organizations have stepped up their inclusive communication—especially over the past year—some still fall short.

The average hourly wage for bachelor’s-level interns has increased steadily since 2014. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, that is the case again this year.

The lessons Cree Wolfspeed’s URR team learned during the COVID-19 pandemic have helped inform their preparation for this summer’s program and beyond.

It’s not surprising that fees for in-person career fairs were down sharply in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20, but the charges for hybrid fairs jumped for some employers.

Can employers mandate employees and interns to be vaccinated against COVID-19? Can job candidates be asked if they are vaccinated? This article address five common questions about the COVID-19 vaccine as it relates to hiring and employment.

Amy Morrill Bijeau and Beverly Peters, American University, examine whether students can gain career readiness competencies through virtual internships. Their study compared student self-assessments and supervisor evaluations from those taking part in virtual, in person, and hybrid internship experiences.

Can building authentic relationships—the very essence of effective recruiting—be replicated digitally? There are steps employers can take to personalize the student experience.

The number of offers accepted by Cigna’s 2020 cohort of virtual interns indicates that the company’s conversion strategy was successful. There are several key reasons for this success.

During the pandemic, only 22% of college students took an internship, half were in-person positions, and quality indicators for online internships were low, according to a new study.

Some career centers are seeking ideas for appreciation gifts that are unique, useful, and cost-effective that can be handed out to recruiters during on-campus events.

Most career services offices plan to hold both in-person and virtual career fairs this fall, but many employers expect to hold their own virtual events.

This fall, the majority of employers will be hosting their own virtual recruiting events, such as Zoom sessions, virtual tours, and virtual career fairs.

The final overall average starting salary for the college Class of 2020 landed at $55,260—2.5% above the final average starting salary for the Class of 2019.

College career services offices have changed the ways they engage employers and students from historically marginalized groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, employers are most commonly offering a hybrid internship program this summer.

After the pandemic forced major changes to recruitment and talent acquisition, the question of what changes were temporary and which are here to stay remains.

Many employers that shifted their internship programs to virtual during the pandemic plan to make virtual assignments part of their internship programs in the future.

While the COVID-19 pandemic caused many adjustments to the ways career services offices operate, they did not make substantial changes to their employer relations strategy.

The shift to the virtual space has allowed for collection of career fair data that may have been out of reach with the traditional format.

Instead of pausing its college recruiting operations during the pandemic, NCR shifted its focus from on-campus to on-screen engagement, while always putting the students first.

Class of 2020 graduates got fewer jobs than any other class since NACE first began reporting on employment trends with the Class of 2014.

TAMU-CT is building employer engagement opportunities in partnership with faculty that are “a little less virtual,” but better meet the needs of its unique student population.

As was the case with bachelor’s level outcomes, the employment outcomes for graduates earning master’s degrees declined in 2020 in comparison with 2019.

It is difficult for students to be or perform their best when they are concerned about the reliability of their internet access and technology.

Over the next few years, $7.4 billion will be spent to bolster the underfunded, understaffed local, state, tribal, and territorial health departments around the United States. As a result, there are new career opportunities for every major and degree level, ranging from associate degree graduates to Ph.D.s.

To prepare students for their transition to the workforce, career centers have to account for the standards of professionalism shifting over the past several years.

After declines in offer and acceptance rates in recent years, both increased for Class of 2020 new college graduates.

The concept of recognizing feelings as real is a key step in developing emotional intelligence. The risk you run by not doing so is burnout.