Recruiters are being flooded with AI-generated materials that make it difficult to distinguish real from fake candidates. We need to teach our students to use AI properly and ethically, in a way that doesn’t deprive them of their own voices and won’t make them blindly reliant on copy and pasting AI outputs.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the workplace, but one of its most important implications remains unclear: What does AI mean for early-career jobs?

Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship is designed to develop talent to meet the state’s workforce needs. A study explored the relationship between HOPE status and student major selection specifically connected to the state of Georgia’s workforce needs.

For generations, the transition from college to career followed a relatively stable script, and entry-level jobs were not just jobs; they were training grounds. Now we’re seeing a shift away from that traditional path. So, whose responsibility is it to prepare students for work?

Supportive career services often are sufficient to help stressed clients regain clarity and direction. At times, however, the distress that appears in career-focused conversations signals more than "normal" stress. Persistent sadness, impaired daily functioning, or expressions of hopelessness may indicate mental health concerns that exceed the scope of career-focused interventions alone.

For decades, the story we told students was linear: pick a major, graduate, land a job, climb the ladder. That story has changed; higher ed needs a non-linear approach to career services to evolve from transactional offices to adaptive talent ecosystems.

Based on interviews with two dozen career services leaders, authors Dylan Houle and Jon Schlesinger explore career services leadership theories: servant leadership, authentic leadership, and situational leadership.

This list, provided by Dylan Houle and Jon Schlesinger as a companion to “How We Lead: Theories of Career Services Leadership,” is based on suggestions provided by career services leaders who took part in Houle’s podcast for the books, blogs, and resources that were meaningful to them in their leadership development.

The University of Vermont launched six career interest groups to help students build their social capital through networking. The career center assessed the model to determine if members were benefitting and to adjust as needed.

This guide discusses work options available to foreign students attending U.S. universities in F-1 or J-1 status, which are common student visas in the United States. However, there are strict limitations on a student’s ability to work in F or J status.

This accompanies “A Guide to Work Options for Foreign Students” and is an list of the international organizations that have been designated by executive order and allow F-1 employment.

The traditional approach that separates academic, personal, and career development isn’t working. Colleges and universities must break down silos so they can align the curriculum to employer needs, include projects that build skills and relationships in all their courses, and integrate career development into everything they do. Here are nine ways to inform and inspire how you can collaborate to help students succeed.

The expectations of career services in higher education have never been greater. Families, students, and institutional leaders are asking tough questions: What support do you offer students in finding jobs after graduation? How will a degree translate into a meaningful career? What is the return on investment for a college education? The answers to these questions are complex, but they point to a broader shift in our field that calls for systemic transformation rather than incremental improvement.

Despite all the information on hiring, it can be difficult to determine why some of our students are hired quickly and others are not. When interacting with students across majors and with different industry interests, career educators and recruiters often sum up behaviors expected on the job as professionalism, a tricky umbrella term that ignores the way that behavioral expectations may change from industry to industry—and can impact hiring decisions and new employee retention.

The “career everywhere” model can add a layer of complexity to the coordination of services, but career centers can thrive in models that are partially or fully siloed. In this article, author Chantelle Wright highlights the benefits and disadvantages of decentralized models, and provide strategies for success in career ecosystems (decentralized or not).

Our workplace has become fragmented. Even with numerous options to connect and exchange information online, many professionals still experience a feeling of disconnection. Mentorship can restore workplace connectedness and belonging. 

There are no perfect jobs. The reality is, every job is what we make of it. There are better and worse jobs, roles that fit and those that don’t. Not everything we do in life will fit who we are or where we excel. As we work with students and employees to find places of best fit in response to this reality, we need to teach them how to job craft. However, job crafting needs to take on new depth if we are to truly help individuals craft worthwhile experiences out of their current and future work. Job crafting needs to start with purpose.

This article shares early findings from a three-year study on how students define and experience communication readiness as they prepare for the workforce.

This piece offers details about the reliability and validity of the Career State Inventory (CSI).

The Career State Inventory enables practitioners to evaluate career interventions.

Group coaching prepares students for the world of work they’ll be joining. It also enables colleges to deliver career services more efficiently by allowing a smaller number of career staff to provide rich learning experiences at scale.

Far from being at odds, career coaching and career advising are complementary. Each offers distinctive advantages to help students navigate their career trajectories.

Career services offices are often seen as places that offer help with resumes and run career fairs—but their impact beyond that is lost. Data can help pain a complete picture.

Third in a series of articles focused on the candidate experience, this article by Mary Scott addresses how execution, authenticity, and the candidate experience shape the employer’s campus brand.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has issued dozens of executive orders, many of which affect institutions of higher education and employers. The executive orders related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); immigration; and related policy changes are the most consequential in this regard.

In the second of a two-part series, 13 NACE leaders offer their insight and guidance about what they have learned in their time in the profession.

Research findings underscore the need for organizations to invest in enhancing recruitment and retention strategies for Latinas in senior executive roles.

Career services professionals must prioritize teaching students how to build social capital and cultivate ties within their chosen career fields.

To compete in the job market, students must be able to connect their experiences to skills and communicate that to potential employers. Infusing skill development across campus can achieve that. Jill Donovan, Brookdale Community College, discusses how her career center began the process of integrating career readiness campus-wide.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and pay transparency laws enacted by a number of states are helping to advance equal pay for equal or similar work.

In the first of a two-part series, 13 NACE leaders offer their insight and guidance about what they have learned in their time in the profession.

Supporting arts students isn’t easy, but career services professionals can help students find industry-related information, identify mentors, highlight the transferable skills their crafts have given them, and expand their view of themselves.

As students of color, including Hispanic students, are eager to attend higher education institutions and advance their economic wealth, many barriers hinder their academic success.

Data suggest that providing interns with relocation assistance correlates to better conversion rates for organizations that hope to turn interns into full-time hires.

Review the evidence for the reliability and validity of the NACE Competency Assessment Tool. This article also offers brief context for the assessment tool, outlines the methodology employed, and provides the final, top-line results of the study.

Shifts in the educational space dictate the need to revisit, revise, and reframe traditional practices to be relevant to the needs of current students.

My staff wants to go above and beyond. Unfortunately, wanting something and having the resources to do it are two different things. Acting as if we have the resources is harmful to the very staff who want to provide exceptional services.

One important question for career services staff who hope to support racial equity in their work: How does race and racism show up in the student experience?

AI can support first-generation students in the job search by bridging the gap in their professional network.

On July 1, 2024, as part of its regulations around financial aid, the U.S. Department of Education released regulations that apply to all higher education Title IV participants—including a requirement that schools offer “adequate career services.”

Employers may use multiple avenues to screen potential candidates. These include 1) creating the job description, 2) creating the written application, 3) conducting the interview, 4) determining which background screening methods to use, and most recently, 5) navigating the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Each contains potential legal liability for the employer if not conducted correctly.

As the world of work continues to evolve, career development professionals must evolve their resources and services accordingly, based on the communities they serve. The school-to-work transition is common for both undergraduate and graduate students, but these two groups often have distinct career development needs, based on their identities, developmental stages, and life roles among other distinguishing characteristics. For colleges and universities to effectively promote the career success of their alumni, a customized approach will not only make services more accessible to graduate students, but more relevant as well.

Career services professionals can help students use AI tools effectively and avoid common traps and mistakes.

Using AI in the preemployment process can increase objectivity but can also increase the risk of discriminating against candidates.

The UC San Diego Student Employment Program employs more than 6,000 students who work in more than 170 departments across campus.

Student employment can be a potent catalyst for transformative learning experiences, but is often relegated to the sidelines.

Results of a NACE quick poll identify barriers and accelerators affecting the career paths of career services and university recruiting professionals.

Providing a candidate experience that meets—or better yet, exceeds—students’ expectations is the “secret sauce” that drives successful results.

A pilot study conducted among cooperative education students at University of Cincinnati tested the value of providing students with flexible due dates to help them manage their mental well-being and grow their project management skills.

A former dean now working with hiring organizations offers five lessons for how higher ed can work with industry and move the needle for students—especially low-income and first-generation students.

Some have the mistaken idea that credit means internship experiences can’t or shouldn’t be paid. Affecting all students but especially those struggling with finances, unpaid, for-credit internships require the student to pay for the credit and forgo a paycheck. Employers can and should pay their interns, regardless of whether the student gets academic credit for participating.

A study found that mentorship, community, biculturalism, and resilience are crucial resources and skills that Black women can use to advance their careers.

Recent studies reveal that systemic barriers continue to limit progress on achieving pay equity for all, but there are tangible, proven ways that career centers and employers can make an impact.

In an ever-evolving landscape, career services needs to adapt and innovate. Here, Hassan Akmal discusses how career services can reimagine itself to meet the needs of students and alumni.

In this op ed piece, Chris Miciek discusses problems with jumping into AI without considering the consequences and urges we take the middle ground.

NACE President & CEO Shawn VanDerziel shares NACE research, which indicates that both employers and college students and graduates view higher education and the college degree as valuable.

Due to their underrepresentation in the classroom and societal messaging around technology being a “masculine domain,” women in computer science often feel isolated and marginalized. A study demonstrates how women’s experiences in computing internships shape their future career decisions; the findings have implications for both career development professionals and employers who recruit entry-level talent.

On June 29, 2023, in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the affirmative action policies at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. The court’s decision striking down race-based college and university admissions policies and programs will have sweeping and immediate consequences for higher education throughout the country.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) polled its career services members in spring 2023 about their use of AI in their work and in their work with students.

Automated video interviews (AVIs) are an emerging recruitment tool. As success factors in AVIs may differ from face-to-face interviews, it is important for career services practitioners to know how to help their students prepare for these new types of interviews.

The research suggests that, long term, we will likely work in and out of the office. Research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that new college graduates want to be in person at least part of the time, but also want the flexibility to work remotely some of the time.

The Career & Professional Development office at the University of Denver developed a multipronged approach to work toward its ambitious goal to engage 90% of undergraduates annually.

The SPARK grant at Nazareth College is open to first- and second-year students to encourage and support early engagement in experiential learning.

A study at a minority-serving institution uncovers aspects of social and cultural capital that contribute to the college-to-career transition of Black undergraduate women.

Clarion University was part of a historic integration within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). Since 2020, Clarion, California, and Edinboro Universities of Pennsylvania have worked to plan and execute the integration of their three unique, standalone universities to one shared model. As of July 1, 2022, we became Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest).

NACE’s research shows that career services has a quantifiable effect on students and their entry into the world of work. It’s hardly a new question: Over the years, many career services professionals have been asked to respond, often when budgets are tight and administrators are looking for where to make cuts, but even when that’s not the case.

The effective preparation of college students for careers is an important college outcome. Yet, employers and the public increasingly feel that universities are not doing enough to prepare students for the workforce

Internships provide employers an opportunity to identify talent early: Indeed, according to NACE’s 2019 Recruiting Benchmark Survey Report, nearly all respondents (94 percent) said it was very or extremely important to identify talent early through internships.1

Historically, employers conducted preemployment drug testing to promote a drug-free work environment and safe working conditions for all employees. Applicants who tested positive for prohibited substances, including marijuana, were generally excluded from further consideration for employment. However, as more states legalize the use of medicinal or recreational marijuana, employers are facing difficult decisions regarding their preemployment drug testing policies.

The Center for Career Development at the University of Charleston is working to engage employers by transforming transactions into relationships.

Students’ expectations around authenticity in recruiting have remained constant, but the pandemic created job-search challenges that affect how they assess employers and their opportunities.

This article discusses maintaining and handling protected data, including how to an internal or third-party breach.

Given the complexity and variety of laws, it is not surprising that employers, applicants, and career services professionals alike are confused about what is and isn’t legal in the case of marijuana—medical and recreational. This article addresses marijuana use as it pertains to some of the most pressing questions surrounding recruiting and hiring.

Attorneys George Hlavac and Edward Easterly discuss potential pitfalls in the application and interview for applicants and employers.

Unpaid internships can put international students at risk of violating their immigration status.

What constitutes harassment? How are employers required to respond? What should employees do if they believe they are being harassed? Are unpaid interns protected?

Employers may require new hires and interns to sign restrictive covenants, such as noncompete, nonsolicitation, and/or nondisclosure agreements. Attorneys George Hlavac and Ed Easterly discuss the issues.

There are benefits to engaging with a mentor with whom you do not share an identity.

Philip Wilkerson, III and Samara Reynolds, authors of “The Value of Intentional Cross-Identity Mentorship,” share their personal insights about mentorship.

The legalization of recreational and/or medical marijuana in many states raises a series of issues for employers and employees alike. How are drug testing policies affected? Must employers accommodate use of marijuana for medical purposes? What does legalization mean for federal contractors?

The key for reference providers is to know what information should and can be disclosed, and what legal ramifications arise as a result of improper disclosures.

There are a number of laws and regulations governing internships, including whether an intern is classified as an employee. Others cover compensation-related issues—including whether an intern can be paid if they receive credit—workplace safety, employment agreements, and more.

Many career services professionals are asked to prescreen candidates for employers—to identify their “best” students. So, too, are faculty members. Beyond a host of ethical issues involved in such a request, there are legal implications.