CAP 220-02

Bringing Students to the Center

Client: The GVSU Career Center

Aja Nero-Williams

12/10/2015

Table of Contents

Research

Secondary Research Pg. 2

Focus Group Pg. 7

Focus Group Moderator’s Guide Pg. 13

Survey Pg. 16

Action Plan

Situational Analysis Pg. 25

SWOT Analysis Pg. 28

Objectives and Strategies Pg. 31

Budget Pg. 37

Tactics Pg. 38

Campaign Evaluation Pg. 41

References Pg. 43

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Executive Summary

Research

Secondary Research Findings

“Career Services Office”, “Career Placement Office”, “Career Services Center”, no matter

the varying name every accredited college in America has a career center. When an individual

decides to pursue a higher education, more likely than not that person made that decision in

order to have more opportunities to start or further their career. Career offices are to serve as

a guide and a resource for students to reach their goals from the start of their education.

Career Centers cater mostly to students, but each office must encourage and maintain

certain relationships in order to make that possible. Many employment agencies will partner

up with the career center of a local university and provide them with information about their

companies as well as job and internship postings. Professors can also add their support by

promoting the career center to their classes or initiate an internship program.

There is a standard list of services that each career center should offer to sufficiently

serve students, or be considered a “good” career center (Bradbury, 2015):

Career Decision Making- A student will set up a meeting with a counselor so

they can determine the best degree program for their career goals. The

counselor assesses the student’s personality and skills, then suggests majors that

highlights and can further the student’s abilities.

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Career Exploration- The center should have access to career related information

at each student’s disposal, in the event someone wants to start researching their

career path. There should also be a database of alumni who are willing to

discuss their current career with inquisitive students.

Resume and Cover Letter Workshops- One-on-one sessions where the counselor

helps the student create or revise resumes, cover letters, and CV letters.

Job Interview Preparation- A main concern of some students is having the ability

to present themselves well during an interview. Career centers that offer

interview preparation services usually sponsor workshops for this or schedule

mock interviews for the student to practice.

On-campus recruiting- Events where employers of local businesses meet and

mingle with students, offering job opportunities or on-site interviews.

Career Management System- A database or listing of jobs and internship

postings that is updated daily.

Graduate School Advisement- Guidance for students who want to take their

education to the next step.

With any institution, having the ability to address and serve diverse populations is

critical. Groups such as minorities, women, and members of the LGBT community have specific

career related needs. For instance, students who are minorities or foreign could make great

use of a minority based professional network that the career center can grant access to.

Disabled people can have a hard time finding steady work; the career center can produce job

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listings that are guaranteed to accommodate disabled employees. A successful career center

would be able to provide information to many specific populations.

One part of being able to efficiently serve the student population as a whole is being

well staffed. The career center should have enough employees to handle the amount of cases

they receive. In the most effective career centers there are fewer than 1,100 caseloads per

counselor, which should permit at least one staff hour per student per year. Most career

services are short and custom by nature, so promising each student at least an hour in the year

is reasonable. If a career center cannot guarantee time for students, then it is essentially

purposeless.

Research conducted by Millennial Branding in 2014 indicates that career centers do not

hold a good reputation for Generation Y. This study took place between January and February

of that year, which surveyed 4,150 students and recent graduates from universities across

America. It was discovered that almost 50% of students admitted never accessing their school’s

career center services, and 61% feel that the center is rarely, if ever, effective in helping them

land a job. Part of this team’s conclusion is that there is a severe lack of staff support for the

students. Close to 1/3 of students felt that centers do not have enough staff to assist them.

Instead of the ideal 1,100 cases, the average counselor is trying to work with a caseload around

1,900.

Grand Valley Career Center

Grand Valley State University has a career center with two locations: one on the main

Allendale campus in the Student Services Building and the other on the downtown Pew campus

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in the DeVos center. Both sites offer full services and cater to students, faculty, and employers.

Cases are managed through majors, a staff member may have anywhere between 10 and 3,500

cases. Each staff member allocates a work day to five scheduled appointments plus drop-ins.

Based on the layout of their website, it seems that career-related events are the

center’s top priority. The first thing a person sees is a banner with three transitioning images,

two of which are promoting a different career fair. The last one promotes a page they have

called “Experience Matters”, where other students share their work and internship experiences

and the opportunities they opened up. The landing page is a schedule of all career events and

workshops to come up until November.

Grand Valley’s career center offers all of the aforementioned services for students with

some under different names. For example, GV has a career management system called “The

LakerJob Board” where students can create a profile, upload their resume and other career

documents, and can search and apply for jobs with ease. It’s a database that is updated daily

by employers on and off campus. Users can filter the job search through categories such as

type of job experience and location. One could also mark “favorites” and save job postings to

apply for later. LakerJobs also provides a guide for creating a resume, phone interview tips, and

career related articles. The career center reaches out to local employers and allows them to

post any open positions to the job board.

Information is available for diverse populations as well. On the main menu bar at the

top of the webpage, there is a tab for “Diversity Resources.” Under this tab, there are services

separated by the groups they are tailored for:

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Students of Color

LGBT

Disability

Women

International

Veterans

The website extends a hand out to the school’s faculty to be involved with the career

center. Faculty and staff members can help the career center reach its goals by hosting

workshops the career center sponsors, beginning an internship, or simply promoting career-

related events to their classes. Faculty members are also encouraged to participate in Going

Global, a program that helps students who plan on studying abroad transition to their

destination country.

Grand Valley’s career center issued a report detailing statistics of alumni once they have

graduated. This could be a measure of the school’s overall success rate. Below is a summary

of the report’s findings:

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The office seems to be in line with the makings of a “successful” career center, but more

research must be conducted. Most students graduate and move on to start their careers, yet

student perceptions of the school’s center may be close to the perceptions found in Millennial

Branding’s study. The GVSU career center has expressed that they feel that students aren’t

aware of their presence. If future research reflects the findings in the MB study, then strategies

would need to be put in place to drive students to the career center. Also, the need to make

students feel like they are being adequately served is high. If GV students feel that the center

rarely helps them, then that could be the result of too many caseloads per counselor.

Therefore, strategies must be put in place to ensure that students get the attention they feel is

necessary when visiting the center.

Focus Group

On October 8, 2015, a focus group was conducted in order to find out perceptions of

Grand Valley’s career center from current GVSU students. The focus group contained eight

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people: five females and three males ranging from Junior to fifth year Senior status. Each

participant has spent their entire college career at GVSU up to this point.

With my partners Autumn Perez and Shabria Hathorn, we created a guide of questions

that we believe fully investigates the topic at hand. We organized all of our questions into four

categories: GVSU Students, Social Media, the Career Center, and Services. Within each

category, various trends in attitude were discovered.

METATHEME-GVSU STUDENTS

This category contained questions that are centered on the students and their lives at

Grand Valley. As a first step, it is extremely important to know the extent of students’

involvement and awareness of the university in general. Factors such as living on campus and

being employed can have a number of effects on a student’s perception of the career center.

Themes:

Everyone to this point has been at GV consistently

Overall confident with school building locations and knowledge

Overall consensus: their current job is not in line with their career choice

As expected, many of the students currently live off campus. However, each participant

has spent their entire college career at Grand Valley. Each participant was also confident in

navigating the campus and being familiar with the main buildings. When asked about what

resources came to mind when thinking about Grand Valley, many were named (ie. the LGBT

resource center, the women’s center, etc.); but no one mentioned the career center. Each

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student in this group is currently working, and they all agreed that what they are doing now is

not what they want to pursue for a career.

METATHEME 1-SOCIAL MEDIA

We spent a short amount of time discussing aspects of social media. It is known that

college students often engage themselves by using various social media platforms. This section

provides clarity on which sites resonate with students, and can provide insight on the career

center’s reach over the internet.

Themes:

Daily Facebook use

Daily laptop and phone use

Prefer social media and mass emails

Each participant had their own preferences with using different platform, but everyone

agreed that they are daily Facebook users. All students also agreed that they use their laptops

daily and check their phones countless times throughout the day. When asked about school

services or pages they might follow, two people mentioned following the GVSU Twitter page.

Currently, none of the participants follow GVSU’s career center on any available platform. We

asked the participants “What would be the best way for the career center to reach out to

students?” All agreed that Facebook and mass emails should be the center’s primary means of

informing students. A couple participants mentioned Twitter as a possibility as well.

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METATHEME 2-The Career Center

Once we covered all preliminary information, it was time to move on to the career

center section, which has more depth in exploring students’ awareness of the center as well as

all services, programs, and affiliated events .

Themes:

Everyone is familiar with the center

Few have visited/pursued

Little participation in events and fairs

The group as a whole was familiar with the career center through advertisements, word

of mouth, and some promotion from professors and counselors. Yet out of the group of eight,

two have ever actually visited the center; these participants both felt adequately helped after

their visit. Also out of the eight, one has visited the career center’s page on the Grand Valley

website. This participant felt that the website was basic and user friendly, but she couldn’t

remember much more than that. Another participant noted that when she visited the career

center as a freshman, she did not feel welcome. She used to believe that the career center was

for people closer to graduating. A number of participants expressed having difficulty finding

the actual location of the career center. One suggested that they hold a mixer of sorts to get

student’s comfortable and gain familiarity with the center.

The group seemed familiar with the career center’s main services. A number of

participants admitted that they learned about some very useful services once they felt like it

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was “too late”. For instance one participant stated, “I just found out that they have interview

prep!” Considering the entire group is in Junior standing or higher, that could be seen as very

“late” information. Another participant pointed out that many professors talk about study

abroad opportunities often but do not mention the career center, and shifting that promotion

focus would help raise awareness. This person also suggested that the center should partner

with more student organizations, and the rest of the group agreed.

We also explored the group’s awareness of events hosted by the career center, such as

the career fair and internship fair. The majority participants have never been to a career center

event, but everyone has noticed or received some form of advertisement for such events. The

participants expressed interest in attending one of these events but could not go because:

1. There is usually a time conflict.

2. There is a lack of guidance.

The participants feel like these events should be hosted at a different time. The group mutually

agreed that the late afternoon is best, and noted that students should be able to attend these

events without an attendance penalty if the event happens to be during a class. The one

participant who did attend a career fair felt as if he needed more guidance. He attended the

event not knowing what to expect and he felt unprepared.

METATHEME 3-Services

This is the final section of questions, which explores the perception and awareness of

two of the center’s services: the LakerJob Board and Time for Ten.

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Themes:

Most are familiar with or have used the job board

Overall don’t like aesthetics or design of the job board

Overall unfamiliar with Time for Ten

Overall feeling of inadequate advertising for Time for Ten

The LakerJob Board is an online career management database. Students can use this

tool to apply to jobs and internships through connections the school maintains with local

employers. The majority of participants have heard of and used the LakerJob board. When

looking for employment, users in the group checked this board daily. Two students gained

employment using this tool. Everyone who used the job board also felt that the response rate

was better than other traditional job finders (Craigslist, Indeed, Monster, etc.).

Regarding the aesthetics of the board, users in this group were not pleased. They

agreed that they felt overwhelmed when navigating LakerJobs. Some felt that there are too

many options listed at once. Every user noted that the website needs a general update and

“facelift.”

Time for Ten is a fairly new program offered by the GVSU Career Center. It was created

for students who may not have time for a formal appointment. Students can stop by the career

center for ten minutes during a set time block of the day and speak with a counselor and

answer quick questions. The landing page of the career center’s website features an

advertisement for it.

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No one in the group was aware of this program. After explaining what it is, the group

agreed that it is a good idea to offer this. Everyone felt that this service is not advertised well,

and some participants suggested that the center would have more times and locations for this

service.

Conclusion

If this focus group were to serve as a representation of the student body as a whole,

then it would mean that many students have a cloudy perception of the career center. People

are aware that GV has one, and that there are some tools and events, but are unaware of the

extent of the center’s services. To summarize the main points made by the group, college

students typically have many things going on at once, so there should be more effort put into

promotion and working around the student’s availability. Students also feel that the center

needs to change the way it’s presented to appear welcoming to all student populations.

Moderator’s Guide

Focus Group Guide for Career Center

1. Introductory Material (5 minutes)a. Welcome and purpose of Focus Group

i. Moderator and Group introduce themselves and thank participants for comingii. Assignment for CAP220 Class

iii. The campus issue we will be discussing is GVSU Career center

b. Explanation and signing of compliance formi. Your participation is voluntary.

ii. You may withdraw at any time without penalty or prejudice.iii. Any personal information you give will be kept confidential.iv. Verify that you are 18 years of age or older.v. Session may be recorded, ( video and audio)

1. information just used in report for class2. Your name will not be published in report

c. Time:

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i. This focus group will take approximately 45 -50 minutesd. Moderator’s role

i. Start topicsii. Facilitate discussion

iii. Keep discussion on topice. Guidelines and ground rules

i. Please turn off cell phonesii. Talk to each other not to me

iii. Answer honesty – No right or wrong answersiv. One person talks at a timev. Be respectful of others – respect each other's input

vi. Make your answers as specific as possible

2. Participant introductions (3 minutes)a. Please tell us a little bit about yourselfb. Name, year in school, special interest or organizational affiliation

3. Body of the discussion ( 35-40 minutes)a. GVSU Students:

i. Where do you live?1. Probe: Do you live on campus, off campus, apartment, at home, other?

ii. What year are you?1. Probe: How many years have you been in college,

iii. If you are a freshmen how do you like the campus so far?1. Probe: Do you think it is too big, convenient, confusing, easy to remember?

iv. Have you been at GVSU all four years?1. Probe: If not did you transfer, did you take a break?

v. Do you work?1. Probe: On campus, off campus, back at home, how many hours?

vi. Is your current job something you see doing for the rest of your life?1. Probe: Is your job related to the field you want to go in? if not why are you

working in that job? What job do you want and why haven't you pursued looking for it?

vii. If you live on campus how familiar are you with all of the buildings on campus?1. Probe: can you name a few of them?

viii. Are you aware of any of the services campus has to offer?1. Probe: Can you name some of the services? One at a time.

b. Social Media: i. Do any of you have any social media platforms ?

1. Probe: What ones do you use, which one do you use the most, why?ii. How often are you on your laptop?

1. Probe: Laptop v.s. phone?iii. Do you follow any of the school's social media sites?

1. Probe: If yes, which ones? Do you follow GVSU on facebook, instagram, 2020 desk

iv. Now I want to ask you about one of the services in particular, Do you follow the career center on facebook?

1. Probe:

c. The Career Center: i. Who has heard of the career center?

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1. Probe: How did you hear about it, friend, teacher, poster, sign, website, yourself, work their?

ii. Have you ever visited the career center website? 1. Probe: if so, what did you think about it? Was it easy to navigate around it?

iii. What elements do you look for in the help of the career center? 1. Probe: Can you exaggerate on that? What do you mean? What are some that

would make a good career center (if you have/haven't) been to it/one.iv. What is most important to you when visiting/ or plan on visiting the career center,

Internships, choosing a major, future careers, or study abroad opportunities? 1. Probe: Why?

v.vi. Out of all the communication platforms, which one do you believe is beneficial for

getting the word out about events around campus? 1. Probe: Which one do you think is best for the career center to reach Gvsu

students more effectively? vii. Perceptions:Overall, what is your current perception of the Career Center?

1. ALSO: What are some statements or opinions you can recall from friends and other students when talking about the center?

viii. There are many events that the Career Center hosts, such as job and internship fairs. 1. Who all here has seen advertisements for such events? What mediums?2. YES: How would you say you responded to the advertisement? Did it draw you

in?3. Has anyone ever attended any of these events?4. YES: Which event? Describe your experience? How well do you feel the event

was organized? What would you suggest to improve that?

d. Services provided and not provided i. If you ever heard of the career center, how do you hear about the events they have

going on around campus? 1. Probe: Do you hear them thru GVSU website, orgs/peers, Twitter, Signs on

campus, etcii. If the career center was to add a career lab to help reach your need more proficiently

would you take advantage of this resource? 1. Probe: Why or why not?

iii. Who has heard of the LakerJob Board?1. Probe:

a. No:Provide short description, then continueb. Yes: When job hunting, how often did/do you check the board?

(multiple times a day, once a day, weekly, etc.)iv. Have you ever found employment using this tool?

1. Probe: what job did you find, what were you looking for?2. Probe:

a. How is the response rate on LakerJobs compared to going door to door or other job sites (monster, indeed, etc.?)

b. USER FRIENDLINESS: How do you like the appearance of LakerJobs? How do you feel about navigating through the site?

v. Has everyone here heard of Time for Ten?1. Probe:

a. No: provide short description then continue:b. Yes: How often do you notice advertising for it? Through which

mediums?

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c. Who here has actually used it?i. Probe: (Yes): How would you describe your experience, (No):

why haven’t you?d. GENERAL: How do you feel about this idea?

vi. What would help you to set up an appointment to talk to someone about your future?1. Probe: Do you think freshman and sophomore year is too ear? Just right?

4. Conclusion ( 3 minutes)a. Conclude the findings found with the information we have collected.

i. Summarizeb. We have almost come to the end of our focus group session. Is there anything else you would

like to add or one piece of advice you could give to improve the GVSU career center?c. Do the observers need clarification on any points? d. Do you have any other questions or concerns about what was conducted here?e. Thank you so much for your participation! We truly appreciate your help with our class project.

Survey

Introduction

Grand Valley’s Career Center is seeking to improve the quality of their services and

the overall perception students’ may have towards the center. The career center has

two locations: one in Allendale in the Student Services Building, and the other is

downtown in the Devos Center. The GV Career Center wants to build awareness and

increase engagement, all while supplying student needs in a way that fits the student

best.

Survey Design

The survey my group and I designed is made up of two pages which equal a total of

10 questions. The first page of questions contains the demographic questions and the

second page is more career center specific. This was created on SurveyMonkey and

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distributed through mass emails and social media promotion. Each question is designed

to measure the student’s awareness of the career center and which areas of service

need to improve.

Results

1. What is your class standing

2. Type of Student

3. Major

a. Advertising/Public Relations: 15b. Health Communications: 2c. Communications: 2d. Liberal Studies: 1

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e. English: 1f. Biomedical Sciences: 1g. Nursing: 1h. Public and non-profit administration: 1i. Film and video: 1j. Photography: 1k. Special Education: 1

4. Employment status

5. Are you aware that GVSU has a career center?

6. If you’ve gone to the career center, did you feel like you received the help you

needed regarding your future?

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7. Have you ever gained employment using LakerJobs?

8. Do you feel the career center is hard to locate?

9. Do you feel that the career center does well with accommodating to students’

schedules?

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10. What do you feel is/are the best way(s) for the career center to inform

students?

Demographic Findings

We were able to collect 26 responses. This is not the ideal number for a

representative sample; however it is what we have so my analysis will be based on that

population.

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Out of the 26 respondents, the majority (38.6%) are in Junior class standing. In order

after that comes Seniors, Sophomores, Super Seniors and then Freshman coming in with

the least respondents (7.69%). This may indicate that Juniors has the highest level of

concern when regarding the career center because they are close to graduation and

thinking about the senior year ahead. Majority of the respondents are currently in an

undergraduate program. Only three are transfer students and one is a graduate

student. Majority of the respondents also hold a major in the communications

department; there were only 2 biomedical sciences majors, one nursing, and one

photography.

61% of this population is currently employed. 19.23% are unemployed and looking

and another 19.23% is unemployed and not interested in finding work.

Survey Findings

Four out of the 26 respondents are not aware that GVSU has a career center.

Awareness may be an issue, but it may not be the main issue of concern. 11

respondents actually visited the center; and out of them, eight people felt like the

career center adequately helped them out and three did not share this feeling. The

remainder of respondents has never been to the career center. This could be because

this group didn’t feel the need to go. In the focus group that was conducted in early

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October, many of the participants weren’t fully aware of the services that the career

center offered. This could be the cause of the skewed numbers.

Fitting this into the campaign:

This information supports the basis of the first strategy in the Career Center’s action

plan: To inform students of the services the career center has to offer. Students may

not have felt the need to visit the career center because they didn’t know all it has to

offer. Awareness of the career center will increase with exposure of their niche product.

Regarding the Laker Job Board, three respondents never heard of it. We asked if

students ever received employment using LakerJobs or if they’ve received a job through

any other career center service. Seven students successfully found a job through

LakerJobs, but no one received employment from using any other career center

resource. This may also be why some students do not feel the need to visit the center

or why some students didn’t feel helped when they did visit the center. This also

indicates that a lot of students prefer the LakerJob board over other listing sites.

Though it wasn’t discussed in the survey, the findings of the focus group must be kept in

mind, and the focus group expressed that the overall look and navigability of the

LakerJob board is displeasing.

Fitting this into the campaign:

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With this information, it is logical to try a cosmetic upgrade for the LakerJob board.

Re-vamping the directory would encourage more students to use it, and make it more

comfortable to use for current users. If the upgrade is treated with public exposure,

then it would direct more traffic to the tool as well.

Majority (38.46%) of respondents feel that the career center is just a little hard to

locate. 34.62% feel that the centers are easy to find. Perhaps the center should

implement a small increase of “hand holding” for the students to reach the center

appropriately.

Fitting this into the campaign:

This campaign will include a strategy for increasing awareness of the center,

especially during a student’s freshman and junior year.

Students were asked if they felt the career center accommodates well with their

schedules. College students usually have an overflowing plate of an incredibly busy

schedule, so it is imperative to know if the career center can fit in time with any student

who needs assistance. Seven students felt that they could easily schedule an

appointment with the center. Only one respondent expressed going through difficulties

when trying to schedule an appointment. The remainder of the students has no opinion

on the matter. Since one responded filled in the negative answer, their experience may

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have been circumstantial. The people with no opinion more than likely contains the

people who have never been to the center.

Fitting this into the campaign:

Coupled with the results from the focus group, I believe there should be an emphasis

on the career center’s Time for Ten program. This walk-in opportunity would be great

for students who have a hard time scheduling a formal appointment or may not have

time to at all.

The final question discusses the possibilities of communication. Over what medium

would students prefer to receive information from the career center?

College students of this generation pretty much live on the internet, so it isn’t a

surprise that the majority of students feel that mass emails, social media, and online ads

are the best ways of informing and getting in contact with students. Face to face

interaction is more personal, and it seems that students would like to experience more

of that. The one “other” response details referral; sharing of information through

classroom professors.

Fitting this into the campaign:

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With the information above, the action plan for the career center will contain mainly

electronic forms of communication.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of this survey, awareness of GV’s career center is not the main

issue, but rather awareness of their services is. Increasing engagement and traffic

begins with drawing more attention to what the center offers. With this survey, we can

determine the best way to reach out to students and work on rebranding the career

center so that it’s more student friendly and isn’t associated with “professionally

awkward” tone.

Action plan

Situational Analysis

The career center of Grand Valley Statue University has indicated that they are having

issues with reaching students properly. The center aims to provide career related services to

the student population. The center wants to build awareness of its’ presence and supply

student needs in the best way for them.

In order to determine the true needs of the career center some research was

conducted, including a focus group and a survey distributed throughout the university.

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The GVSU career center has two full service locations on their two main campuses,

Allendale and Pew in Grand Rapids. The center has a webpage on the main GVSU website.

They also hold a presence on Facebook (1,283 likes), Twitter (3,736 followers), Instagram (139

followers), and Pintrest (586 followers). Their services include:

Career Decision Making- A student will set up a meeting with a counselor so

they can determine the best degree program for their career goals. The

counselor assesses the student’s personality and skills, then suggest majors that

highlights and can further the student’s abilities.

Time for Ten- In the day, there is a block of time that students can come in

without an appointment, and discuss any concerns that can be covered within 10

minutes. This is designed for students with busy schedules.

Career Exploration

Resume and Cover Letter Workshops- One-on-one sessions where the counselor

helps the student create or revise resumes, cover letters, and CV letters.

Job Interview Preparation- Tips and mock interview practice.

On-campus recruiting- Events where employers of local businesses meet and

mingle with students, offering job opportunities or on-site interviews.

Career Management System- Here it’s called LakerJobs or the Laker Job Board.

It’s a database or listing of jobs and internship postings that is updated daily.

Graduate School Advisement- Guidance for students who want to take their

education to the next step.

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The center feels that lack of awareness is the main issue. To explore that possibility, a

survey was distributed among the student body. Based on the findings of this survey,

awareness of GV’s career center is not the main issue, but rather awareness of their services is.

A great majority of the respondents were aware that the center existed, but were unfamiliar

with all the center has to offer.

A focus group was conducted to determine some perceptions around the center. Most

students know that there is a career center, so perceptions around it could be a factor why the

center is experiencing low engagement. The focus group indicated that the student body’s

perception of the career center is cloudy. People are aware that GV has one, and that there

are some tools and events, but are unaware of the extent of the center’s services. To

summarize the main points made by the group, college students typically have many things

going on at once, so there should be more effort put into promotion and working around the

student’s availability. Students also feel that the center needs to change the way it’s presented

to appear welcoming to all student populations.

Below is a SWOT analysis of the GVSU career center:

Strengths: Locations on main campuses Offers standard services Offers services based on diversity

needs

Weaknesses: LakerJob Board Design Specific locations-hard to find Promotion methods

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Opportunities: Time for Ten Social Media Presence, especially

Facebook Career Events Welcome and orientation events Student Organizations

Threats: Word of mouth with negative

perceptions Current navigability of the website

Strengths:

The career center falls in line with the standards of a successful career center when it

comes to the services they offer. The survey shows that most students who have received help

from the career center felt adequately helped. The GVSU career center has all of the parts, and

the car runs well; it’s just that the information isn’t getting out there. The career center has an

authentic product, which already makes it that much easier to market.

Another big strength is that the center has locations on the main campuses. That is

another fact that may go over many students’ heads in the information overload of college.

The center also provides career related resources to many diverse populations, such as

women, international students, LGBT students, those with a disability and even veterans.

These services need to be highlighted as well because these populations may not know the

career center could help them.

Weaknesses:

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During the focus group, there were many participants who were unsatisfied with the

appearance of the LakerJob Board. They felt that the board was a bit hard to navigate and

were displeased with the aesthetics of the site in general.

Even though there are two accessible locations, getting to the specific room of a specific

building proved to be a little difficult for the majority of survey participants. Some noted they

could have used more guidance.

There may be an issue with how the career center promotes their services and events.

There is a great deal of print advertising and only some online promotion. College students

spend most of their time on a laptop, or smartphone, and are constantly checking the internet

for a variety of reasons. It is more likely for the targeted public to notice an advertisement

online than posted on a bulletin board. Some participants in the focus group felt that they

could have used more guidance coming in.

Opportunities:

Time for Ten is one of the services offered by the career center. College students have

an incredibly busy schedule, and Time for Ten caters to that. Students can come in any time

during a designated portion of the day for any quick questions or concerns if they don’t have

time for a formal appointment. The focus group indicated that this was a great idea, but no one

in the group had heard of it prior to the study. Capitalizing on this could help reach the student

public and increase engagement.

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A good way to reach out to college students is through a strong social media presence.

The GVSU career center has an account for many mainstream platforms. Individually, students

have their own preferences as far as social media goes, but almost every single student has a

Facebook account, whether it be for work, class, or personal. The survey indicated that

students feel social media is the best way to inform students and the focus group expressed

that Facebook would be the best platform for this goal.

One of the misperceptions of the career center is that it’s mainly designed to service

students with a junior or senior standing. We could change this perception by marketing more

to freshmen and sophomores, reaching out to them and highlight that the center has services

for all students and serves them equally.

To get students to engage with them, they should engage more with students. A perfect

way of doing this is to partner up with a few student organizations for events or workshops.

Threats:

Negative or inaccurate perceptions about the center tend to spread fast, and the

students listen. A student who hears the career center only serves juniors and seniors will

more than likely never step foot in the center.

The webpage on the main GVSU website is also a little difficult for students to navigate,

according to the focus group. An unpleasant experience on the website can deter a student

from revisiting.

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Objectives

Based on the findings of my research, the Grand Valley career center should have three

primary objectives: Increase student awareness of services through engagement. Mainly,

have solicitation of services increase of 30% by December 2016. The career center should

identify the entire student body as their general public, but the key publics for this campaign

are freshmen and sophomores. As students getting accustomed to life outside of high school,

they will need more guidance. Plus it will reduce the number of juniors and seniors who learn

about the center “when it’s late.” This campaign is designed to run for one calendar year, from

the start of the winter semester in January 2016 to the end of the fall semester in December

2016.

Strategy 1: We want to inform the student body of some of the services the career center has

to offer. Time for Ten should especially be highlighted because students have very hectic

schedules, and this is an opportunity with a great deal of potential.

An idea I have is to create an online promotion. The overall theme of it would be “What

could you do with 10 minutes?” The promotion would include a hashtag and a video.

The video would be a commercial, featuring a respected figure on campus. The overall

message of the commercial would be “Didn’t you have a question about your resume? You

could stop by the career center.” The commercial would be humorous, and the respected

figure in it would increase its likelihood of being shared.

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The hashtag is designed to go along with the commercial. The hashtag #Time410GV can

become associated with the service and the commercial. Students who go to Time for Ten can

be encouraged to post something about their experience with that hashtag in the post. The

hashtag can be promoted in the commercial as a way to get it noticed as well.

After a few months of the commercial and hashtag circulating, a new branch of the

campaign can start. This is where the engagement comes in: A new promotion will begin

where students can send in their own video renditions of the Time for Ten commercial, with

#Time410GV tagged on it. Each week a different student’s video will be featured on YouTube,

Facebook, and the main GVSU career center webpage. Not only is this promotion designed to

increase awareness, but also increase engagement of services.

Measurable Goals:

1. Time for Ten engagement increase of 10% by December 2016.

2. Original commercial views of 5,000+ by December 2016 (based on the average amount

of views for top Grand Valley videos.)

3. Ongoing: Progress of the #Time410GV hashtag

Strategy 2: The career center can strengthen their presence on campus and increase

engagement of students by getting involved with student organizations.

The career center could pair up with career related student orgs and organizations with

a diverse nature, like the Advertising and Public Relations Club or the Freshman Queer Alliance

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for example. In these partnerships, the center can provide workshops during a club meeting or

set up meetings with an experienced guest speaker. Hosting workshops with these clubs would

be a way for the career center to come to the students, the ones with career related concerns.

Also, visiting these clubs would show how the career center is able to cater to these audiences.

The career center hosts different events throughout the academic year, like the career

and internship fairs. While partnering with these organizations, the career center can extend

formal invitations to these events to these clubs. In the focus group, some participants noted

that they were unaware of the fairs that the career center hosted. Being involved with many

organizations and spreading word through them dramatically increases the organic reach of

that information.

Measurable Goals:

1. Host a workshop with 10 organizations by the end of April 2016.

2. Increase of Career Fair attendance by 10% in the next Career Fair.

Strategy 3: The career center needs to shift the perceptions that are around it, and one way to

do that is by improving their presence on the GVSU website and the LakerJob board. I suggest

there be a cosmetic upgrade on both platforms.

The layout of the main GV webpage could be changed to be more “user friendly” and

somehow showcase that they serve everyone from freshmen through alumni.

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Also, improving the look of the LakerJob Board will improve the experience for the

student, and they are more likely to pass the tool on to other students with positive reviews.

The career center could use this as an opportunity to engage with students more. The career

center could host a competition for coding and art students to come up with their best design

of both platforms. The student with the best design will have their work implemented into the

new websites and win a $150 cash or gift card prize.

Measurable Goal:

1. 15% increase of user likeability on each platform by the end of December 2016

Strategy 4: Students feel that they don’t get the information that they should at the times that

they should. In order to serve students better, the career center needs to improve how they

distribute information among students.

In the survey findings, students noted that the best way to get information to them

would be via social media, mass emails, and online advertising. Based on that, the career

center should reallocate some of the weight from their print advertisements and go online.

Just as with any other official school message, the career center should be able to send

out a few mass emails or newsletters to students throughout the year. For instance, one

reminds students of certain services, one to announce events coming up, etc. College students

must check their email multiple times a day, so finding a way into their inboxes would ensure

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they notice more announcements. These newsletters can be sent out on a monthly basis, so it

could serve as a light reminder and not be considered too spammy.

Alongside of that, the career center should draw more attention to their Facebook page.

In the focus group, every single participant owned a Facebook account. Due to the nature of

social media today, the majority of Grand Valley has a Facebook account and checks it daily.

The Facebook page is active enough, so we should draw focus on gaining more “likes” on the

page. This can be done in a number of ways, including but not limited to:

Plugging the career center Facebook page in newsletters

Encouraging visitation and likes after consultation

Linking the #Time410GV hashtag and videos to the page

The Career Fair is one of the biggest events put on by the career center every year, and

it should continue to grow. Every student should know that this fair is available to them. Also

note that during the focus group, a few participants expressed having trouble at the event.

They attended it not fully knowing what was in store. I suggest that a press release be sent out

to the Greater Grand Rapids news outlets. A press release will have more details about the

event than a flier, and it could contain the information students need to feel better prepared

when attending the career fair. Also, being able to engage with media partners would expand

awareness incredibly, and it could attract more potential employers who want to express

interest in Grand Valley.

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Measurable Goal:

1. Increase of Career Fair attendance of 10% by the next Career Fair

2. Gain 500 likes on the Facebook page by the end of December 2016

Strategy 5: The career center should target incoming freshmen to make sure students have the

information they need right from the start.

38.4% of students have expressed that the career center could be just a little hard to

locate. While this is seen as a weakness, there is a fun opportunity within this. The career

center could host a scavenger hunt for incoming freshmen. The hunt would ultimately lead to

the career center locations, as well as inform students of the services offered through hints and

clues in the hunt.

Another tactic would be to encourage promotion from professors who instruct

fundamental classes. These instructors could offer extra credit as an incentive for students to

either:

Visit the career center

Use a career center service or sign up for the LakerJob Board

Or even just to search the website and present something they learned about it

Anything that they can come up with regarding the center

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Measurable Goal:

1. A 10% decrease of students who feel the center is hard to locate by the end of

December 2016

2. A 15% increase of users on the LakerJob board by December 2016

Estimated Project Budget: $4,015.00

1. New Video Production: $0-$5002. Hashtag Tracking Analytics: $0-$1203. Workshops for student organizations: $450

a. Labor- 24 hours in the yearb. Materials- print items and misc. practice supplies

4. Website and LakerJob Board graphic revamp a. Promotions- $85

i. Social Media Image 5x 5"Web Ad (1 Week)Plasma Ad (1 Week)1 Facebook and Twitter post3 Hours Of Design Time

b. Prize money- $150c. Coding services- $1,500

5. Press Release draft and distribution: $2706. Newsletter template design: 0-$207. Scavenger hunt design and implementation: $680

a. Promotions- $180i. 1 Inkjet Paper Banners 42"x72"

150 Black & White Posters 11"x17"400 Black & White PluggersWeb Ad (1 Week)Plasma Screen Ad (1 Week)Campus Posting4 Hours Of Design Time

b. Materials-up to $5008. Membership of online tracking tools: $2009. Survey design and implementation: $40

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Tactics

News Release: The purpose of the news release is to draw more attention to one of the career center’s main events, the Winter Career Fair. Press releases are best for when a company wants to reach out to external publics that may otherwise never get the chance to receive such information.

Grand Valley State University—Career Center Immediate ReleasePress ReleaseFor more information, contact: Aja Nero-Williams15614 Mount Vernon, Southfield, MI 48075Phone: 248-667-1643Email: nerowila@mail.gvsu.edu

WINTER CAREER FAIR COMING UP

February 18—Grand Valley State University is hosting their annual Winter Career Fair on

Thursday, February 25, 2015. “It’s going to be even bigger than last year!” said Lisa Knapp, director of

the career center. There will be over 200 employers offering information, interviews, and immediate

hires. The fair will run from 1:00PM-5:00PM at the following address:

DeVos Place Convention Center 303 Monroe Ave NW

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

This event is open to all students and alumni of the local colleges and universities. Attendees

are encouraged to dress professionally and have multiple copies of their resume on hand. More

information is available at www.gvsu.edu/careers.

Grand Valley State University—Career Center, 206 Student Services Building, Allendale, MI 49401 (616)-331-3311, email: careers@gvsu.edu

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Advertisement for Web Design Contest: This is an advertisement that could be used over the web or as a print ad. It’s designed to gain the attention of students who may possess the creative and technical skill to redesign the LakerJob board. The red motherboard design will hopefully catch the eye on the light blue background.

Newsletter: This newsletter is designed to go out once a month to all students via mass email, highlighting the events in that month to come. It will include features of experience matters, reminders of services, and tips for interviews and job hunting.

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Campaign Evaluation

In order to measure the efforts of a public relations campaign, there are evaluations

done before, during, and after actual implementation. The hope is to be able to measure a

change in outcome or outputs. Also, it’s best to evaluate each separate component of a

campaign, rather than the entire campaign as a whole. This will help determine which parts of

the campaign are succeeding and failing, so you can know exactly what to change if need be.

For this particular campaign, the list of measurable goals is composited below.

1. Time for Ten engagement increase of 10% by December 2016.2. Original commercial views of 5,000+ by December 2016 (based on the average amount

of views for top Grand Valley videos.)3. Ongoing: Progress of the #Time410GV hashtag4. Host a workshop with 10 organizations by the end of April 2016.5. Increase of Career Fair attendance by 10% in the next Career Fair.6. 15% increase of user likeability on each platform(LakerJob Board and Web Page) by

the end of December 20167. Gain 500 likes on the Facebook page by the end of December 20168. A 10% decrease of students who feel the center is hard to locate by the end of

December 20169. A 15% increase of users on the LakerJob board by December 2016

Goals 1 and 5 are action goals that will be measured by count and attendance, compared to

the year prior. Goals 2, 3, 7, and 9 will be measured with the use of social media analytics and

tracking, along with observation of activity on these pages. These will be an ongoing

observation periodically throughout the timeline of the campaign. Goal 4 will be measured

through planning and keeping up with the schedule for working with student organizations. A

short survey can be given to club leaders in order to evaluate how the club liked having the

Career Center as a guest. As for goals 6 and 8, these will be evaluated with a survey in the

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middle of the campaign and at the end, to gauge perceptions of the newly designed platforms

and the center in general.

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ReferencesBradbury, P. (2015, 9 29). What Do College Career Services Offices Do? Retrieved from AboutCareers:

http://careerplanning.about.com/od/careerchoicechan/a/career_services.htm

Clark, K. (2014, July 14). How to Judge a College by its Career Services Office. Retrieved from Time: http://time.com/money/2982931/college-career-services-office-job-placement/

GVSU Career Center. (2015, September 29). Retrieved from Grand Valley State University: http://www.gvsu.edu/careers/

Jr., D. A. (2007). How to Plan and Develop a Career Center. Infobase Publishing.

Knapp, L. (2015, September 30). Career Center Questions. (A. Nero-Williams, Interviewer)

Office, G. V. (2014). 2012-2013 Post-Graduation Employment Report. Allendale: Grand Valley State University.

Vogt, P. (2015, 12 9). What to Expect From Your Campus Career Center. Retrieved from Monster: http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search/career-assessment/what-expect-campus-career-center/article.aspx

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