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Insight Paper

Bridging the Early Career Readiness Gap

How Colleges Can Leverage Technology to Prepare Students for Career Success

Colleges and universities are under increasing pressure from all sides—parents, employers, governments, accreditors, and students themselves—to improve career outcomes for graduates and demonstrate a return on their investment of time and money. With the Carnegie Foundation’s forthcoming “student access and earnings” on the horizon, institutions must find new ways to prioritize career readiness and job placement.

This insight brief explores how student success leaders can respond to this mandate while balancing limited resources and staffing challenges. Inside, you’ll find key insights, practical recommendations, and more.

Key Career Readiness Insights

  • 75% of high school graduates say they were moderately, slightly, or not at all prepared to make college or career decisions after graduation
  • Less than half of college students are confident they know how to get a job after college
  • 39% of new college graduates reported their education didn’t prepare them for the mental health difficulties of transitioning to the workforce
  • Staff capacity constraints are a significant barrier, with 50% of higher education staff working more than full-time hours and only 31% believing they are paid fairly

Technology-Enabled Strategies for Career Advising and Student Success

This insight brief presents three key recommendations for how technology can supplement your advising teams' capacity and skills to provide students with effective early career guidance:

  1. Early Engagement

    Build early momentum by nudging students over initial hurdles

  2. Automated Guidance

    Reduce the burden on staff with self-guided resources

  3. Virtual Internships and Job Simulations

    Take advantage of new ways to gain relevant work experience

Successful Career Readiness Case Studies

  • Stony Brook University

    Integrated virtual job simulations into curriculum across 50+ courses

  • Texas Southern University

    Launched comprehensive career journeys to scale high-touch mentoring

Get actionable insights on using student success technology to support career readiness. Learn how Navigate360’s Journeys feature and Forage’s virtual job simulations can help your institution respond to the growing demand for better career outcomes – without placing additional burden on your staff.

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