DANVILLE, Ky. (May 1, 2018)—Centre College’s Center for Career & Professional Development (CCPD) was recently named one of the nation’s top three institutions for well-functioning and recommended career centers, along with Harvard and Biola.
Vocate, an online job-matching marketplace and professional development platform, recently published results from a survey of 5,000 college students to rate their college’s career center. The institutions were then ranked according to their Net Promoter Score (NPS), as they move closer to answering the question: are career centers doing their job?
The CCPD is a full-service campus office that facilitates students’ career and professional development, starting in their first year to the senior year and even after graduation.
“We help students choose majors, discern their career paths, choose and locate experiential opportunities, hone their professionalism skills and successfully apply to jobs and graduate schools,” director of the CCPD Joy Asher said.
Vocate’s findings show that only 4 percent of all career centers had a positive NPS. According to their survey, it suggests that 96 percent of students are not receiving the institution support needed for the transition from college to career.
According to Asher, by the time of graduation, the CCPD has typically seen 75-78 percent of students in individual career counseling appointments. Students who have attended different programs but have not scheduled an individual appointment represent just over 80 percent.
“As with Centre, the CCPD has a strong focus on personal attention,” Asher added. “Rather than just providing online resources, we sit down with students and help them chart a career path specific to their skills, interests and needs. We make a concerted effort to ‘meet students where they live’ rather than always making students come to our office for services.”
The new Peer Educator Program has helped with this effort by providing career programming in residence halls, to clubs and organizations, and hosting evening career information tables.
“Peer Educations Programs are not uncommon at large universities but aren’t widely seen in smaller schools,” Asher said. “Centre students love this program, as it gives them a chance to initially connect with the CCPD through a peer and gives them more access to information and advice through Peer Educator drop-in hours.”
The CCPD also offers students the Career Chat series, where each month, they bring in two alumni, via video conference, to discuss their career paths and give advice to students on transitioning from Centre to a career field.
“In addition, we have an incredibly strong internship program with, on average, 88 percent of students participating in an internship or research experience by the end of their senior year,” Asher concluded. “Finally our success rate is among the highest in the nation—on average 97 percent of students are professionally employed or in graduate school within one year of graduation.”
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