I've been thinking about how we describe our student cohorts. In Australia, we typically use the terms undergrad, postgrad, HDR (higher degree research or doctoral students). For undergrads we further break this down to first year, second year or penultimate, and final year (most undergraduate degrees in Australia are 3 years in duration). When we were designing our employability program, Career Ready Advantage, we started discussions about the needs of different student coho

Every organization strives to be innovative these days – it’s become an imperative. Innovation is taught, written about in scholarly journals and lectured about. It’s on everyone’s minds. A Google search delivers nearly 50 million returns to the question “where does innovation come from?” Where, indeed; and let’s face it -- higher education is much better at teaching innovation than implementing it. The world of work has changed, and we must, in turn, change how we view our r

What if, instead of pushing out largely transactional, event and job related promotions, career service professionals embraced a news feed format and focused on offering career education content that encourages career exploration ahead of recruiting? Fortunately, it’s starting to happen, and when done well, positively influences how students are attracted to concepts, services, and learning. In 2012 I collaborated with my alma mater to solve for a lack of student engagement w

When was the last time you walked into a space and felt truly inspired? Or had your thoughts and ideas transformed? Or thought to yourself, “Wow, these people really like each other and love what they do…I can’t wait to come back!”? At Toppel, we are all about creating wow moments and celebrations that aren’t typically associated with a university career center. Why? For those of you who know anything about me, you know that one of my passions is talking about organizational

On January 1, 2017, The Career Leadership Collective was born out of what we hypothesized was a large stirring around the globe for fresh career services and innovative leadership. At the risk of sounding like a college student, we were freakin' blown away to see over 3,500 people engage The Collective over 12,500 times in under a month; to see well over 100 personal emails from colleagues in nearly every US state, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, South Africa, The UK and

There will be a day when you look at your career center space and realize that it’s outgrown in its current footprint and function. Planning for a new career services facility is a job within itself and takes more than the typical 10% that’s allotted for ‘other duties as assigned’ in your job description. For many, facility planning and renovation is not typically an area of expertise that is highlighted on one’s CV; however, it easily parallels the work that is done within a

Your emails are too long, and your messages suffocate under layers of superfluous text. Most people shrink away from delivering this advice, but I seek to amplify the effectiveness of your written communications, even at the cost of hurting your feelings. Your ego will heal as your writing improves – I promise. To start, let’s explore the state of the world in 2017: Society suffers an overwhelming amount of information, and an underwhelming supply of meaningful communication

Last December my husband and I headed to a nearby city to enjoy the downtown Christkindl Market, a common holiday festival in many cities across the US. When we arrived, however, we were sorely disappointed. All that awaited us was a small smattering of vendors (that didn’t seem to align with the German craftsmanship we expected), and a cramped beer tent featuring bad music. We couldn’t tell what was where or how to find the big pretzel and hot beverage we’d been craving. We

Given trends in social recruiting and the new model of career services as a customized connector between students, faculty, staff, alumni and employers — understanding social media has become more critical than ever. Today, most career centers offer educational programs and advising for students about how to leverage social media in their professional pursuits. However, learning how to use social media tools and tactics is not only important for students. All of our stakehold