Does Your Alma Mater Have a Line-Item Budget for Helping Grads Launch Careers?

Your alma mater owes grads post-graduation life and career support!

?The Class of 2024 is only a month away from receiving recognition for their hard-earned achievement AND for spending north of $150,000 for their degrees.?

This graduating class is fortunate to be stepping off the graduation stage into a two-year run of one of the most incredible job markets in history, yet they have had the least amount of career and professional development training of any graduation class in recent history.?

Think about it.??

For the first two years of their college life their campus was periodically closed, requiring them to participate in classes remotely– and for most colleges –the career center was physically closed.?On top of that, college recruiters did not visit campus and alumni were unable to participate in resume reviews and mock interview sessions with students.?Worse, even internships were cancelled/deferred, or held remotely.?

So, while the Class of 2024 may have the advantage of jumping off into a remarkable job market, they do so with less confidence, fewer soft skills, minimal business acumen, and career-launching strategies than any graduation class in memory!?

Our alma maters need to take note of this and do something to provide post-graduation life, career, and professional development support rather than immediately start email bombing them with requests for contributions.?(Colleges send an average of 3.3 email fundraising requests to grads during their first twelve months out of college! - AlumniAccess)

Here’s something they can do based on current practices!?

I recently talked with attendees of the First Year Experience (FYE) conference, an event that brings together college administrators who are dedicated to developing events, programming, and curriculum to help students transition from high school to college.?The hundreds in attendance were from colleges that had budgets for staff, events, and speakers designed to give students the confidence, financial support, and coaching they need to adjust to college life.?Many even have a Freshman Reads program that encourages all students to purchase a common book by an emerging author to use as a relevant and timely intellectual and bonding activity.?The authors are invited to campus and paid tens of thousands of dollars.?Colleges with FYE programs have line-item budgets to support the program year after year!?

So why are we not doing the same thing for grads??

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of reading the latest surveys that show grads are struggling after they graduate not only in their job search, but getting up to speed on what corporate life is all about, how to handle their finances, deal with the new emotional issues they face in life, as well as their relationships with others and, not to mention adulting skills thrust upon them like refinancing their student loans and handling everything from crypto to credit cards! ?

We know from past polls, surveys, and research that:?

●????58 percent of grads blame their alma mater for not preparing them for post-college life (Heldrich)

●????40+ percent of grads take jobs that do not require a college degree. (AP, PEW)

●????Average grad takes 6 months to land a job. (NACE)?

So, shouldn’t our alma maters be responsible to continue to provide learning opportunities to help grads launch emotionally healthy and successful careers??

Our alma maters owe this graduation class and every class coming through the pipeline a First Year GRAD Experience.?The First Year GRAD Experience should provide a concentrated curriculum covering all aspects of launching and leading a healthy, successful life and career.?Chances are your alma mater will suggest they provide post-graduation career support, and most do.?The difference in that support is based on grads being proactive and reaching back to the career center. It doesn’t have-- like the FYE programs have --a planned curriculum, scheduled events, and access to curriculum that provides tips, skills, and strategies to manage soft skills, careers, acquiring business and hard skills, and adulting strategies.

?A First Year GRAD Experience offers a win-win situation!

1. ?It only makes sense that the quicker our alma maters help grads get jobs, the faster they will be able to pay down their student loans.
2. If the college is helping grads transition to jobs, grads will likely have the resources and the desire/interest to support their alma mater’s funding needs.
3. More satisfied grads will endorse and recommend their alma mater to cousins, friends, siblings, and neighbors, which will increase enrollment and revenue!

?A First Year GRAD Experience could be created and managed by a collective group of offices including the FYE office, career center, and the alumni association.?The alumni office could play a big part in the program as they would have the network and resources to:

?●????Ask their chapters and clubs around the country to host meet the Class of 2023 grads with a focus on helping them land a job.

●????Have the spring telethon crew fire up their phones over the summer asking alumni to find grads on LinkedIn, connect with them, mentor them, and help them land their first, second, and third job.

●????Offer post-graduation career lectures and webinars on everything from career management, job search strategies, soft skills, and adulting responsibilities, led by alumni who are HR managers.

The FYE office could coordinate a common career or job search book and the career center could offer group coaching services and access to third-party career and professional development tools and services they already subscribe to.

If you are interested in seeing your alma mater become proactive and develop a line item budget that includes staff, events, curriculum, and coaching that will give ALL of your grads access to the knowledge, skills, and strategies they will need to launch a healthy, happy life, and successful career, click here to see an example of five services that can be wrapped around a First Year GRAD Experience.?Then connect with me on LinkedIn and let's share ideas!

?What do you think?

1. ?Should your alma mater have a line-item budget to support an active, organized program that provides scheduled career and life coaching events, webinars, lectures, and podcasts for grads? (Not just taking a “call us if you need support” approach?
2. ?Who should take a lead on this kind of event? Your First Year Experience team? Your Career Center Staff, or Your Alumni Association team?