Students bought education, but they haven't been sold on their own potential.

After many regional Association of Colleges and Employers (ACE) conferences this summer, I learned one enormous incongruity in student behavior:

Students invest in education to qualify themselves for a quality career, but do not ask for guidance to obtain it.

The general practice of most seniors is to drum up offers from multiple employers, choose the best opportunity, and hope for the best.

Here's a question for post grads: was the best opportunity available synonymous with the best opportunity you were capable of receiving? I bet most would answer no.

At the Career Services Department of most colleges, there are Career Coaches that are capable of leveraging data to empower students in a way that was never before possible.

These coaches/advisors are capable of utilizing data to help students know exactly what a first-year student has to do to eventually work in X city, with Y salary, for Z employer. By tracing back the data breadcrumbs left behind from previous alumni, career advisors can provide a precise roadmap for goal-oriented students.

The best part is this: supply is greater than demand.

Every career services director, advisor, and administrator I have talked to has told me that students do not take advantage of their career services department. Students have access to incredible resources, providing better focus, strategies, and opportunities, yet they have little awareness of them. The potential for higher salaries and fulfilling careers is completely within reach and often ignored.

The take home point is this: if a student wants the best possible job offer in their early career, they ought to seek career counseling at least 1-2 times per semester/quarter from the Career Services Department.

After all, isn't the best possible career the first reason a student goes to university?