The Need for Standardized & Comparative University Recruiting Data

The National Association of Colleges & Employers surveyed organizations about their spring 2015 hiring plans.  Respondents reported plans to hire an aggregate of 9.6 percent more students this year as compared to the previous year.  

The NACE (and even SHRM) data is predictive in nature.  It is what employers expect in the short term. The university data opens the door on the actual recruiting that is in progress or completed.  The student employment reporting provides the overall outcome.  (Diagram)

We can report numbers many ways.  But, they must be meaningful to users. The challenge is for universities to present their data in such a way that it can be easily bench marked to comparable universities.  The NACE survey data should be matched against employment outcomes, not recruiting data - although it could be informative in setting expectations and business development plans.  

At this point, no standard exists for bench marking data across universities. In fact, an opportunity exists in the reporting space for technology vendors who can facilitate data collection, analysis and reporting for recruiting and employment outcomes. Given the emphasis on "big data" in organizations across the U.S., this simply makes good business sense. 

Given the increased importance of return on investment (ROI) via the administration's scorecard, the reporting of data is becoming increasingly vital.  In April 2015, Sam Ratcliffe (Virginia Military Institute and NACE Board of Directors) penned an article for the NACE Journal entitled Building Relevancy and Influence: A Game Changer for Career Services. Although the content is for NACE members, his principle assertions are that university career offices need to be transparent and tell the university's story to outside parties.

Building relevance and influencing decisions requires powerful communication strategies that enable stakeholders to understand what we are doing, why we do it, the differences it makes for those we serve, and how it advances institutional needs and priorities.

Mr. Ratcliffe further makes the argument for granular data and year-to-year comparisons to tell the story of the educational institution.  I am under the impression that universities need a common language (data set) and time frame in which we can make comparisons across universities. 

Universities are making strides in standardizing their employment data through NACE and MBACSEA organizations.  Now, we need to look deeper into recruiting information. 

• How many organizations recruit at a university and what type of talent (degrees, majors, skills...) are they seeking for their organization?  Did this change over time?
• Where are the organizations located?  What is our footprint?
• How does this compare to other universities?  
• Are there trends that we can identify over time?  

Universities need tools to compare the quality of their student preparation to other universities in the wider marketplace.  After all, universities provide a product. "Buyers" need the tools (standardized data that tells a story) to compare a given product against others.  We have work to do in the metrics space.  As the cost of higher education rises, we will need to to speak to our value and justify our existence. 

Please leave me a comment below if you have any additional thoughts, suggestions, or even objections. My email can be found on the main page. 

College and Careers: Employer Research Says..!

Employers want talented new hires who can readily contribute and be effective.

Parents want their son or daughter to be successful in the marketplace.

More and more, universities are looking to add value in readying students for careers.

A January 2015 research study compiled by Hart Research Associates for the American Association of Colleges & Universities, revealed some compelling information.  Of particular interest was employers' emphasis on skills.

...employers say that when hiring, they place the greatest value on demonstrated proficiency in skills and knowledge that cut across all majors. The learning outcomes they rate as most important include written and oral communication skills, teamwork skills, ethical decision-making, critical thinking, and the ability to apply knowledge in real-world settings. Indeed, most employers say that these cross-cutting skills are more important to an individual’s success at their company than his or her undergraduate major.

This definitely reflects what I have been hearing from our recruiters over the past few years from our surveys.

Take a look at the survey to learn more.

In Demand: Business Intelligence and Data Skills

Graduates with data analysis and business intelligence skills are in short supply as the demand is projected to increase. 

According to Teradata, "The need for highly skilled BI workers by 2018 in the US alone is projected to exceed available workforce by as much as 60 percent, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report in May. That report projects that by 2018 an additional 190,000 “deep analytical talent” workers plus 1.5 million more “data-savvy managers and analysts” will be needed to take full advantage of big data in the US alone." 

Click here for the McKinsey Global Institute, “Big Data: The next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity,” May 2011.

Your Skills: "Is PowerPoint the Rocket Fuel for a New MBA Grad's Career?"

Most of us have been at the receiving end of a bad PowerPoint presentation. Being held captive to a boring and belabored presentation that moves at a snail's pace would try the patience of a saint.  Are all PowerPoint presentations that way?  Is the boredom intrinsic to the product or the producer? Can you stand out by demonstrating your PowerPoint proficiency?  Bruce Gabrielle (Speaking PowerPoint: The New Language of Business) seems to think so.

Most business managers admit the bar is very low on PowerPoint, says Gabrielle. "But it's actually an opportunity! If your PowerPoint slides are clearer and more professional-looking than others', you can stand out even among peers with 5 or 10 years experience...Gabrielle suggests new grads adopt...five principles for developing PowerPoint slides, which even experienced managers fail to do.  More...