UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A discussion around career readiness among Penn State students explored some of the challenges related to preparing future leaders across the University colleges, campuses and demographics, as well as how Penn State students compare nationally in their ability to successfully navigate the professional world.

During a meeting of the Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Academic Affairs, Research and Student Life, on Feb. 17, Bob Orndorff, senior director for Career Services in Penn State Student Affairs, facilitated a discussion titled, “Ensuring Career Readiness for All Penn State Students.” Orndorff provided an overview prior to the discussion. Participating in the panel discussion were faculty and staff from around the University as well as key employers who recruit Penn State students.

The committee heard about the current state of career readiness among Penn State students, as well as challenges, changes put in place to meet those challenges, and future goals. Orndorff noted that Penn State uses specific measures to gauge career readiness, including employment rates/percentages, salaries/earnings, the percentage of students completing internships and the proportion of career services staff to students.

A national leader in career readiness

Penn State is a national leader in career readiness and was ranked No. 5, tied with MIT, among recruiters in a 2020 survey conducted by Whitman Insight Strategies. Much of the appeal that Penn State has among recruiters can be attributed to the skills and competencies students gain during their time at the University. Specifically, employers report that Penn State students possess the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) competencies. NACE, a national leader in survey data, recently produced “Career Readiness Competencies” and these have been widely adopted across the country. In the same Whitman Insight Strategies survey, recruiters identified critical thinking/problem solving and leadership qualities as key skills that Penn State students possess.

Brian Case, manager, corporate talent management and diversity at PPL Corporation and one of the panelists, spoke about PPL’s experience recruiting at Penn State.

“Penn State always has the largest representation in our summer internship program and it’s also the largest representation among our college graduate full-time hires. So, we have a wealth of Penn State graduates at PPL. The quality of students that we get is always excellent,” Case said.

Case said the benefits of recruiting at Penn State include access to students across Pennsylvania; a large variety of majors and disciplines at the University; the diversity of the student body; and an innovative Career Services staff.

Penn State students’ preparedness can, in part, be attributed to the vast number of programs and services offered through the numerous career services offices throughout the University. Generally, in a non-COVID year, Penn State career offices offer more than 40,000 individual career coaching sessions as well as more than 1,900 workshops and programs and 70 career fairs.

Two faculty members on the panel — Anita Yuskauskus, assistant professor for Health Policy and Administration (HPA) and Jon Nese, associate head for undergraduate programs, Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences — spoke about the important role faculty play in students’ career readiness. They gave examples of how this is done in each of their areas, including required internships, professional development courses, tying competencies into learning outcomes and connecting students with alumni and professionals currently working in the field.

“Faculty have a responsibility [for career readiness] from day one when the student comes into the major,” said Yuskauskus. “At every step of the way, there really isn’t a separation between academics and applied academics. I think it’s all one unit and in the HPA degree we really work hard to make that happen.”

Challenges to career readiness 

During the discussion, the committee heard about some of the primary challenges to career readiness at Penn State, which all hinge on the variable experiences a student may have with career services and support.

“The challenge is that we want to maintain that quality of career services and career readiness throughout the entire University and what we’ve found is that there is a lot of variability,” said Orndorff. “If you look at on-campus recruiting alone, over 80% of on-campus interviews are conducted by students among three out of the 13 colleges — Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences and Technology.”

Traditionally, on-campus recruiting has primarily focused on academic colleges with terminal-degree majors that are in high demand, such as engineering, accounting and computer programming. In addition, geographic location can impact a student’s experience, Orndorff said. For example, the largest, in-person career fairs are held at University Park and only 5% of attendees come from Penn State campuses other than University Park.

Career readiness varies across student demographics as well. Underrepresented students, including students in racial and ethnic minority groups, LGBTQ+ students, first-generation students, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and students with a disability all can experience different rates of career success. According to Orndorff, it is important to understand what causes are behind those differences and work to address them.

Support for all students through collaborative initiatives

Penn State tackled many of these challenges and has improved support for students across the University by bringing the 37 college and campus career offices together under a single, integrated career management system, Nittany Lion Careers, which was finalized in 2018. Employers can now recruit all Penn State students within one career management system, and students have equal access to all jobs and internships posted by employers no matter with which college, campus or major they are affiliated.

Penn State also has a collaborative career services community with a Career Directors Council to guide decisions as well as a governance team focused on maintaining the career management system. This model allows Penn State to offer a centralized career services experience to streamline employer recruiting and student access, as well as customized initiatives at the college and campus level. 

For underrepresented student groups, Career Services is focusing on developing partnerships and new programs to reach these students. Recent examples include career coaching sessions held in the Paul Robeson Cultural Center at University Park, programming customized for underrepresented groups, and a Professional Attire Closet which accepts donations from the University community and provides an important service for students who are unable to afford professional clothing for interviews or internships.

Committee member Nicholas Rowland asked where career readiness at Penn State will go in the next five to 10 years to remain on the leading edge.

Orndorff talked about future goals, including focusing more on NACE competencies and identifying students who are not on a career path or are struggling.

“We want to be more competencies based. We want to see that all students are meeting a certain proficiency level in those competencies, no matter what their major or their academic discipline,” said Orndorff. “If we could infuse career services more so into the curriculum and we could catch those students that are struggling, that would be really significant as well.”

He continued by noting that Career Services is exploring the ideal balance of virtual and in-person opportunities, as well as working to leverage Penn State’s huge 700,000-plus alumni base, which comes from all academic colleges and represents a wide variety of industries to diversify employers, internships and job opportunities.

Orndorff said in order to engage smaller companies and non-profit organizations, Penn State needs to offer other means of recruiting students beyond the on-campus recruiting. He noted that it’s costly and time-intensive for smaller businesses to travel to recruit talent, and that it’s much more feasible for these smaller organizations and non-profits to engage in virtual means of recruiting and connecting with Penn State students. 

Orndorff added that virtual recruiting also helps to even the recruiting playing field for students in all academic colleges and at all campus locations, thus offering the highest degree of accessibility and inclusivity for students.

“We need to find our sweet spot with virtual recruiting and on-campus recruiting. What COVID did was give many employers direct opportunity and experience to see if this virtual recruiting works,” Orndorff said.   

Panelists for this trustee-driven discussion included: 

• Brian Case, manager, Corporate Talent Management & Diversity, PPL Corporation
• Anita Yuskauskus, assistant professor for health policy and administration 
• Jon Nese, Teaching professor and associate head for undergraduate programs, Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
• Ashley Rippey, executive director, Business Career Center, Smeal College of Business
• Bob Martin, assistant dean, Office of Internships and Career Placement, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
• Sue Chappell, associate director of career services at the Commonwealth Campuses
• Karen Vance, associate vice provost for institutional research, Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research
• Leah Zimmerman, executive director, Student Disability Resources
• Lesley Jackson, student outreach coordinator, Career Services
• Leslie Pollard, interviewing and career management system manager, Career Services
• Adam Christensen, director, Student Affairs Research and Assessment
• Denise Poole, director of student success initiatives, Student Success Center, Undergraduate Education