I’ve been thinking about the number of seniors who will graduate in just a few weeks without a clear next step. In this market, waiting or hoping things resolve on their own isn’t a strategy, and it’s a real risk for our students and for how our outcomes are perceived.
And it’s something to intervene on—quickly.
The good news: this doesn’t require new programs, approvals, or long planning cycles. The institutions that move now will change outcomes for students this spring—and change how their work is perceived across campus.
Here are five moves to deploy immediately.
1. Identify every senior who still needs help
Guessing won’t cut it. Pull a list of seniors without a confirmed outcome and assign outreach within 72 hours.
Conduct brief interviews. Keep the conversation focused: – What roles are you pursuing? – Which organizations are you interested in? – Where are you getting stuck? – What do you need this week?
This becomes your priority group for the next month.
2. Launch a 2-week “get hired” sprint
Overwhelmed students need easy steps and momentum.
Create a short program with: – Weekly targets (applications, outreach, conversations) – Standing support sessions (quick reviews, pivots) – Frequent touch points to keep students moving
Don’t over-complicate this. Help students set goals and keep them. Do it in groups so you can scale it.
Get the word out. Leverage personal and group emails, academic departments’ newsletters, campus newsletters, social media, slides for faculty to share. If you have the comms support, put together a communications toolkit for campus partners.
This kind of clarity and support creates action for students. Leveraging your campus partners builds awareness on steroids.
3. Activate faculty networks with one simple ask
Faculty have oodles of connections and are usually more than willing to leverage them. But, we have to make it easy.
First, help them understand the urgency. Keep it simple.
“I’m sure you are aware that the job market is particularly challenging right now for our graduating seniors. A few minutes of your time can make the difference between students graduating with a job or not.”
Then, send one request:
“Reply with 3–5 alumni or contacts we could reach out to this week for your graduating seniors. We’ll reach out to them to identify opportunities.”
No forms. No meetings. No added complexity.
Then take it from there and activate those connections immediately.
Bonus points if you circle back with these faculty and let them know if any of their contacts responded and engaged.
4. Mobilize alumni and board networks through Advancement
This is where speed happens. Advancement and Alumni Relations are often underutilized, and they love a reason to engage their contacts with something meaningful (that doesn’t include writing a check!).
Work with Advancement to: – identify engaged alumni by industry – facilitate warm introductions (not just lists) – send targeted outreach from their office (higher response rates)
Keep the message direct and time-bound:
“We have seniors graduating in the next few weeks who are actively seeking roles. If you’re open to a quick conversation, making an introduction, or flagging opportunities, it would make an immediate difference.”
Expert tip: make sure you are quick to respond to these alumni when they reach out. The last thing you need is for them to complain that “no one responded” or “I have no idea if what I shared helped.”
Steward your development directors and alumni relations officers by informing them who engaged (and how, if possible).
5. Create a connection system—across campus
For the next 4–6 weeks, don’t rely on good intentions. Instead, build a repeatable, simple system that produces connections.
Set the expectation: Every staff member, faculty partner, and campus ally identifies 3–5 people your team can reach out to this week on behalf of students.
Make it real: – Track outreach, responses, and next steps in one shared place – Provide a short outreach message or social media post so no one has to start from scratch – Assign follow-up so leads don’t go cold
Cold applications slow students down. A connection system moves them forward—fast.
The Global Career Accelerator
This Summer
Not every student will secure an internship this summer, but every student can engage in meaningful, career-connected learning.
Podium Education’sThe Global Career Accelerator expands access to work-based learning through immersive, employer-connected experiences.
Students collaborate on real-world business projects–building confidence, in-demand skills, experience, and social capital while earning credit and advancing toward graduation.
93% of alumni report career benefits.
74% feel more competitive in the job market.
75% say it increased the value of their degree.
High-impact experiences. Built to scale. Designed to support your work.
There’s still time to connect your students to a meaningful summer experience.
