When I assess career services at colleges, one of the first things I ask is: How are you onboarding students to career?
What I often hear is some version of: “We don’t want students worrying about career their first year.”
Let’s pause right there.
This isn’t just outdated thinking—it’s bad advice.
Of the top four reasons students go to college, three are directly related to career.
Source: Lightcast, National Career Mobility Survey Report, 2022
They’re not avoiding the topic—they’re counting on it. So why wouldn’t you want to show value right away?
Career services should be one of the clearest signals to students that they made the right choice in enrolling.
But instead, here’s what students typically hear:
✔️ “Create a Handshake account.” ✔️ “Take an assessment.” ✔️ “Update your resume.”
Let’s be honest—that’s not onboarding. That’s a checklist.
And if you’re struggling with student engagement (like many career centers are), this is where the real problem starts.
You can’t fix your participation problem without first fixing your understanding problem.
And here’s what students are actually saying on Reddit:
“Handshake was basically my college’s career center. If you asked for help, all they would say is join Handshake.” “I’m a freshman and applied to 24 campus jobs and haven’t heard back. Does this even work?” “Oh, I hate Handshake.”
It’s not that Handshake isn’t useful.
It’s that we’ve made it the front door—without a welcome mat.
And when that happens, students don’t see support. They see a platform. They see a transaction.
And that first impression matters. A lot.
Most students—and their families—decide in 10 to 20 seconds whether your career center is valuable based on your website.
If all they see is a link to Handshake, a list of services, and a generic appointment form… you’ve already lost them.
Why? Because we make a lot of assumptions about our students.
We assume they’ll know what Handshake is. We assume they’ll understand what “career advising” means. We assume they’ll feel comfortable clicking “Book an Appointment.”
But even our most savvy students need help connecting the dots.
And many others—especially first-gen, limited-income, or historically underserved students—may not know what to expect from a career center. Or whether it’s even for them.
If the first thing they see feels transactional, confusing, or irrelevant, they’ll tune out.
Not because they don’t care about career—but because they don’t see themselves reflected in the invitation.
That’s the gap we have to close.
What real onboarding looks like
If students don’t know what career services is, why they should use it, or when it matters—why should they engage?
If you want students to show up, you have to give them a reason to care now—not someday.
Here are 8 suggestions for effective career onboarding:
1. Start before college begins
Integrate career into your pre-orientation and welcome materials.
“At [College/University], career planning starts day one—and we’ll help you every step of the way.”
Include a welcome message from the career center in orientation packets and admitted student portals.
2. Make early experiences social, simple, and fun
Think first-year ice cream socials or scavenger hunts that physically bring students into your space.
“Complete the Career Treasure Hunt, meet our team, and win free cookies.”
Get them through the door—then spark curiosity.
3. Build exploration into year one curriculum
Career isn’t just job prep—it’s identity development. Help students explore values, interests, and majors with purpose.
Partner with advising to connect career reflection with major decision-making.
Incorporate career themes into first-year seminars and interest groups, writing courses, or residence hall programming.
4. Create low-stakes, high-reward wins
Students want quick wins that build confidence.
Find and message one alum on LinkedIn. Come show us the reply, and we’ll add your name to the prize wheel.”
Gamify the basics. Reward the effort.
5. Use personalized, proactive outreach
Not “Dear Student.” Target by major, identity, or interests.
“Many psych majors begin exploring counseling and research careers in their first year—want to learn how?”
6. Set clear expectations
Your messaging should make it crystal clear: Career exploration starts now.
“You don’t need to know what you want to do. You just need to start exploring. We’ll help.”
7. Refocus your website to answer: ‘Is this for me?’
Ditch the long lists of services. Lead with value, voice, and welcoming visuals.
Students should see people who look like them, language that reflects their concerns, and tools that feel accessible.
8. Connect with Student Life
Career conversations shouldn’t only happen in appointments.
Train peer leaders, RAs, and student org officers to be career ambassadors.
Host career pop-ups in residence halls.
Action steps to try this fall
Add a welcome message to your admitted student portal or orientation emails.
Plan one fun first-year event that gets students in your space.
Revise your early outreach to say why students should come, not just how.
Pilot one low-lift “career win” activity and measure participation.
Review your homepage: does it invite exploration or just list services?
Final thought—
You wouldn’t expect a student to thrive in their major without ever attending class. So why expect them to figure out careers on their own?
If we want students to show up for career support later, we need to show up for them early—with curiosity, relevance, and a clear invitation.
That’s the kind of work I love helping institutions build—systems that scale trust, not just tools.
So here’s your challenge this fall: Pick one way to turn your career center from a transaction into a welcome mat.
