Here’s a painful truth: 2 in 5 students never engage with career services (NACE).
Not because they don’t care about their future. Not because your resources aren’t valuable.
But because they don’t know what you offer—or why it matters right now.
That’s a marketing problem hiding in plain sight.
And most career centers don’t even know they need a funnel.
Yeah....not this kind of funnel...
Wait—what’s a marketing funnel?
It’s the journey that moves someone from:
Awareness → “I’ve heard of the career center.”
Interest → “They’ve got something for me.”
Action → “I’m booking, clicking, or applying.”
But career services tends to live at the bottom of that funnel—supporting students who already know what they need.
If you want to increase equity, visibility, and impact, you have to move up the funnel.
Let’s talk about how.
Featuring...
A partner tool that helps career centers scale impact by fixing awareness.
Why I’m featuring a product this week
If you’ve been reading for a while, you might remember this edition where I shared my approach to partnerships.
✅ Yes, I’m compensated for promoting their services. ✅ No, I don’t accept every offer. ✅ My commitment: If I feature something here, it’s because I believe it can make your job easier and your work more impactful.
And here’s one of the biggest problems I see: Career centers are under-resourced, overstretched—and somehow still expected to boost student engagement.
That’s why today I’m featuring uConnect—a platform I believe every career center leader should know about...even if you have a marketing team.
Let’s tackle the awareness problem with five strategies you can start now—whether or not you use their tool.
5 ways to build awareness—even without a marketing team
1. Make your resources accessible 24/7
Why it matters:
Students don’t keep 9–5 schedules—and most career websites weren’t exactly built with user experience in mind.
If students need a map and a flashlight to find your resume template, it’s not outreach—it’s an escape room.
Career content hidden behind logins = zero incentive to dig deeper. If there’s no immediate perceived value, why would I stick around?
Try this now:
Remove login requirements for general-use resources (like resume templates or FAQs).
Add a “Start Here” page for students who don’t know what they need yet.
Highlight outcomes or testimonials right on your homepage.
With uConnect:
The virtual career center becomes your 24/7 digital front door—branded to your institution, searchable, and accessible without a login.
It centralizes all your tools, events, and curated content in one place.
Students can explore on their own time, building trust before they need an appointment.
🕙 Your reach doesn’t end at 5pm anymore.
2. Personalize the experience for different audiences
Why it matters:
One-size-fits-all messaging is a fast track to the delete button.
A grad student and a first-year have wildly different needs—and so do athletes, transfer students, and international learners.
Try this now:
Segment your newsletter list by major, interest, or identity.
Tailor blog titles to your audiences, even if the core content is the same.
Build simple landing pages (or even Google Docs!) with curated resources by population.
With uConnect:
The virtual career center lets you create audience-specific collections—by student type, major, identity, or industry, and automate your communications
Students and stakeholders can subscribe to newsletters that actually feel relevant.
It personalizes the career journey—without adding work for your team.
🎯 This is how you increase relevance without increasing workload.
3. Turn campus stakeholders into career evangelists
Why it matters:
You can’t be everywhere—but your faculty, advisors, coaches, and even parents can. They just need the tools to talk about careers with confidence.
Spoiler alert: Your next great career influencer might be a chemistry professor with no LinkedIn profile.
Try this now:
Host quick “career refreshers” at department meetings.
Build a resource page just for faculty/staff.
Share a weekly email with a “career tip to share with students.”
With uConnect:
The virtual career center gives stakeholders instant, self-directed access to the same content you’d offer in a one-on-one.
Faculty, advisors, admissions teams, and even parents can easily find and share the right resources.
You’re enabling others to amplify your work—without adding to your to-do list.
📣 More visibility without more outreach.
4. Make your site work like a strategic communications tool
Why it matters:
Many career sites feel like a cross between a library index and a filing cabinet. Students don’t need a scavenger hunt—they need a map.
And honestly, what is Focus2? If I’m a student, why should I care?
Good old Tears for Fears.
Try this now:
Highlight one student story or outcome metric every week.
Feature employer videos or LinkedIn Learning picks.
Add bold visual CTAs for your top tools and events.
With uConnect:
You can spotlight outcomes, alumni stories, job market trends, and partner content—all in one intuitive space.
Sponsored employer profiles and curated content turn your platform into a dynamic experience (not a static directory).
It’s not just about student engagement—it’s also a tool to scale partnerships and revenue.
🚪 Not just a website. A front door with a welcome mat.
5. Use data to refine and advocate
Why it matters:
If you’re not tracking what’s working, you’re relying on vibes. And while vibes are great, they don’t win budget meetings.
Try this now:
Use Google Analytics to monitor what pages students visit most.
Ask students, “What brought you here today?” in surveys.
Track which faculty or staff refer students most often.
With uConnect:
The virtual career center provides built-in analytics to see what’s being viewed, shared, or ignored—by student segment.
It helps you understand tool usage, surface gaps, and tell a stronger story to campus leadership.
You get data that makes your case—and improves your content.
✅ It enhances what you’re already doing—not replaces it. ✅ It helps you build credibility, engage every stakeholder, and scale your impact. ✅ It supports institutions of all sizes—whether you’re a team of 1 or 41.
Let me know if you’d like a behind-the-scenes look or a personal intro to the uConnect team.
I’m happy to connect you. Just hit reply and let me know.
