Many students are entering college these days with a plan. They know what they want to do with their degrees and they’re ambitious about employment opportunities.
Students Need to Make Money Upon Graduation
As of 2016, American students owe $1.23 trillion in student loan debt. They can’t pay that back with a job at a fast food chain or the local convenience store. Consequently, they don’t want to take a chance on a school (or a program) that won’t result in high-paying job opportunities.
One way to supercharge your higher ed marketing strategy is to publish recent stats and figures for each major or area of concentration. For instance, Ferris State University publishes data derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The university covers all potential student questions related to job prospects, salary potential, and even prospective job titles.
Interests Don’t Always Translate Into Jobs
Just because a student loves to play video games doesn’t mean he or she can imagine a future career that ties into that passion. By helping your prospects envision their future careers, you create a bond with them and encourage them to think about where they want to go with their degrees.
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Science handles this issue nicely. It created a page that offers example job opportunities in this field for all types of degree holders. The page goes into detail about the qualifications students will need for particular professions and how they can maximize their opportunities.
You could do the same for your higher ed marketing strategy. Focus on helping students figure out not only what they want to do, but how they’ll get there.
Guide: Inbound Marketing for Higher Education – Download our guide and learn how Inbound marketing can empower Higher Ed marketers to attract the right people, convert prospective students, close applicants and delight alumni.
Students Don’t Always Know How to Search for Jobs
Think back to the year you graduated from high school or college. Did you know how to write a resume or choose references? Were you up-to-date on interview etiquette and salary negotiation?
Today’s students need help getting their professional lives off to a good start. It’s a tough world out there, and if you can give your students a leg-up on the competition, you’ll earn a soft spot in their hearts for years to come.
Your higher ed marketing strategy can highlight the ways in which you help students secure future employment. Saddleback College, for example, has a detailed page dedicated to Career Guidance Services. It lays out the benefits students will have when they’re ready to graduate and move on, which can help prospective students feel more energized and secure.
There’s a solid link between employability and matriculation. Students know they’ll need good jobs, so they count this as a factor when choosing schools and majors. You can help.
