Career Threads is a micro-blog series that offers quick insights into trending topics in career services, jointly composed by the Consulting Team at The Career Leadership Collective, out of their experiences interacting with hundreds of career professionals and senior campus leaders.
Learning outcomes are ubiquitous on the academic side of higher education but less common in career services. In this blog post, we will present a case for creating measurable career learning outcomes that you can use to track the success of career center initiatives and revise or improve programs and services. At The Career Leadership Collective, we've helped numerous institutions develop and implement effective career learning outcomes through our consulting services, and we’re eager to share some best practices.
What Are Career Learning Outcomes (CLOs)?
Career learning outcomes (CLOs) are specific, measurable statements that describe what learners should know or be able to do after attending a workshop or event, participating in a one-on-one advising session, accessing digital resources, or completing a similar career preparation activity. CLOs can help us capture the real impact of our work and improve how we support career development.
Components of Effective Career Learning Outcomes
Effective career learning outcomes should be student-centered, focusing on what the student will be able to do rather than what the coach or program will provide. They typically begin with "Students will be able to..." or start with an action verb. Outcomes should also clearly articulate the specific knowledge, skills, or abilities students will gain. This is expressed using concrete, observable action verbs like "analyze," "evaluate," or "create" rather than vague terms like "understand" or "appreciate." Finally, outcomes should specify how the learning will be demonstrated, such as "through a mock interview," "in a professional networking event," or "by creating a tailored resume and cover letter."
Why Are Career Learning Outcomes Important?
Utilizing career learning outcomes to design and assess services and programming creates a comprehensive framework for evaluating the effectiveness of career services and identifying areas for improvement.
It guides program creation.
It informs assessments.
It clarifies goals.
By establishing clear, measurable outcomes focused on the skills, knowledge, and competencies students should acquire, career centers can design interventions at various stages of a student's journey and effectively measure their impact.
Data drives decisions, and resources align efficiently. This evidence-based approach enables continuous improvement, allowing career centers to refine offerings and adapt to evolving needs. It also enhances communication and promotes accountability.
Learning outcomes foster student self-awareness and the ability to articulate their skills and experiences when shared with students. They can also serve as goals for personal development. By engaging with well-defined learning outcomes, students can systematically track their progress, identify areas for growth, and illuminate strengths.
Through our work with various campuses, we've seen firsthand how well-designed CLOs can transform career services and student outcomes. By aligning its career learning outcomes with the university's mission, a career center positions itself as a key contributor to student success and institutional effectiveness. This can lead to increased support and resources.
Choosing Career Outcomes That Matter
It's also crucial to focus on choosing career learning outcomes that truly matter. By carefully considering high-impact factors, institutions can avoid creating well-formulated outcomes and reports that measure engagements and experiences that fail to drive meaningful change. To ensure relevance and effectiveness, career centers should align their outcomes with validated measures of post-graduation success.
The National Alumni Career Mobility (NACM) survey, originally developed by the Career Leadership Collective and now part of Lightcast's offerings, provides valuable insights into alumni career mobility and can inform the selection of impactful learning outcomes. Additionally, established frameworks like the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) practices or Gallup's research on workplace engagement offer evidence-based guideposts for identifying outcomes that correlate with long-term career success and satisfaction.
By grounding career learning outcomes in these meaningful data sources, institutions can focus on developing the skills and experiences that enhance students' career readiness and post-graduation outcomes.
Other Ways for Career Centers to Leverage Career Learning Outcomes
Career centers can partner with faculty or academic departments to use career learning outcomes (CLOs). This partnership allows for the development of joint initiatives, like infusing career assignments into coursework or discipline-specific career workshops. Sharing CLOs with faculty gives them insights into steps in the career development journey. When faculty incorporate CLOs into their courses, students benefit from seeing clear connections between their studies and career readiness.
Learning outcomes are powerful tools for communicating the value of career services to various stakeholders. For employers, they showcase the job-ready skills students are cultivating. Effectively communicated outcomes can increase stakeholder support, resources, and engagement. This quantifiable information also allows for the creation of comprehensive reports that demonstrate the tangible impact of career services on student success, not just "butts in seats."
Many institutions we've worked with have successfully used CLOs to strengthen partnerships across campus and demonstrate their value to stakeholders. Developing and implementing effective career learning outcomes can be a complex process, but it pays dividends in terms of student success and institutional effectiveness. If you want to enhance your career services through CLOs, The Career Leadership Collective's consulting team is here to help. We bring years of experience working with diverse institutions to create tailored, impactful career learning outcomes.
Interested in learning more about The Career Leadership Collective? Schedule a conversation with Sharon Attaway, our Partner Engagement and Executive Search Consultant.
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