Skills That Get You Hired: Insights from NACE’s Dr. Mary Gatta

In this episode of The Career Ready Podcast, hosts Rebecca Harrington and Jordan Ruprecht welcome Dr. Mary Gatta, Director of Research and Public Policy at the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Dr. Gatta shares insights from NACE’s latest research, including:

• The 8 Career Readiness Competencies and why they serve as “career currency” for graduates.
• Which competencies employers value most—and where new grads often fall short.
• How skills-based hiring is changing the way employers evaluate candidates.
• New data on the impact of internships and experiential learning on long-term career success (hint: $15K salary bump on average).
• Trends around AI in recruiting, hybrid work preferences, and why students who use their career center report more job offers and higher starting salaries.

Whether you’re a student preparing for your first job, a faculty member supporting career readiness, or an employer navigating the talent pipeline, this episode offers research-driven strategies to help you succeed in today’s evolving job market.

Resource mentioned:

• NACE LinkedIn
  (for the latest research & job outlook reports)

Listeners in the College of DuPage community can visit our website. All other listeners are encouraged to view the resources of their local community college, WIOA training programs, or other local support centers.

Send us YOUR Listener Questions at careerpodcast@cod.edu

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn @codcareercenter

Transcript

00:00:01:13 - 00:00:03:18
Welcome to the Career Ready podcast.

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Learn about resumes, cover
letters, LinkedIn, interviewing

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and all the things you need to be career
ready with the Career Services Center

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at College of DuPage.

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I'm one of your hosts for today's episode,
Rebecca Harrington,

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and I'm your other host, Jordan Ruprecht.

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And today's episode,
we're excited to have Doctor Mary Gatto

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with us to talk about the current job
market.

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Doctor Gada is the director of research
and public policy at Niehs,

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the national association of Colleges
and Employers, an organization

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that should sound familiar
to our regular listeners.

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Thank you for joining us here
on the Career Ready Podcast.

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Thank you for having me.

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All right.

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So before we get started,
could you please provide us

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with a quick introduction
or as we like to say, your elevator pitch?

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Absolutely.

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So, my name is Mary Gatta,
and I am the director

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of research and public policy at Nace.

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And Nace is a national association
of colleges and employers.

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So we are a membership organization
representing career service professionals

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in higher education and also university
recruiters and industry.

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We actually have over
13,000 college members,

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about 3100 employer members,
and nearly 500 business affiliate members.

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I am fortunate at names to be able to lead
an amazing team of researchers,

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where we conduct research, on key, 
important projections, trends

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and information, for college graduates
as they enter into the labor market.

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I actually I'm also
also come out of the faculty.

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I am a teacher.

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I've been a professor for 25 years.

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So I'm really excited
to be on the podcast,

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to be able to share
what I know with your students.

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Thank you so much.

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It's so cool to hear
you're also a teacher as well.

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You're very well renowned in that aspect,
and we're excited to have you here.

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Alright, so on the Career Ready podcast,
as I kind of referenced earlier,

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we love to talk
about the Nace competencies

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and we highlight, some of the behaviors.

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You know, we try to do that,
and a lot of our episodes.

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So before we get into the job market piece
and the economic research,

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can you share some insight
regarding the competencies?

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Absolutely.

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We also love to talk about the career
readiness competency.

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So career readiness, what it really means,
it's really the key to ensuring

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that after graduation,

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your students will be able
to successfully enter into the workforce.

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And career
readiness is really the foundation

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upon which the successful careers
launched.

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So, we kind of kind of think of it, too,
as kind of that career currency,

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so to speak.

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So as, your listeners might know,
we have eight career readiness

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competencies.

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That are what we consider
evergreen, right?

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These are the competencies

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that employers tell us
that have been identified by employers.

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And they tell us
are the key skills for recent college

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graduates
to be successful in the labor market.

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And they include critical
thinking, communication, career

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and self-development,
professionalism, teamwork,

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leadership, technology,
equity and inclusion.

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We have engaged over the years
in extensive research to what we call

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validate the competencies,

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along with the behaviors
that make up those competencies.

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So what that means is
we have done research with employers,

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in order to, to validate that

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these are the key competencies, skills
that they're looking for.

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And then also those behaviors
are how you enact them, right?

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How a student can demonstrate
they have critical thinking skills.

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For example.

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In addition,
we just recently, this last year,

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introduced an assessment tool,

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and that is really helpful for students
because students can use that tool

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to kind of identify

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where they are, what level,
in terms of proficiency on the skills.

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And that's a great tool to use at the,
you know, throughout your college career.

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This is not something you want to use
just at the end, right.

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You want to connect with your career
center, with your faculty

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to begin to think about
where am I on these different competencies

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that employers tell me they need,
and then how can I use my time,

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in school
to be able to, you know, better,

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improve my proficiency, demonstrate
my proficiency in these skills.

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And so that really is how we, have been

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working on our competency work
now for several years.

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And I also want to say to students,
is that

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you all, can show your skills,

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your proficiency, and these skills
to employers in a variety of ways, right.

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So you're developing in them
in the classes that you're taking

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the work experiences
that you're engaging in.

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If you're engaging in different forms
of what we call experiential learning,

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maybe you're doing an internship,
maybe you're doing work study on campus,

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maybe you're doing some research
with a faculty member,

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Those you're developing these skills and
employers are telling us that they need,

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that they want.

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And then you want to be able
to share that, in job

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interviews, in your cover
letter, on your resume, on your LinkedIn.

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But you want to be able
to take these experiences

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from the classroom
and the co-curricular experiences,

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and translate them, into your,
your packages for jobs.

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Yeah, I love that.

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And I think that's something that we do,
always try to advocate for students is,

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that sometimes they don't realize
the things they do in the classroom

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or the club that they might be in, that

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it's like they're sneaky learning,
these competencies.

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Yeah.

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Or, you know, we always say to it's like
you have all of these, everyone has them.

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But like you said, there's definitely ones
where

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maybe we don't feel as confident in
or maybe we don't know how to talk

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about them to employers.

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So, I think that's always,
the goal for us.

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Yeah, Awesome.

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So, given what we've learned
about the company's competency so far,

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which career readiness
competencies are most valued

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by employers, and where do you see recent
graduates falling short?

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Sure.

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So, while all the competencies
are certainly important,

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employers look, 
and particularly at communication critical

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thinking, teamwork and professionalism
for, for recent college graduates.

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Right.

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Those rank tend to rank the highest
out of the eight competencies.

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And that's
what employers are telling us employ.

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We also do ask employers,
sort of in your judgment,

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where do recent college
graduates fall in terms of proficiency?

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about 54% of employers say
students are proficient in communication.

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And these are recent college grads, right?

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About 54%, 56% of employers
say that recent college

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grads have to have proficiency
in critical thinking.

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So slightly over half, right.

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Now, teamwork.

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82% of employers say that raising college
grads are proficient in teamwork.

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So all those group projects
that students do, they matter.

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They really matter.

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Those are where you're getting
those skills right.

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Working with your peers, working,
on different projects.

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And a 50% of employers say that students
are proficient in professionalism.

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Excellent.

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So for some of those competencies,
we're maybe we're seeing some of those

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percentages in the 50s.

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Do you have any recommendations
for how students can work towards

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closing that gap?

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When it comes to their preparedness
in the workforce?

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Sure, absolutely.

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I mean, I think one is starting
with our assessment tool.

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So working with either your career center
or working with your with faculty,

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maybe working with, in your clubs
and get a sense of where you are.

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Right. Use the tool to get it.

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Where am I in terms of professionalism
or critical thinking?

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And then work with other your

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the professionals at your campus
to develop a plan to improve that.

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Okay.

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I'm a little my question seems
a little bit low on critical thinking.

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How can I think about really working on it
in this particular class?

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Or what workshops
can I engage in and be part of?

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At the Career Center?

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Is providing to help me, 
improve my my critical thinking

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or my communication, whatever it is.

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So I think it's really important
for students to, look at where they are,

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but then work with, the folks on
campus to say, okay, I have my time here.

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How can I improve
what I'm doing automatically

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with my classes in my co-curricular?

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How can I just add this on?

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It's really just thinking about what
we're doing already, in this language.

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So I think that's something
that is really important, to do.

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And then we also our assessment
tool is also set up so that it's not just

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the student self assessing themselves,
but it's also a,

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observer can assess them.

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So that might be a faculty member.

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That might be an employer. Right.

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So getting that feedback also helps
because how does this individual who's

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seen me in different work
contacts or different classroom contacts

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see my level of proficiency
around these different competencies?

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So I think once students
kind of get that sense,

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they can then work collaboratively
with you all to help figure out

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what are the different experiences
I can engage in on campus

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to, help me, help me, you know, improve.

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As I'm going through.

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Absolutely.

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I love to hear you say to, working
towards,

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those competencies in your classes
already, incorporating

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as part of your curriculum
while also engaging with

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not just your faculty,
but your career services office.

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We love to hear of that partnership.

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And to be able to use
what you're learning in school

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to help develop yourself
for that workforce as well.

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Thank you. Absolutely.

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I love it.

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And I like the idea of asking of, like,
a, another person to evaluate you.

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I think oftentimes, like, I work with
internships and, a lot of times, interns

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don't always ask for that feedback,
which is because it's scary, right?

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But, it can be very valuable and
and really give good insight.

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absolutely.

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I mean, that feedback,
what I think is exciting always.

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And, you know, obviously
I've been teaching on college campuses

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and you know, we
you know, what is really exciting

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about your time in school
is that it is the opportunity to do that.

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Right.

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You have folks on campus at the Career
Center, your faculty members,

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you're the, advisors to your clubs.

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Etc., who are there to help you?

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So you want to
this is a great opportunity.

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So you want to really
take advantage of that?

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And you know that any the suggestions
are giving are meant in our in that vein.

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Right?

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It is about how you can
you can improve what you're doing

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so that you

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because everybody on campus wants you
to be super successful after graduation.

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So I think that is, you know, important

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to think about as your, 
kind of plotting out, your years.

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Yeah, definitely.

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So moving a little bit
towards our job market piece of things.

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You know, kind of thinking
about the value of the competencies.

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There's also a lot of talk about employers
implementing skills based hiring.

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And I think I kind of always
have been asking this question,

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you know, what this kind of started, is,
can you explain what skills based

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hiring means
and how your research indicates

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that it's being incorporated
into the hiring process?

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And then maybe kind of how that relates
to the competencies?

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Sure, absolutely.

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So skills based hiring is really kind
of a broad framework,

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that focuses on job candidates specific

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skills and competencies for the job.

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Right. Focusing on their abilities.

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So when we think about traditional
kind of hiring, you might forefront

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things like your background,
your experience, your education.

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And that's still important.

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But what you're at for funding in skills
based hiring

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are the skills and competencies.

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So if you think about, like your resume,

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for example, in
you may have had 3 or 4 jobs, right.

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Instead of thinking about them
like chronologically on your resume.

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Think about the skills
that you've learned.

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And maybe it's communication
and you would say, and, you know, company

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A I engaged in communication this way.

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Company B, I did it this way.

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So your for fronting the different skills
that you have

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and that really important
because we know from our research

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that close to, two thirds of employers
that we have surveyed,

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tell us that they use skills
based hiring for new entry level hires.

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So what that means is there
there are using different

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practices and

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mechanisms, in order to help

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highlight
the skills you're bringing to the job,

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and your proficiency in those skills.

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So it might be things like the way

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what we call
competency based job descriptions, right.

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So they, 
our employers tell us they use that.

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So that means the job descriptions are
written specifically around those skills.

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So you want to be able to translate
what you're doing in your past jobs,

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in your classroom, in that language
and that skills language.

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So, half of employers
that we've surveyed around

00:13:01:23 - 00:13:05:23
skills based hiring say they're using
our interview rubrics, right.

00:13:05:23 - 00:13:08:10
Skills based interview rubrics.

00:13:08:10 - 00:13:10:05
Some are using assessment tools.

00:13:10:05 - 00:13:12:14
Maybe
you'll have to take a skills assessment.

00:13:12:14 - 00:13:17:12
So what you want to think about is,
thinking about the skills

00:13:17:12 - 00:13:20:11
that are in that job description
or that employer is looking for it,

00:13:20:11 - 00:13:23:08
and then how it has what you've done
translate.

00:13:23:08 - 00:13:23:17
Right.

00:13:23:17 - 00:13:26:28
How can you think about what you're doing
in your jobs,

00:13:26:28 - 00:13:29:28
in your classroom
with that skills framework?

00:13:30:06 - 00:13:33:08
And that's really
what skills based hiring, is.

00:13:34:04 - 00:13:38:12
The other thing that I think might be
helpful for students is we ask employers,

00:13:39:14 - 00:13:42:07
what are
they really looking for on resumes?

00:13:42:07 - 00:13:45:25
So in our latest, 2025 job outlook,

00:13:46:08 - 00:13:50:19
90% of recruiters have a lot

00:13:50:19 - 00:13:55:11
90%, said they are seeking evidence
of a new graduates ability

00:13:55:11 - 00:14:00:03
to solve problems and more than 80%
are seeking strong teamwork skills.

00:14:00:28 - 00:14:05:15
More than three quarters also said they're
looking for good communication skills.

00:14:05:27 - 00:14:09:29
So you want to be able to demonstrate
that it's not just saying

00:14:09:29 - 00:14:11:14
I'm a good communicator.

00:14:11:14 - 00:14:12:17
Provide an example.

00:14:12:17 - 00:14:15:17
Maybe it's an example from my presentation
you did in class.

00:14:15:17 - 00:14:19:14
Maybe it's an example in,
an a work experience

00:14:19:19 - 00:14:22:19
where you had to communicate new policies
to other workers.

00:14:23:17 - 00:14:27:17
You have to be able to, to demonstrate

00:14:27:17 - 00:14:31:13
with evidence from other experiences
the skills, that you have.

00:14:31:16 - 00:14:33:03
So I think those

00:14:33:03 - 00:14:35:04
that's what's really important
when we think about skills

00:14:35:04 - 00:14:38:07
based hiring and sort of
how employers are for fronting, that.

00:14:38:11 - 00:14:41:11
Yeah. that's I think definitely important.

00:14:41:12 - 00:14:44:22
I think we've, we've, I feel like
we've always kind of talked about that,

00:14:44:22 - 00:14:45:14
but yeah.

00:14:45:14 - 00:14:49:25
Seems more like, you know, that it's about

00:14:50:04 - 00:14:53:14
not just having the experiences,
but being able to talk about them

00:14:53:22 - 00:14:57:09
in a way that's highlighting
those skills that they're looking for.

00:14:57:14 - 00:15:00:29
Being able to talk about them
and being able to provide examples.

00:15:01:20 - 00:15:03:23
That's really important.

00:15:03:23 - 00:15:07:25
That's that you're using examples,
in those interviews, in your cover

00:15:07:25 - 00:15:09:24
letters, etc..

00:15:09:24 - 00:15:12:15
So that you can kind of translate
what you're doing

00:15:12:15 - 00:15:14:09
in the classroom, for example.

00:15:14:09 - 00:15:16:19
Into that language.

00:15:16:19 - 00:15:16:28
Yeah.

00:15:16:28 - 00:15:21:06
I think that's sometimes a tricky thing
for students to do, which is again, why

00:15:21:08 - 00:15:26:03
your faculty is there, your services
is there to kind of help you with that?

00:15:26:03 - 00:15:27:04
Because we understand

00:15:27:04 - 00:15:31:04
it can be like, well, I did this project,
but how do I translate that?

00:15:31:06 - 00:15:34:25
I've seen it with, students
where they've done research and they put

00:15:34:25 - 00:15:37:29
like the results of their research,
which is wonderful.

00:15:38:07 - 00:15:42:11
But that isn't necessarily
what the employer is always looking for.

00:15:42:14 - 00:15:46:08
They want to know what skills did
you learn at exactly the research?

00:15:46:15 - 00:15:49:03
Exactly what are their skills?
Maybe it's critical thinking.

00:15:49:03 - 00:15:50:09
Maybe they're technology skills.

00:15:50:09 - 00:15:51:10
Maybe you use,

00:15:51:10 - 00:15:55:13
statistical package for example,
and you have some proficiency in that.

00:15:55:19 - 00:15:57:03
So. Right, exactly.

00:15:57:03 - 00:16:00:13
It is what are the skills,
that you were using

00:16:00:13 - 00:16:04:11
and that that requires us to really think
carefully about what we're doing.

00:16:04:11 - 00:16:05:02
That working with

00:16:05:02 - 00:16:09:01
your career center is a great way to begin
to kind of peel that back.

00:16:09:08 - 00:16:11:19
You've given us some great statistics
today. So far.

00:16:11:19 - 00:16:14:09
It's been cool to hear
what some of your team does

00:16:14:09 - 00:16:16:13
when it comes to conducting employment
trends.

00:16:16:13 - 00:16:19:28
And I'd be curious to see too, you know,
how do you see current hiring

00:16:19:28 - 00:16:22:28
projections compare
currently to previous years?

00:16:23:03 - 00:16:23:21
Yeah.

00:16:23:21 - 00:16:27:14
So we each year, 
we do what we call our job outlook survey.

00:16:27:14 - 00:16:30:05
And that comes out in the fall
and the spring.

00:16:30:05 - 00:16:31:16
And a second one in the spring.

00:16:31:16 - 00:16:34:00
And we survey employers
around in the fall,

00:16:34:00 - 00:16:36:10
kind of what they're projecting
the hiring is going to look like.

00:16:36:10 - 00:16:40:27
And then in the spring,
what we saw this year, for example,

00:16:41:00 - 00:16:47:00
was that for the class of 25,
hiring was basically flat

00:16:47:00 - 00:16:50:00
from the previous year
or from last year's class of 24.

00:16:50:11 - 00:16:52:04
When we looked at industry.

00:16:52:04 - 00:16:53:18
So it ebbs and flows. Right?

00:16:53:18 - 00:16:56:28
So there are some industries
that were that increase hiring this year.

00:16:57:04 - 00:16:59:00
Wholesale trade, manufacturing,

00:16:59:00 - 00:17:01:24
I'm sorry, management
consulting and transportation.

00:17:01:24 - 00:17:04:26
They reported increases
in hiring for the class of 25.

00:17:05:05 - 00:17:10:02
We also saw, some decreases,
in some industries also this

00:17:10:02 - 00:17:13:25
past year, chemical manufacturing,
computer and electronic manufacturing.

00:17:14:02 - 00:17:15:22
that's sort of what we saw right now.

00:17:15:22 - 00:17:19:07
We'll be doing another
our job outlook again, later this summer.

00:17:19:07 - 00:17:22:07
It'll go in the field
and we'll report the new numbers.

00:17:22:08 - 00:17:23:02
The new projections.

00:17:23:02 - 00:17:26:02
I'm sorry for the class of 26 later
in the fall.

00:17:26:06 - 00:17:31:05
But, what we saw this year was really, 
the hiring was kind of flat.

00:17:31:13 - 00:17:32:03
Thank you so much.

00:17:32:03 - 00:17:35:11
I know it's important when we're talking
to students about career exploration

00:17:35:11 - 00:17:39:07
to keep some of these statistics in mind,
as are choosing which fields to pursue

00:17:39:07 - 00:17:41:16
and just being mindful
what some of those future trends

00:17:41:16 - 00:17:43:29
could look like for the industries
that they're interested in.

00:17:43:29 - 00:17:44:25
Absolutely.

00:17:44:25 - 00:17:49:16
And can, students
follow you on social media needs?

00:17:49:18 - 00:17:50:19
Yes.

00:17:50:19 - 00:17:53:19
Some of those and they can they come out?

00:17:53:19 - 00:17:53:28
Yeah.

00:17:53:28 - 00:17:57:17
They should definitely connect
with us on LinkedIn, for example.

00:17:57:17 - 00:18:00:17
We post a lot of our research
on LinkedIn.

00:18:00:23 - 00:18:03:04
So they should follow us on LinkedIn.

00:18:03:04 - 00:18:04:27
We're also on Facebook.

00:18:04:27 - 00:18:08:23
But I definitely encourage students
to follow that.

00:18:08:23 - 00:18:11:16
And then our job outlook survey,
which is where the

00:18:11:16 - 00:18:13:26
the hiring projections are,
which it comes out in the fall.

00:18:13:26 - 00:18:16:22
In spring is, available. It's open.

00:18:16:22 - 00:18:18:23
So, they should look for that.

00:18:18:23 - 00:18:21:04
Comes out in November, the fall one.

00:18:21:04 - 00:18:23:06
Welcome back. November. Okay. Okay. Good.

00:18:23:06 - 00:18:24:14
Good. Helpful.

00:18:24:14 - 00:18:25:21
All right.

00:18:25:21 - 00:18:28:21
So then I guess we'll kind of going

00:18:29:00 - 00:18:32:01
with, kind of extending that conversation
a little bit.

00:18:32:15 - 00:18:36:23
How do you see current economy and current
economic outlook

00:18:36:23 - 00:18:40:19
reshaping how employers are hiring
entry level talent?

00:18:40:27 - 00:18:44:18
Yeah, I think, and I have nice new data
to share here, too.

00:18:44:26 - 00:18:48:21
I think it actually shows the importance
of both skills for finding skills,

00:18:48:25 - 00:18:50:20
but also experience

00:18:50:20 - 00:18:54:26
learning opportunities, opportunities
to participate in internships, in faculty

00:18:54:26 - 00:18:58:12
research,
in work study, in micro internships.

00:18:58:21 - 00:19:04:01
So we this year for the first time did
a survey of early career professionals.

00:19:04:01 - 00:19:07:04
And those were people, professionals
who had received their college

00:19:07:04 - 00:19:10:15
degree ten years,
you know, between 0 and 10 years, right.

00:19:10:20 - 00:19:12:14
Their associate or their bachelor degree.

00:19:12:14 - 00:19:17:24
And what we found in this study
was that students who engaged in some form

00:19:17:24 - 00:19:20:26
of experiential learning,
so they maybe were in an internship,

00:19:20:26 - 00:19:22:26
they did faculty research.

00:19:22:26 - 00:19:25:26
They did study away.

00:19:26:14 - 00:19:31:17
They had self-reported faster
than expected career progression,

00:19:32:05 - 00:19:35:05
higher rates of career satisfaction,

00:19:35:09 - 00:19:38:21
higher rate
of having a mentor in the workplace,

00:19:39:07 - 00:19:42:12
higher rates
of having a network to draw on,

00:19:42:26 - 00:19:47:10
and an average of $15,000
more in their salaries.

00:19:48:04 - 00:19:50:10
So what we see here

00:19:50:10 - 00:19:53:12
is a connection, again,
between what you're doing

00:19:53:29 - 00:19:57:07
in your college years and your outcomes.

00:19:57:07 - 00:19:58:28
Right? Your career outcomes.

00:19:58:28 - 00:20:01:22
So coupled with this

00:20:01:22 - 00:20:05:09
is we also know from other research
with employers

00:20:05:17 - 00:20:11:14
that 80% of employers
report to us that internships

00:20:11:14 - 00:20:15:27
provide the best return on investment
in terms of recruiting strategies.

00:20:16:08 - 00:20:19:22
We know from our student survey
that students who engage in paid

00:20:19:22 - 00:20:24:06
internships have more, have,
a larger number of job

00:20:24:06 - 00:20:27:11
offers and higher salary
starting salaries at graduation.

00:20:28:03 - 00:20:30:17
So I think what this shows to

00:20:30:17 - 00:20:34:11
us, clearly, is that students

00:20:34:12 - 00:20:37:15
want to take advantage
of different opportunities

00:20:37:15 - 00:20:41:04
to engage in experiential learning
while they're in school.

00:20:41:17 - 00:20:45:03
Tied to this also is that we have seen,

00:20:45:05 - 00:20:48:05
a decline in the use of the,

00:20:48:05 - 00:20:51:16
GPA as a filter.

00:20:51:26 - 00:20:53:09
And that's really important.

00:20:53:09 - 00:20:58:08
So back in 2019, about 73% of employers

00:20:58:13 - 00:21:03:02
told us they used the GPA as a filter
for a recent college grads.

00:21:03:11 - 00:21:07:17
Today, that number
kind of hovers in the high 30% low 40s.

00:21:08:03 - 00:21:09:20
What that what we ask employers.

00:21:09:20 - 00:21:12:20
And as well, if you're not using a GPA,
what are you using?

00:21:12:22 - 00:21:15:00
They're telling us academic major.

00:21:15:00 - 00:21:18:00
They're telling us internship
or work experience.

00:21:18:10 - 00:21:20:21
And they're telling us, the ability

00:21:20:21 - 00:21:24:17
to articulate
skills, proficiency and skills.

00:21:24:26 - 00:21:28:09
So I think taken together,
when we think about the economy

00:21:28:09 - 00:21:31:09
and we think about what it means
for the job market,

00:21:31:16 - 00:21:35:23
I would recommend that students
that work with faculty and career centers

00:21:35:23 - 00:21:39:27
to think about ways of engaging
and experiential learning opportunities,

00:21:40:06 - 00:21:44:15
that they can then translate to their
employers and that can be on campus.

00:21:44:15 - 00:21:47:15
So that doesn't mean you have to go out
and do an internship, right?

00:21:47:21 - 00:21:50:25
It it is thinking about the classroom.

00:21:50:25 - 00:21:55:09
But having those type,
of rich experiences that students can

00:21:55:09 - 00:21:56:06
then draw on.

00:21:56:06 - 00:21:59:17
We see from our early career talent data
that makes a difference.

00:22:00:08 - 00:22:02:09
Yeah, definitely.

00:22:02:09 - 00:22:05:23
Speaking my language is a person
who is with internships.

00:22:05:23 - 00:22:09:02
But, hey. Yeah, it's, that's that's.

00:22:09:06 - 00:22:10:06
But that's really interesting.

00:22:10:06 - 00:22:11:19
I've never I haven't seen that data

00:22:11:19 - 00:22:15:11
before where you're following,
those that have already graduated.

00:22:15:19 - 00:22:18:20
To see how it affects their career.

00:22:18:20 - 00:22:22:16
Not just to get hired, but,
how it how it affects them after.

00:22:22:16 - 00:22:25:02
Yeah. This is the first time we've done
this study.

00:22:25:02 - 00:22:28:03
So, we're really we're really excited.

00:22:28:21 - 00:22:29:06
It's awesome.

00:22:29:06 - 00:22:31:05
I come from a background
in college recruiting,

00:22:31:05 - 00:22:35:13
so I love to hear the long
term, positive impacts and internships.

00:22:35:13 - 00:22:37:25
That's, great to hear.

00:22:37:25 - 00:22:41:10
And definitely continuing to encourage
students to go down that route.

00:22:41:21 - 00:22:43:23
Awesome. Yes, absolutely.

00:22:43:23 - 00:22:47:10
So just stemming off the idea of
internships, knowing the importance of it,

00:22:47:11 - 00:22:50:29
are there any trends that you're currently
seeing in the market with internships?

00:22:51:21 - 00:22:54:07
So, you mean in terms

00:22:54:07 - 00:22:57:11
of, kind of hiring
or it even comes in that way?

00:22:57:11 - 00:22:57:24
Yeah.

00:22:57:24 - 00:23:02:26
So, as I said, already
we know that employers are telling us

00:23:02:26 - 00:23:06:01
that internships provide that the best,

00:23:06:03 - 00:23:09:17
ROI on their recruitment strategies.

00:23:09:22 - 00:23:13:16
So, that I think is something
that's really important.

00:23:13:16 - 00:23:18:27
When we think about internships,
we also know from our student survey work

00:23:19:01 - 00:23:23:03
that paid internships,
if students who engage in paid

00:23:23:03 - 00:23:28:16
internships, tend to convert to more job
offers and higher starting salaries.

00:23:28:19 - 00:23:32:25
We have been working at Nace
for the past few years on trying.

00:23:32:25 - 00:23:35:04
You know,
because we know that unpaid internships,

00:23:35:04 - 00:23:37:29
they're lower levels
of, equity issues, right?

00:23:37:29 - 00:23:41:04
It's very, you know, most people
can't take an unpaid internship, right?

00:23:41:04 - 00:23:43:01
People have to work, right?
They need money.

00:23:43:01 - 00:23:46:27
So, we have a campaign
that we have been working on

00:23:46:27 - 00:23:49:19
for the past several years,
now called unpaid is unfair.

00:23:49:19 - 00:23:51:19
And we have it's on social media.

00:23:51:19 - 00:23:55:15
We have, you know, little videos,
that have been created.

00:23:55:22 - 00:23:59:20
So we are working, on,

00:23:59:21 - 00:24:03:20
trying to, you know, move the dialog,
the narrative forward around

00:24:03:20 - 00:24:08:00
how important internships are,
and particularly paid internships.

00:24:08:08 - 00:24:11:05
So that is something, that we see.

00:24:11:05 - 00:24:15:28
But, the data, as I said,
really continues to support that.

00:24:15:28 - 00:24:17:14
Employers are using it.

00:24:17:14 - 00:24:19:23
The internship rate
as that recruitment pipeline,

00:24:19:23 - 00:24:23:12
but also just having that, that
the ability to have that type of

00:24:23:12 - 00:24:27:23
work experience in different ways,
right, is really important.

00:24:27:23 - 00:24:29:25
So it can be in the classroom, right.

00:24:29:25 - 00:24:31:29
You can think about in the classroom,

00:24:31:29 - 00:24:35:26
you might have to work on an assignment
that is tied to work.

00:24:35:26 - 00:24:36:04
Right.

00:24:36:04 - 00:24:38:29
Maybe you'll have to write clinical notes,
for example.

00:24:38:29 - 00:24:40:11
Well,
that's experience that you're getting

00:24:40:11 - 00:24:45:05
and writing clinical notes, right, for,
social work for so we want

00:24:45:05 - 00:24:50:24
you want to be able to really think about,
how we're able to embed into

00:24:50:28 - 00:24:54:14
curricular and co-curricular activities,
these type of opportunities.

00:24:54:24 - 00:24:55:10
Thank you.

00:24:55:10 - 00:24:57:03
I did see the next campaign

00:24:57:03 - 00:25:00:14
for unpaid is unfair,
and that's a very strong campaign.

00:25:00:14 - 00:25:04:29
I'm glad that not only is the importance
of internships being promoted, but also,

00:25:05:08 - 00:25:10:12
just giving some more, light into that,
realm of trying to promote employers

00:25:10:12 - 00:25:14:07
to have the paid internships and, yeah,
make sure that there's equal access

00:25:14:07 - 00:25:15:29
for students. Exactly, exactly.

00:25:15:29 - 00:25:18:26
Yeah, yeah. No,
thank you for all your work there.

00:25:18:26 - 00:25:22:09
thinking about students
that are applying for internships

00:25:22:09 - 00:25:25:09
or applying for those first jobs.

00:25:25:11 - 00:25:28:12
From your perspective, how are employers

00:25:28:12 - 00:25:31:12
using AI in recruitment and hiring?

00:25:31:18 - 00:25:35:24
And are you seeing the AI influence
on how candidates are saw screened

00:25:35:24 - 00:25:36:15
or evaluated?

00:25:36:15 - 00:25:40:24
I always say like, I feel like
was like an early adopter of AI.

00:25:40:24 - 00:25:42:11
We just didn't call it that.

00:25:42:11 - 00:25:47:27
But I, I'm sure that it's accelerate
did in the last few years.

00:25:47:27 - 00:25:50:29
So, I think we're all starting
to get some interesting stories

00:25:50:29 - 00:25:51:22
back from students.

00:25:51:22 - 00:25:52:17
Yeah, yeah.

00:25:52:17 - 00:25:54:25
So we're just collecting.
Yeah, absolutely.

00:25:54:25 - 00:25:56:18
So we're just collecting
some of this data.

00:25:56:18 - 00:26:00:29
So I don't have a lot of data
on this, but, we'll have our what we call

00:26:00:29 - 00:26:04:09
our recruiting Benchmarks report,
which is a kind of our benchmarking

00:26:04:09 - 00:26:08:08
of recruitment that we, that employers
complete for us out later

00:26:08:08 - 00:26:09:21
this summer or early fall.

00:26:09:21 - 00:26:11:21
And in that we do ask this question.

00:26:11:21 - 00:26:14:09
So I did pull up the data
ahead of time for you.

00:26:14:09 - 00:26:14:20
Thank you.

00:26:14:20 - 00:26:18:19
So, about 22% of employers

00:26:18:19 - 00:26:22:02
are said that they're using AI
in the recruiting process itself.

00:26:22:16 - 00:26:26:09
And the top reasons they are using
it is to screen for skills.

00:26:26:09 - 00:26:27:11
Right.

00:26:27:11 - 00:26:29:11
And to schedule interviews.

00:26:29:11 - 00:26:31:02
Only about 6%.

00:26:31:02 - 00:26:35:09
So they're using kind of chat box
AI systems for, for interviews themselves.

00:26:35:23 - 00:26:39:22
So I think we're going to it needs
I mean, I know at Nace

00:26:39:22 - 00:26:42:29
we are going to continue
to collect this data.

00:26:43:11 - 00:26:46:14
And and be able to share that.

00:26:46:14 - 00:26:49:14
But that's just some early data
that I have for you on it.

00:26:49:22 - 00:26:54:05
Yeah, I know, you know, we do try, 
for those of you, if you're listening,

00:26:54:05 - 00:26:58:22
that our College of DuPage students,
we do have, some software to help

00:26:58:22 - 00:27:03:09
that is AI based for your resume
and for interview prep as well.

00:27:03:09 - 00:27:06:01
So definitely reach out to us. For that.

00:27:07:05 - 00:27:08:22
Yes. So,

00:27:08:22 - 00:27:12:17
are there any other trends or information
that you noticed that you think

00:27:12:17 - 00:27:14:04
our listeners should be aware of?

00:27:14:04 - 00:27:14:09
Yeah.

00:27:14:09 - 00:27:18:21
I think the only well, two things
I would say, but one is,

00:27:18:21 - 00:27:23:08
we have some really interesting data
around work modality.

00:27:23:08 - 00:27:26:11
So we started collecting that
during Covid, like hybrid,

00:27:26:17 - 00:27:29:18
you know, part in-person, part virtual,
fully virtual, solely online.

00:27:30:01 - 00:27:33:27
And, in our Early Career Talent survey,
we also asked about this.

00:27:34:07 - 00:27:37:27
And what's really interesting,
I think, is how, early

00:27:37:27 - 00:27:40:27
career professionals
kind of shift over time.

00:27:41:06 - 00:27:44:09
For, more than 60% of Gen

00:27:44:09 - 00:27:47:11
Z early career professionals
prefer hybrid work.

00:27:47:27 - 00:27:50:26
But only about 38% of them
are actually working.

00:27:50:26 - 00:27:51:10
Hybrid.

00:27:51:10 - 00:27:55:22
And then what's interesting is,
when we ask in our student

00:27:55:23 - 00:27:59:24
survey for is for, graduating seniors,

00:28:00:02 - 00:28:02:28
they prefer in-person work
right out the gate.

00:28:02:28 - 00:28:05:02
And then we see
kind of a change in movement

00:28:05:02 - 00:28:08:19
toward hybrid,
as they go through their careers.

00:28:08:27 - 00:28:11:20
And then as Gen Z or as professionals,

00:28:11:20 - 00:28:14:22
progress
even beyond those first few years.

00:28:15:01 - 00:28:18:07
Their preference for inward, in-person
work kind of declines a bit.

00:28:18:15 - 00:28:21:04
And their preference
for hybrid and remote increases.

00:28:21:04 - 00:28:24:05
So I just think as we continue
to think about work

00:28:24:05 - 00:28:27:18
modality, you know,
I think that's also really important.

00:28:27:18 - 00:28:31:09
And then the final trend
I would say to students

00:28:31:19 - 00:28:34:15
is that students
need to use their career center.

00:28:34:15 - 00:28:36:11
I have evidence as to why.

00:28:36:11 - 00:28:42:00
So our research shows that students get
who use a career services,

00:28:42:12 - 00:28:45:26
get more job offers
and have higher starting salaries.

00:28:46:07 - 00:28:51:22
So in our student survey, for example,
graduating seniors who use any career

00:28:51:22 - 00:28:56:22
service career center service
got 1.2 for job offers on average.

00:28:57:00 - 00:28:59:24
In comparison,
those who did not go to the career center,

00:28:59:24 - 00:29:02:19
I did not take advantage of the services
that are available.

00:29:02:19 - 00:29:05:17
Averaged about 1.0 job offers.

00:29:05:17 - 00:29:09:10
So we know
I think that is really important, right.

00:29:09:10 - 00:29:10:27
The value of career services.

00:29:10:27 - 00:29:13:22
And you have that located
right at your doorstep.

00:29:13:22 - 00:29:16:22
I think that is really important.

00:29:16:22 - 00:29:22:01
Because we do see a correlation
there between students who engage,

00:29:22:02 - 00:29:25:06
who take advantage of
and use the services that are available

00:29:25:13 - 00:29:28:02
through the career center, 
and then their outcomes.

00:29:28:02 - 00:29:32:03
So, that's something I, that's,
I think a final trend that I would,

00:29:32:03 - 00:29:34:14
I would end up thank you.

00:29:34:14 - 00:29:36:29
I we will definitely be supporting that.

00:29:36:29 - 00:29:39:24
We would love to have more students
come to our center.

00:29:39:24 - 00:29:42:29
And we're happy to hear that
there's data even supporting that as well.

00:29:42:29 - 00:29:46:06
So all the more reason to help engage
with our services.

00:29:46:14 - 00:29:48:27
Earlier on in your schooling career.

00:29:48:27 - 00:29:49:22
Yeah, definitely.

00:29:49:22 - 00:29:51:23
Is there anything that we haven't asked

00:29:51:23 - 00:29:54:23
you or haven't talked about that
you want to share?

00:29:55:03 - 00:29:57:15
Oh, I think I covered, covered a lot.

00:29:57:15 - 00:30:02:12
So, you know, I'm really grateful
that you had me come on.

00:30:02:12 - 00:30:04:04
And I was able to share some of,

00:30:04:04 - 00:30:06:17
some of the work we're doing
with your community.

00:30:06:17 - 00:30:08:07
Yeah. Thank you so much.

00:30:08:07 - 00:30:10:03
So thanks, everyone for listening.

00:30:10:03 - 00:30:13:11
And special thanks again to Mary Garda
for joining us on the podcast.

00:30:13:17 - 00:30:17:03
If you have a question for us,
you can submit it to Career Podcast

00:30:17:03 - 00:30:21:00
at Cadet
or on social media at Cod Career Center.

00:30:21:07 - 00:30:23:29
And you may hear the answer
in a future episode.

00:30:23:29 - 00:30:27:13
And just as a reminder, follow
Nace on LinkedIn.

00:30:27:13 - 00:30:29:12
If you haven't yet,
because they're going to have all sorts

00:30:29:12 - 00:30:30:16
of great data coming out.