Assistant Director, Career Advancement
The University of Chicago

Department

ESA Deputy Director - Direct Reports

About the Department

Career Advancement serves a student population of 7,000+ arts and sciences undergraduate students, in addition to alumni who have graduated within the last five years. Career Advancement plays a vital role in ensuring our students' success after graduation. Career Advancement offers innovative and comprehensive career development services with a focus on pre-professional preparation, experiential education, and opportunities. Through career advising, programs, and comprehensive resources, Career Advancement supports undergraduate students and alumni as they develop the skills necessary to manage their career development, while working with alumni and employers to provide students with meaningful opportunities. For more information, please visit the Career Advancement website at careeradvancement.uchicago.edu.

Job Summary

The Assistant Director will leverage industry expertise and prior experience to execute career programs, flagship events, and employer engagement sessions to supporting students' career development. This role will conduct strategic initiatives that provide comprehensive career guidance, fostering early career exploration and skill development for first-year students. The Assistant Director will collaborate with career advisers and employer partners to contribute to student success, helping to ensure strong post-graduation outcomes and long-term career growth.

Responsibilities

• Implements tailored programming for first-year undergraduates, focusing on career exploration, skill development, and early engagement with career resources.
• Executes a comprehensive first-year career strategy for Career Advancement advisers that aligns with the University's commitment to student career success and professional advancement.
• Cultivates trusting and positive student relationships through pre-orientation programming, events, and student advising appointments.
• Plans and facilitates workshops, events, and career-related activities that introduce first-year students to various industries and equips them with relevant tools and resources for early careers.
• Provides individual and group career advising to first-year students, including Odyssey Scholars programming, offering guidance on resume building, internship searches, networking, and developing a career plan.
• Recommends students to employer partners, tracks their recruiting progress, ideates new opportunities, and collaborates with career advisers to support student placement and success.
• Works cross-departmentally to integrate career programming into the broader first-year experience and beyond.
• Creates and disseminates targeted email and print communications to ensure first-year students are informed of career resources and opportunities and can navigate their internship search with ease.
• Collaborates with student preparation teams to create and administer targeted programming to make undergraduate students successful in their job/internship searches. This includes sessions on career exploration, recruiting tools, interviewing techniques, college/work transition, and the trek.
• Supports on-campus and virtual programs for undergraduate students, assists with the planning and execution in the entirety of the event management cycle (e.g. event location, catering, AV/tech needs, transportation arrangements, speaker and leadership briefings, event memos, etc.). This includes flagship events including career fairs, Night on Wall Street, Consulting Symposium, Diversity + Inclusion Summit.
• Works with other event staff to assess event needs, identify and implement ideas for improvement, and solicit post-event feedback and performance; collects and analyzes event data and outcomes to identify trends and opportunities, and provides general office support as needed.
• Executes day-to-day event logistics, reviews and finalizes the guest lists, assists with (e)mailing invitations and event brochures.
• Tracks student engagement data, develops targeted outreach to students, ensures event attendance and positive student and employer experience.
• Utilizes the undergraduate job platform, Handshake, to build reports on student and employer engagement, and implements them to capture cross-industry activities and identify trends.
• Tracks budgets, logistics, and all administrative aspects involved in the event planning process.
• Collects and analyzes data on first-year student engagement and outcomes, implementing insights to drive innovative career programming and student support, including cohort-specific engagement.
• Assesses and analyzes student demand, career interests, and geographic interests, and supports Career Advancement's early engagement model by creating opportunities for students based on this data.
• Highlights how early engagement career cohorts align with organizations' recruiting strategies and early identification tools.
• Reviews dashboards within Salesforce to closely track student engagement and outcomes.
• Uses data and feedback to make recommendations to enhance delivery model to student support.
• Responsible for weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reporting on first-year student engagement and outcomes.
• Manages portfolio of existing employer partners as assigned to administer recruiting programs including the Jeff Metcalf Internship Program, industry recruiting events, career fairs, full-time recruitment.
• Assists employers in posting jobs, coordinating on-campus interviews, and promotes opportunities to students and campus partners using Handshake and MailChimp.
• Supports experiential education opportunities and develops opportunities for students including treks, job shadowing, and industry programming that enhances employer branding and affinity on campus.
• Serves as adviser to employers on developing a successful recruitment strategy.
• Plays an active role in matching students to jobs and obtaining hiring data from employers.
• Responsible for weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reporting on employer relations and development efforts within assigned portfolios.
• Advises and counsels students concerning employment opportunities and careers by acting as a liaison between students and prospective employers.
• Conducts mock interviews, reviews resumes and cover letters, and coordinates other interview related programming in both individual and group settings.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
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Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
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Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Significant knowledge of online resources, spreadsheet and presentation software.

Preferred Competencies

• Deep commitment to customer service and the ability to multitask, meet deadlines, and work successfully in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong customer service focus and a high level of professionalism when interacting with internal and external clients.
• Successfully navigate, within varying degrees of ambiguity, in a fast-paced environment.
• Develop creative solutions to unique problems.
• Work independently under pressure with frequent interruptions.
• Carry out assignments and projects without detailed instructions.
• Commitment to ensuring the highest level of tact and professionalism in interactions with internal and external participants in the program.
• Exemplary organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Patient and tolerant attitude toward demanding clients and work.
• Demonstrated success in maintaining collaborative relationships with diverse constituencies.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Communicate to large groups as well as one-on-one with students, senior leadership, faculty, alumni, etc.

Working Conditions

• Work evenings, occasional additional weeknight and weekend days.
• Travel two to three times per year.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter/Statement of Interest (required)
• Professional References Contact Information (3)(required)

When applying, the document(s) MUSTbe uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Student Affairs & Services

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

FLSA Status

Exempt

Pay Frequency

Monthly

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Benefits Eligible

Yes

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Staff Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at:http://securityreport.uchicago.edu.Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.

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