Hiatt Career Center receives national award for career services excellence
The Hiatt Career Center has been recognized by the National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE) for its excellence in adopting the Chaos Theory of Careers framework into their career services.
The framework teaches flexible planning and decision making and addresses the uncertainty a fluid employment sector generates—skills that are especially relevant today given the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the global economy. In aligning the mission, programming, marketing and assessment around a career framework, the office increased campus-wide awareness, understanding and engagement with career services. Last year, Hiatt engaged with 78% of the undergraduate population through in-person services and online activities.
Over the years, Hiatt has been a four-time finalist with NACE in its career excellence and technology categories. This award is Hiatt's first from the association, but the recognition is certainly not new for the center. In 2019, Hiatt was awarded the National Career Development Association’s (NCDA) Exemplary Career Center and the Service to International Students Awards.
“This award recognizes the entire office, our approach to our work and the results,” said Jon Schlesinger, director of the Hiatt Career Center. “It is particularly timely, as the whole focus has been geared to teaching students to be flexible and adaptable in their career planning; which is now more important than ever.”
Hiatt’s lifecycle model for students supports the array of career options, decisions and planning during their time at Brandeis and beyond. They are encouraged to engage with the center as early as their first year to explore majors, internships, graduate school and careers and then as alumni, to volunteer their time as valued resources and employer partners. As one of the few career centers in the country to offer free lifetime career services to its undergraduate alumni population, this approach showcases the commitment the University has in students’ post-graduate success.
“This framework has helped us to better equip students to be successful members of a changing workforce,” said Schlesinger. “We are grateful for being recognized as a stand-out among our colleagues in the field.”
NACE is the largest national association for career services and employers who engage in university relations and recruiting. NACE has over 8,400 college career services professionals and over 3,300 university relations and recruiting professionals in the community. For more information on NACE, visit http://www.naceweb.org/. Learn more about Hiatt's philosophy and approach informed by scholarship, research and practice in the field of career development.