Spotlight for Career Services Professionals

What should career services offices do when students register for information sessions or other meet-and-greets with employers, but don’t show up?

Career services professionals discussing this issue on the NACE Community acknowledge that emergencies do happen, but, they add, students who register for an event often ignore their obligation to attend. Several professionals shared the approaches their career services offices take to deal with student no-shows:

• Student no-shows find their access to the career services online system blocked and are required to send an apology to the employer, with a copy going to the associate director of employer relations.
• The student must meet with a career consultant to discuss what prompted his or her failure to attend.
• Students are faced with a three-strikes, no-show policy for career events and coaching appointments: There is an initial warning after a missed event/appointment; a second strike blocks the student’s career center account until the student contacts career services staff; and a third strike blocks the student’s account for the semester. Students can cancel their reservations through the career center’s online system no later than 24 hours before an event.
• Preventing no-shows by stressing commitment up front is another option. One member noted that students must agree that they will attend an event they have registered for by ticking a box and clicking on “agree” before they can RSVP for an event or schedule an appointment. Further, students receive an event/workshop confirmation e-mail that reminds them of their obligation to attend. Students who don’t show up for an event, workshop, or advising appointment—or cancel with less than 48 hours before the appointment—are billed $25, although students often receive one warning before this part of the policy is enacted. Those funds pay for additional student-centered activities.

What do you think? Join the conversation in the NACE Community.