Kent State University's Career Services Center website
was recognized as one of the most interesting in 2014 by
the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Kent State University’s Career Services Center website was recognized as one of the five most interesting career center websites in 2014 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The association connects more than 5,600 college career service professionals at nearly 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide. The organization’s mission is to lead a community of professionals focused on employment of the college educated by providing access to relevant knowledge, resources, insight and relationships.

Career Services Center websites are a central hub for students to learn about careers, find career information and locate career resources and advice. The homepage reflects the priorities and identity of the institution.

Kent State’s Career Services website was described by the association as being top-notch, effectively balancing images, clear categories, social media spaces and a tinge of philosophy/vision. The website also was recognized for having subpages that feature effective images and inspiration with manageable checklists and inviting, yet semiprescriptive language, and for aligning with the university’s brand, which makes for a fun, pleasant site to explore.

“It is very gratifying to be recognized by your peers, especially at a national level,” says Ann Motayar, director of Kent State’s Career Services Center. “Our website is our new ‘front door’ for students, alumni, employers and others engaging with our services. We did not apply for this recognition, so it was appreciated that our hard work was acknowledged on its own merit.”

A counselor at Kent State University's Career Services
Center advises a student. The center's website was
recognized for being top-notch by the National Association
of Colleges and Employers.

In 2014, the Career Services Center moved quickly to align with Kent State’s new mobile-friendly, responsive Web design, which performs well on multiple devices used by students. Career Services Center designers chose to incorporate Google Analytics to identify its most-viewed pages, and those were considered a priority to entice visitors to view the site, Motayar says. The center decided to place a priority on images that would inspire the viewer and help communicate the message of the university.

Motayar says the Career Services Center website has several components, and each is used by different audiences. Students generally use the jobs, résumés and major/career decision-making resources, while employers are diving into the recruiting services.

While developing the design for the site, Motayar says they took a slightly nontraditional approach by incorporating fresh, high-quality images and incorporating more student-friendly language, manageable checklists and career-planning takeaway content for students.

“Our website is an ongoing priority, and changes are made weekly, if not daily, to maintain current content and respond to user feedback and utilization levels,” Motayar says. “We also continue to give priority to growing our social media presence and creating new linkages across the Kent State website to our career planning content.”

For more information about Kent State’s Career Services Center, visit www.kent.edu/career.