For Careers Services professionals, having access to a broad set of data that is accessible and actionable is key to success. From collecting in-depth demographic information to identifying students who aren’t as engaged as they should be (and taking timely action to help), knowledge is undoubtedly power. Indeed, in our latest study, universities up and down the country told us that a top priority in the next decade will be understanding the changing priorities of both students and employers, and then acting quickly to meet their requirements.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise that many of our university partners are harnessing Handshake Analytics to better understand their students, personalise services to fit their needs - and ultimately ensure the best possible employment outcomes.
An intuitive tool which requires little technical know-how to get started, Handshake Analytics provides a way for Careers Services to gain insight - and then save and share important data with different stakeholders. And the good news is that, unlike many solutions on the market, there’s no extra cost for the service; Handshake is a non-modular careers management platform, so you never pay more for access to every tool in our platform.
"In our previous system, you had to pay £500 for a custom report and it might take weeks for the supplier to build. So the fact that we can just go in and make a custom report at no charge and on absolutely any data on the platform is really a game-changer." - Gary Elliott, University of Central Lancashire
Visualise data with helpful dashboards
One of the main stumbling blocks to successful data analysis is that, simply put, it’s technically difficult and time consuming. Number crunching is a skill not everyone has - and it can be tricky to visualise what data means. Handshake’s helpful dashboards solve this problem - providing insights in accessible formats, from charts and graphs to visual heat maps which highlight trends and show what’s causing them.
Importantly, Careers Services teams can track everything from student activations and log-ins, to student, alumni and employer engagements with the career centre - and break down data by many different demographics, allowing teams to see the groups most affected by a trend, and then to quickly act on that information.
Through a one-click download and a report scheduling function, it’s easy to save important data and share it with both internal and external stakeholders.
Making tracking outcomes a breeze
Graduate Outcomes aims to provide clear, concise, and consistent data on graduate outcomes, but certainly has its challenges - not least the time lag between graduation, survey and data return, getting alumni to complete questionnaires in the first place - and then making sense of the data which is returned. These challenges make it hard for Careers Professionals and Institutions to identify students who need support immediately after graduation as well as measure impact, that can then inform practice.
Handshake’s First Destination Survey (FDS) tool utilises existing data, gamification, type-ahead technology and the ability to add custom questions to create an intuitive and compelling outcomes survey, encouraging more responses. For many, the ability to ‘gamify’ a survey - allowing respondents to watch bar graphs change in real-time as they answer questions - provides a great experience and helps keep people engaged. What’s more, Handshake’s Kiosk Mode and automated email FDS campaign, where responses can be collected at graduation and other in person events, as well as via a personalised secure link that requires no login, , mean some universities like Princeton University have been able to achieve 98% response rates. Read more about how to achieve a high response rate in this support article.
Handshake’s FDS functionality allows teams to better interact with alumni - getting in touch with students who are ‘still looking’ for work, and offering continued Careers assistance.
See Handshake Analytics in practice
For more information, and to see a great example of how Handshake Analytics has helped a leading Careers Services team achieve its goals, check out this video From the University of Central Lancaster.
Would you like to learn more or sign up for a demo? Get in touch with the friendly Handshake team who are happy to share more and help you solve your own analytics challenges.
