College career readiness workshops for students and educators

College is one of the biggest investments students will ever make — yet many start without a clear plan for how to make it pay off. The transition from high school to college can feel overwhelming, leading to uncertainty, scattered involvement, and missed opportunities to connect choices to career goals.

The College by Design workshop helps first- and second-year students take ownership of their college experience by applying an ROI mindset — treating every class, activity, and relationship as part of a broader strategy. Students learn how to focus on high-impact experiences, build meaningful connections, and leverage campus resources that align with their goals.

Students will learn how to:

• Identify and execute high-ROI activities that directly lead to internships, grad school admissions, and job opportunities

• Build a network of professors, alumni, and professionals in their target fields

• Create a personalized college plan tailored to their unique interests and goals

• Leverage campus resources to build skills and experiences that stand out to employers

• Apply practical time and decision management strategies to stay focused and intentional

Each session is interactive and reflective, combining storytelling, frameworks, and real-world examples. Students leave with clarity, confidence, and a practical workbook that helps them turn college from something they attend into something they design.

Landing an internship is only half the battle — the real opportunity lies in how students use it. Too often, students enter internships without a clear plan, missing chances to build skills, relationships, and results that carry forward into full-time opportunities.

The Internships That Count workshop helps students turn short-term experiences into long-term career capital. Through structured reflection, goal-setting, and practical examples, students learn how to approach their internships as strategic investments — not just temporary roles.

Students will learn how to:

• Prepare before their internship to set goals, clarify learning priorities, and stand out early

• Build credibility and connections during their internship through purposeful engagement and skill development

• Leverage outcomes after the internship by documenting achievements, building skill development plans, and converting experiences into stories for future applications and interviews

The session blends actionable frameworks with storytelling and guided reflection, helping students close the gap between “I had an internship” and “That internship changed everything.”

Participants leave with a digital workbook filled with templates, prompts, and reflection exercises to help them take action at every stage.

Career paths today aren’t linear — they’re shaped by constant change, emerging technologies, and factors far beyond a student’s control. Traditional career planning models no longer fit a world defined by AI, remote work, and global shifts.

The Designing a Career in a World That Keeps Changing workshop helps students replace prediction with preparation — teaching them how to design flexible, future-proof careers built on curiosity, adaptability, and strategic skill development. Students learn how to identify their “career GPS” — setting a direction while staying agile when external factors force reroutes.

Students will learn how to:

• Clarify short-, medium-, and long-term career directions without relying on outdated five-year plans

• Identify and build transferable skills that create optionality across roles and industries

• Use tools like ChatGPT as career exploration partners to map possible paths, bridge jobs, and skill-building priorities

• Recognize the “baseline behaviors” — problem-solving in ambiguity, AI literacy, and global awareness — that future-proof any career

• Shift from rigid goal-setting to a mindset of strategic adaptability and continuous learning

Students leave with an adaptable framework, guided reflection prompts, and an actionable workbook designed to help them navigate a world where change is the constant — and strategy is their advantage.

Too many students think LinkedIn is just about having a profile — but used strategically, it’s a career accelerator. This workshop goes beyond surface-level optimization to show students how to use LinkedIn for opportunity creation.

Students will learn how to:

• Build a compelling, recruiter-ready profile rooted in clarity and storytelling

• Use LinkedIn for career exploration, identifying patterns, fields, and paths aligned with their interests

• Engage authentically with alumni, recruiters, and professionals to grow their network and social capital

• Leverage LinkedIn insights and search tools to prepare for interviews and tailor applications

• Turn consistent engagement into visibility, credibility, and confidence in their career narrative

The session combines live demonstrations with guided exercises and includes a practical workbook to help students take action beyond the session — complementing, not replacing, existing campus programming.

Students are curious about AI — but few know how to use it strategically in their internship and job search. This session teaches them how to turn tools like ChatGPT into a real career advantage, from exploring career paths and mapping skill development plans to crafting stronger application materials and preparing for interviews.

The focus is on using AI intentionally and authentically — as a thought partner, not a shortcut — so students stay in control of their ideas, voice, and direction. Through live examples and guided practice, they’ll learn how to write strategic prompts that generate useful, career-relevant insights they can apply immediately.

Students will learn how to:

• Use AI to explore industries, roles, and career paths aligned with their interests

• Create personalized skill-building and learning plans to prepare for future roles

• Write stronger, more targeted resumes, cover letters, and outreach messages

• Draft effective prompts to guide research, application writing, and interview preparation

• Build AI literacy that enhances their employability and adaptability

Each attendee also receives a library of 20+ proven ChatGPT prompts to support their career planning, application writing, and interview preparation — helping them apply what they learn immediately and confidently.

Most students prepare for interviews by memorizing answers — not by learning how to connect their past experiences to what’s next.

Th Telling Your Story in Interviews (and Beyond) session teaches a tactical approach to interviewing: one built on relevance, reflection, and clear storytelling.

Students learn how to identify the themes and skills that run through their experiences, then translate them into compelling, concise stories that show fit and readiness. We also introduce practical storytelling frameworks and commonly overlooked, high-ROI tactics.

Students will learn how to:

• Recognize patterns across experiences that signal transferable skills

• Apply the CARL method to craft confident, story-driven responses

• Link past experiences directly to the role, organization, or graduate program they’re targeting

• Use reflection-based storytelling to strengthen presence and authenticity

• Avoid common pitfalls like over-explaining or underselling key outcomes

Through guided examples, live story mapping, and peer feedback, students leave with adaptable, high-impact stories they can use across interviews, networking, and personal statements — and the confidence to tell them with clarity and control.

Educators know the challenge: getting students not just to listen, but to act. Drawing from years of facilitating sessions at 40+ institutions, the Leading High-Impact Workshops session reveals a repeatable process for designing learning experiences that drive real behavior change.

Grounded in instructional design and design thinking principles, it helps career services professionals, faculty, and staff reimagine workshops as intentional experiences — ones that balance energy, reflection, and clarity whether for a 15-minute class visit or a full-length session.

Educators will learn how to:

• Apply the POWER Framework to plan sessions that align purpose, engagement, and results

• Design activities that turn participation into lasting action

• Maintain focus and momentum with simple, flexible facilitation tools

• Create workshop materials that actually get used — not just distributed

Each team receives a plug-and-play planning template, an activity bank, and a resource guide designed to save hours of prep time while elevating clarity, engagement, and follow-through across every session they lead.

Every student population has unique goals, challenges, and motivators — which is why we design custom sessions that align with your institution’s priorities.

These custom workshops combine proven frameworks with tailored content to meet students exactly where they are and move them toward meaningful action.

Whether you’re focused on career exploration, networking, LinkedIn, or specialized groups like student-athletes or first-generation students, each session is built to engage, inspire, and drive practical outcomes.

Past custom sessions include:

• Personal Branding for College Students

• Career Development for Student-Athletes

Custom workshops are developed collaboratively to fit your audience, timing, and goals — ensuring your students get content that’s relevant, actionable, and aligned with your institution’s mission.