Algonquin College: 60% of Career Coach Users Register for Programs

EMSI CASE STUDY (See Full Archive)

In April 2014, Algonquin College became the first college in Eastern Ontario to launch Career Coach—and wasted no time making a big splash. Less than a year later, Algonquin had 21,000 visits to the online tool, with users spending an average of more than seven minutes per visit. In addition, 80% of the leads received through the tool were new. But most importantly, 60% of those who used Career Coach registered for a program at the college, out of which 11% were returning students (stats pulled according to the college’s CRM).

“Career Coach represents a college-wide commitment to give our students every advantage in attaining meaningful careers,” said Eric Hollebone, director of marketing & recruitment, who introduced Career Coach to further the college’s core objective of adopting proven technology to enable career development. “It displays accurate options, removing much of the guesswork, correlating options with our substantial roster of programs.”

One feature that Algonquin has found particularly useful is the career assessment step whereby users are presented with a series of activities related to a work environment so that they can evaluate the activity across a like/dislike scale. The tool matches answers with six personality types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. Participants receive career recommendations based on how their interests match up to these personality types.

“Career Coach is easy to understand, helping to simplify decision-making,” said Lindsey James, marketing officer at Algonquin.

She also noted that labor market information, including annual salaries expectations, enables students to better develop informed choices. “Since the launch, Career Coach has helped students start their course of study with defined, in-demand career goals so that they remain motivated throughout their college experience, ultimately finding great careers.”

About Career Coach

EMSI’s Career Coach uses data to connect school programs to career opportunities, helping colleges engage their students and drive home the real-world value of their programs. Learn more here and read our report on how Career Coach helps address the information gap.

About Algonquin College

Algonquin College, located in Ontario with campuses in Ottawa, Perth, and Pembroke, states its mission: To transform hopes and dreams into skills and knowledge, leading to lifelong career success. Serving over 19,000 full-time students, the college’s vision is to be a global leader in digitally-connected applied education and training.