Student success can be defined by several criteria, from GPA and graduation rate to involvement in campus life. But an equally important measure for the University of Utah is what takes place when a student finishes their educational journey: job placement after graduation.

To that end, the University of Utah is continuously working to expand its career readiness resources for students. U Career Success, the U’s campus-wide hub for career help, provides one-on-one, major-specific support for students through career coaches and a variety of new, additional resources now available for students to use on their own time.

Those self-service resources give students access to career aids at short notice, regardless of the time or day. Some of those resources include the following:

• Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Assessment and Focus 2 Career Assessment help students understand their interests and strengths and see how those might correlate to various career paths.
• U Guide helps students investigate majors, occupations, career possibilities and the skills associated with different fields.
• The self-paced Informational Interview Course teaches students how to identify professionals, request conversations, ask thoughtful questions and use those connections to explore careers.
• Handshake is a central platform for finding jobs and internships, networking and discovering career fairs.
• Ask an Alum connects students with University of Utah alumni who are willing to share advice or guidance specific to students who are graduating from the same program or major.
• What Can I Do With This Major? introduces careers commonly connected to different majors, employers that hire graduates in those fields and ways to build relevant experience.
• The Occupational Outlook Handbook provides information about responsibilities, education requirements, work environments, salaries and projected growth for hundreds of occupations.
• Big Interview includes an extensive library of lessons and questions covering general, behavioral, technical and industry-specific interviews. It allows students to practice when it works for their schedule and prepare for the opportunities that matter most to them.
• CareerShift allows students to search opportunities from multiple sources, research organizations, identify professional contacts and organize their job search in one place.
• Students can also access videos, step-by-step guidance and feedback on creating resumes, writing cover letters, developing a LinkedIn presence, answering interview questions and more.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics Wage Data gives both students and their mentors guidance on navigating the professional salary negotiation process.
• Non-digital resources include peer-coach resume reviews, free professional headshots, private rooms for virtual interviews and free professional clothing through the Career Closet.

These tools and many more are available on the U Career Success Resources and Tools page.

The changing landscape of higher education

In recent years, both federal and state governments have placed more emphasis on what happens to students after graduation. Do they apply to graduate school or get a job? What does their income look like? Are they staying in their major’s career field or pivoting to something else? These metrics help government officials determine whether students can repay their student debt and whether their degrees are preparing them for areas where there is workforce demand.

The federal government offers a Department of Education College Scorecard tool for students. There, they can compare colleges based on completion rates, cost, student debt, post-college earnings and other factors. While students look at a variety of information when choosing which college to attend, Senior Director of U Career Success Denise DeCoite says, “There is a clear and growing focus on the financial value of a degree.”

The State of Utah has more specific performance metrics: access, timely completion and graduates earning degrees connected to high-wage, high-demand jobs. If public institutions in the state meet the Utah System of Higher Education’s (USHE) goals, they receive an allotted performance fund, incentivizing progress in these areas.

“The important takeaway is that graduation is no longer the end of the conversation,” DeCoite says. “We also need to understand where students go next and whether their education has prepared them to succeed.”

The U’s increased effort to support students

The U has long offered support to students looking to launch their careers after graduation, but that effort has grown during President Taylor Randall’s time in office. Seeing the success of personalized career coaching models in the David Eccles School of Business, Randall asked his team to scale those services for the entire university.

“When we see something working exceptionally well for students, we should ask how we can bring that same opportunity to every student at the University of Utah,” Randall says. “That was the idea behind expanding personalized career support across the U. I’m grateful to the people who built the original model and to the teams who have worked together to scale it. Their work is helping us fulfill an important promise to our students: to help them translate their education, talents and ambitions into meaningful careers.”

U Career Success came from that effort. Formally launched in the summer of 2023, its offerings quickly made an impact. In its first year alone, the undergraduate career outcome rate increased nearly 10%, according to data from the First-Destination Survey.

The main focus of U Career Success

While digital resources are an added benefit for students, DeCoite says they always want students to take advantage of personalized support from a career coach.

“At the same time, we know students have different schedules, needs and ways of engaging,” she says. “Our goal is to make sure every student can access meaningful career support in the way and at the time that works best for them.”

Career coaches with expertise in a few areas can sit down with students and offer personalized advice in the students’ target fields. These coaches understand the major and the types of roles and industries students from that major enter after graduation. They work closely with the U’s corporate and community engagement team, which collaborates with organizations eager to hire students from the U. Coaches will help prepare students for their job search, provide interviewing support and even help them negotiate their salary.

Students are encouraged to engage with these coaches early on in their college career—not only when they are seniors and ready to apply for jobs. There are dedicated first- and second-year coaches to help students build fundamental skills, explore careers and plan how to make the most of their time building experiences at the U.

The impact of U Career Success

Student interest in and access to these resources has been growing. From May 2025 to April 2026, there were 19,884 career-coaching appointments, compared to 17,891 the previous year, according to DeCoite. During that same period, U Career Success hosted 26 career fairs, 243 career workshops and 242 employer events.

As these resources continue to expand, the U expects to see an increase in multiple measurements of student success, including graduation rate and well-being. Through these efforts, the U is acknowledging that promoting student success means taking a holistic view of a student’s entire life.

“Graduation is critical, but it is not the only way we should define success,” DeCoite says. “We want to arm students with what they need to be successful after graduation.”

Hear Denise DeCoite discuss how U Career Success prepares students for life after graduation on Together: A Higher-Ed Podcast.