2024 Career Development Conference - Webinar Collection  

(*please note, if you signed up for the full conference, you don't need to register for individual sessions)


Thursday, April 25, 2024, 11am PT


Strategic Opportunities for Bridging the University-Employer Divide: Preparing Students To Undertake the University-To-Work Transition 

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented demand for career support from university students and seen organizations worldwide engaged in a fierce war for diverse early career talent. However, universities and organizations often lack the resources to meet the demands of students. 

Moreover, the students who could benefit from career support the most are least likely to seek it, thus exacerbating pre-existing social mobility challenges. Taken together, this is problematic since access to career guidance is critical to enable students to prepare for the university-to-work transition, and access to career guidance gives students the best chance of a sustainable career. 

Consequently, in this session, we will begin by exploring the role that university career advisors and graduate recruiters can play in preparing students for the university-to-work transition while also considering the benefits to various actors operating within a sustainable career ecosystem. 

Subsequently, we will explore the barriers to and pragmatic strategies for collaboration between universities and employers. The session is based on my recently published book by IGI Global titled, ‘Strategic Opportunities for Bridging the University-Employer Divide”, which draws together academic research conducted by myself and others along with lived experience insights from practitioners. 


Dr. William E. Donald 

William E. Donald is a disabled and housebound academic with 15 years of experience across industry and academia. Will was originally a Graduate Recruiter for an Investment Bank in London. 

He is now an Associate Professor in Sustainable Careers and Human Resource Management at the Ronin Institute (USA) and a Visitor at the University of Southampton (UK) as a guest of Professor Yehuda Baruch. Will’s research interests include graduate employability, career development, and sustainable career ecosystems. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed works, which have been read over 28,500 times (ResearchGate) and cited over 800 times (Google Scholar) as of September 2023. Will was the sole Editor of the ‘Handbook of Research on Sustainable Career Ecosystems for University Students and Graduates’, [IGI Global, 2023]. 

His sole author book ‘Strategic Opportunities for Bridging the Student-Employer Divide’ is forthcoming [IGI Global, 2023]. Will is an international member of various Editorial Boards and Policy Steering Groups. He is also a qualified Life and Performance Coach, a Fellow of the ‘Learning and Performance Institute’ (FLPI), an Associate Fellow of the ‘Higher Education Academy (AFHEA), and a Member of the ‘National Council of Psychotherapists (MNCP NP). For more information, please visit Will's website: https://drwilldonald.wordpress.com/ 

2024 Career Development Conference - Webinar Collection - Strategic Opportunities for Bridging the University-Employer Divide: Preparing Students To Undertake the University-To-Work Transition

  • Thursday Apr 25 2024, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Canada