Reaching college students on their level can be a challenge. They are overwhelmed with information from e-mail, instant messaging and Web sites like Facebook and YouTube.
The challenge becomes even more difficult when talking about something as “uncool” as career planning. But officials at The Career Center at WUSTL have found a way.
With a competition to design a Career Center video advertisement available on the popular Web site YouTube.com, the center’s staff members discovered they could draw students into the process of connecting with good career advice.
“We thought of creating our own video ads,” said Career Center Director Mark Smith. “But then we came up with the idea of having students do them. I think it’s a perfect way to get the word out about the services we offer, involve the students more and do it all through a medium they are used to.”
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. The site contains more than 70 million videos, and is popular with many college students.
“In the past, college students had different cultural touchstones and references,” Smith said. “Their music, movies and clothes have always been very different from what adults know and like.
“But now college students have a completely different form of media from what adults use. College kids use Facebook and YouTube for communication and entertainment. People in their 40s typically don’t even know about these sites. We are trying to bridge this digital divide by using the students’ media to reach them.”
The competition was open to all full-time WUSTL undergraduates. The stipulations were that the video submission had to be less than 1 minute and had to promote the Career Center’s services.
Five finalists were chosen and posted online. WUSTL students, staff and faculty have until Oct. 6 to vote for their favorite. The winner will be granted a $250 prize. Another $250 prize will be awarded to the student who created the top video picked by a panel of local industry professionals.
The videos are viewable online at careers.wustl.edu/videos.