AU has partnered with Lloyd, a career navigation platform, to embed career advising directly into academic courses in order to more directly link learning experiences with career preparation. This service, made available initially to select online programs, is aligned with the AU’s mission to support “knowledge for your journey” throughout its programs, courses, and the student experience.
Center for Innovation and Digital Learning/AU professor Martha Mishoe, the lead instructor in a pilot online course, called the one-on-one coaching “exceptional.”
“Lloyd adjusts their career coaching to meet the specific needs of my students,” she said.
When students work with Lloyd, their career advisor gets to know each student and creates a personalized career plan that includes specific action steps to take. Students visualize their career plan on the Lloyd online platform and communicate with their career advisor via chat built into the platform (along with phone calls).
All resources for students are in one place in the Lloyd platform, where they see their personalized plan, use the resources, and communicate with their career advisor.
A student in one of the pilot courses gave her Lloyd Career Advisor high praise.
“It was a fantastic experience and gave me a whole new perspective,” she said.
The Lloyd career advising platform is currently embedded into select online and graduate courses at AU to closely tie the learning experience with career preparation. Students receive their own career advisor and ongoing, personalized career planning to support their unique journey.
According to polling firm Gallup, this personalized attention is exactly what students want. Gallup research recently indicated that students who strongly agree that their education was relevant to their work and daily lives are 5.5 times more likely to strongly agree that their education was worth the cost.
“For many students, career advising is an afterthought to their central goal—obtaining a degree—which can put them at a disadvantage when they enter the job market,” said Lloyd cofounder Dan Gusz. “Lloyd helps students be more intentional about their career goals by working directly with a career advisor who can help them think through their career possibilities and next steps while they’re still in school.”
About Lloyd
Lloyd is a software company that empowers working professionals to find more meaning in their careers. Lloyd does this work by providing structure, accountability, and feedback, helping individuals to navigate and develop their careers with one-on-one guidance and support.