Building UCSB’s industry-leading resource center

WEB CONTENT

Problem:

As the UCSB student body was growing, the career center struggled to meet the increasing demands in a timely and personalized manner for students and classes seeking career advice

How I addressed it:

As the department invested in building a new website to scale most of its services, I:

  • Helped strategize the online resource center to address common student questions without requiring an appointment with a career counselor 

  • Oversaw & drove development of 500+ pages of material, including industry-leading content that I tailored to specific communities and career paths

  • Lead an accessibility initiative to ensure all students had equitable access to the resources

Interviewing students & experts to produce quality resources

By consulting industry experts on campus and interviewing students, I gathered research to compile and publish tailored resources for career paths including: Public Health, Marketing, and Education & Human Services

Curating resources for underserved communities

I prioritized developing and optimizing resources addressed to the unique experiences that various campus communities faced in their career development, including: LGBTQ Students, Students with Disabilities, Transfer Students, and Women 

Adapting to COVID-19

When the university abruptly virtualized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Project Manager and I: 

  • Launched the website 6 months early and adapted resources based on changing demands of student body

  • Spearheaded and tailored resources to help students address the unique challenges of the pandemic

Helped to virtualize student services including appointments with career counselors and resume reviews

The impact:

This resource center established opportunities for students to self-serve when it was unsafe to utilize in-person resources and continues to address the needs of a growing, diverse student body

Recognition from industry leaders

for distinguished content and design immediately following launch

Accessibility for 26,000 students

within 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic

From the Project Manager:

“Caylee has a special gift that distinguishes her from her peers. She is a brilliant writer, able to fuse words together symbiotically in any format, voice, or point of view. She is a dexterous editor, offering a sharp eye for detail that consistently raises the level of communication presented by an organization. She is an inquisitive researcher, always seeking new knowledge and best practices to improve her work. In addition to these qualities, she is dependable, communicative, punctual, and reliably follows up to see her commitments through.

I first met Caylee when she began her position as a Career Peer Advisor at UCSB Career Services in September 2019. Caylee quickly learned the core responsibilities of her position and expressed an interest in continuing to grow, where she was connected with me to support a project I led to overhaul our department website. With minimal training at the onset, Caylee stepped into this project seamlessly, adding significant value by editing hundreds of pages of text for a common voice in AP style, written by a team of Career Counselors. Throughout the next 10 months, Caylee continued to deliver in every way she was called upon, with increasing responsibilities ranging from technical editing, to drafting new pages, to entering content into [Drupal], to optimizing content through Alt Text and hyperlink checks, to conceptualizing ideas for new content. Her contributions yielded an industry-leading web platform for university Career Services units, which has gained increasing recognition over time.

While Caylee has succeeded in every way I have observed her, what truly sets her apart is the immeasurable potential she offers organizations in her future. She is wise beyond her years, and more professionally mature than most people with whom I have worked. Whether she is given clear instructions or ambiguous guidelines, Caylee seeks out new challenges to move herself and her organization forward. She strives to produce her best quality of work in all situations, which empowers her ability to perform no matter the circumstances. Most importantly, Caylee recognizes that we are here to support one another, and she embodies this in each of her actions inside and outside of work.”