NBC Boston: How Suffolk Prepares Students for the Job Market

As graduating students prepare to enter the job market, Suffolk University is setting students up for success with interview tips, labor-market insight tools, training with AI-based applicant software, and help with what to look for in an employer beyond a paycheck.

NBC Boston’s Leslie Gaydos featured Suffolk’s Center for Career Equity, Development & Success in a recent news segment about job prospects for graduating students, highlighting a survey from staffing agency Robert Half showing 65% of companies intend to hire entry-level workers this year.

Dave Merry, associate provost and executive director of the Center for Career Equity, Development & Success, told NBC Boston that many people apply to jobs without having done their homework. His advice for students: Research the employer first, including understanding that organization’s corporate culture, commitment to workplace equity, and growth trajectories for employees.

“You’d be surprised how many people apply to a company and to a job without really knowing the job description or the company’s mission or culture at all,” Merry told NBC Boston.

Merry’s additional advice to students: Polish your résumé, cover letter, interview skills, and LinkedIn profile.

“[LinkedIn is] a place where you can be active in the community before you have a job,” Merry said. “There, you can post insights, make connections, and really paint a picture of yourself that’s authentically you. It’s much bigger than the static résumé that you have.”

Merry noted that many organizations are now using AI-infused applicant-tracking software that reads through hundreds of résumés and spits out the ten that are going to get interviews. Suffolk, he said, is using that same kind of software to provide students with feedback during practice interviews, including their speaking speed, eye contact, the content of their answers, and more.

Suffolk students Prajakta Khare, Jake Sherman, and Cristina Castillo were also featured in the NBC Boston piece. They said they are looking for more than just a paycheck.

“I need to be really passionate about whatever it is I’m doing,” Khare said.

“I have to look into their actions through DEI and their corporate social responsibility,” added Castillo.

“For me, it’s really good to have an equitable and diverse workplace,” said Sherman, whose internship at East Boston Neighborhood Health has translated into a full-time job for the summer.

Learn more about the work being done to prepare students for the job market in the NBC Boston broadcast segment.