I met an advisor who said, “Our students don’t need a deeper conversation. They just need a résumé.”

That hurt to hear. I can only imagine the number of résumés created that move students towards something they don’t actually understand or care about.

We know there’s an overabundance of mediocre career activities happening constantly: 
-Generic LinkedIn profiles, tailored to no one and nothing. 
-Career objectives tied to a job title, without understanding of the problem it solves. 
-Interview prep, focused entirely on the candidate, not on the company.

Sometimes, when we talk about deeper conversations, you hear great reasons why they can’t happen: 
“We only have 20 minutes.”
“It’s not the right time for a deeper conversation.”
“They just need to get this done.”
“Our students didn’t ask for this.”

Time, energy, and readiness are real constraints. I completely get it. But here’s the risk:

Career activities without depth don’t get results.
 
They don’t help students get to know themselves, the world of work, and how they can contribute. They don’t help them stand out. They don’t help them understand what they are doing and why.

Again, career activities without depth don’t get results. And results are why the students come to career services in the first place.

The real opportunity for career services is to create invitations for deeper conversations.

The easiest way to do this? Try a “pattern interrupt.” 
1. Listen. 
2. Acknowledge the “surface” level question, task or concern. 
3. Try a “pattern interrupt”: an invitation to see the value of looking “below the surface.”

It could sound like this:

“You already know exactly what you want. Great. Can you explain the job by telling me what problems you will be solving? This language will help us write an excellent resume and cover letter."

“You need an internship. Got it. What would make an internship genuinely useful for you, beyond just having one?”

“Absolutely, we can work on your résumé. What do you want this résumé to help you move toward?”

“Sure, let’s look at your LinkedIn. Before we change it, what do you want someone to understand about you when they land on your profile?”

A good pattern interrupt takes less than a minute, but it can turn a transactional task into something deeper and more useful: a moment of clarity, more ownership, or a new way of thinking.

Of course, you won’t get a deep conversation every single time. That’s okay. Our goal is not to turn every 15-minute appointment into a life-changing coaching session.

The goal is simply to create the pause, ask the question, and see what becomes possible. Even if the student isn't ready yet, or doesn’t end up taking the invitation.

Without that pause, we can become incredibly efficient at helping students complete tasks while missing the deeper work that they actually need.

Reshare this post if you believe we have a responsibility to invite students to look below the surface.