LinkedIn is a mainstay of employment recruiting, and our students need to make a strong showing there. The profile photo is a large part of their first impression.
Many prestigious business schools and private institutions provide professional photography services for their students to add professional headshots to their online profiles. These services are costly, slow to turn around photos, offered a few days of the year, and as mentioned, not widely available to broader ranges of students – especially those from lower economic statuses.
"UCI Career Pathways provided me with so many opportunities to leverage myself and start my career after college! I have attended multiple job fairs on campus throughout the year and have not only been able to gain experience talking with professionals, but also land my first ever internship with Deloitte! If it wasn’t for the UCI Career Pathways and the variety of resources they provide to its students, I would not be in the position that I am currently in. I feel more prepared than ever and confident to be able to place myself in the real world and work in my desired career field."
– Maika Marin, Class of 2022
Simple Booth entered the professional photo vendor space to provide a solution, and they have been adapted by career centers across the country. Your Giving Day gift to Division of Career Pathways will allow us to procure one of these head-shot booths, opening access to professional headshots for more than 2000 student users each year as well as use by all of student club affiliate members.
From, “Putting Head Shots to Work” (inside Higher Education, February 10, 2023)
• More institutions are installing professional head-shot booths in their career centers to assist students on the jo or internship hunt.
• In less than one month of launching, Vanderbilt University had nearly 500 photo booth sessions.
• Miami University in Ohio had 1,500 students use the center’s walk-in headshot booth between July and December 2022.
• Some faculty members require that students visit the head-shot booth and establish LinkedIn accounts as coursework.
“Having a professional head shot may be more important than ever given that more interviews, and jobs, occur remotely. Every company wants to hire professionals who will represent their organizations properly, and this booth removes one of those barriers so more of our students will have professional head shots than ever before.” – Jennifer Benz, Miami University in Ohio
| Rank | State | Gifts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CA | 3 |
| 2 | AA | 0 |
| 2 | AE | 0 |
