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Introduction

Briana Randall, Ph.D. / Executive Director

Career & Internship Center / UW-Seattle

Worked in C&IC for 21 years, the last 7 as Director.

brianakr@uw.edu

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Coming soon to your inbox

Slides
Webinar recording
List of helpful websites

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Agenda

Labor market
Employer Preferences - Changes
Employer Preferences - Interesting Developments
Employer Behaviors
Employer Preferences - Constants
Resources

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Labor Market … for College Students … in Seattle

It’s not pretty.

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Real talk

Students truly have a lot of factors working against them securing internships and jobs right now, particularly in Seattle.

Some industries have lost funding and stability
Many employers don’t want to hire during a time of uncertainty
Laid off experienced workers are applying for entry level positions
People are “job hugging” - not voluntarily leaving them
AI may or may not be replacing interns and entry level workers
The struggle is real.
Disappointment. Frustration. Anxiety. Despair. We’re seeing all of it.

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The numbers

There are 65,000 postings in Handshake

Only 2,000 of them are in WA
Many of them are not particularly interesting to our students

As of August 2025, job postings on Handshake had declined more than 16% year over year.

Three-quarters of employers are holding steady or reducing entry-level roles in 2025 - the tightest market in 5 years. (Cengage)

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NACE Job Outlook 2026

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But, I DO want to reiterate…

There ARE

65,000 positions

in Handshake.

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Employer Preferences - Changes

They’ve gotten pickier.

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University matters

Survey research of 150 companies by Veris Insights showed that in:

2022 - 17% of companies recruited exclusively from a shortlist of schools
2025 - 26% of companies did so

This is a bright spot for us, since UW is a large well-known school.

But, we are not a target school for industries that don’t have a strong presence in Seattle.

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NACE Job Outlook 2026

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NACE Job Outlook 2026

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Employer Preferences - Interesting Developments

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Hiring Manager vs Gen Z Priorities

What Hiring Managers Want:

Achievement (30%): professional success
Scope (23%): learning and action
Workcentrism (22%): comfort w/ hard work

Together, these account for 75% of hiring managers’ top priorities.

Suzy Welch & Daniel B Davis, Becoming You Labs, September 2025

Gen Z Most Often Prioritizes:

Eudemonia: well-being and self-care
Non-sibi: helping others
Voice: authenticity and expression

Only 2% of Gen Z rank all 3 hiring manager preferred values in their top 5.

Only 58% have 1 in their top 5.

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Recruiting is getting earlier and earlier

Credit:

Cornell Career Services

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NACE Job Outlook 2026

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Mention of

AI in job descriptions rose 5x

between 2023 and 2025

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Employer Behaviors

Troubling, but understandable

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Understanding this unfortunate cycle we’re in

Student part of the negative cycle

Hiring platforms have made it super easy to “apply” with a simple click
Job seekers can use AI to quickly create application materials
Students are anxious about the job search
SO…students submit hundreds of applications

�Employer part of the negative cycle

As of August 2025, in Handshake, applications per job had risen by 26%!
Recruiting teams are often part of early stage layoffs
There is so much turmoil within organizations and the labor market
This results in…

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The next part of the cycle…

Employers close positions early because they get so many applications in the first hour
Hiring processes get lost, forgotten, frozen, etc.
Employers ghost candidates at all stages of the hiring process

Then students get anxious, submit even more applications, which floods the system even more, and on and on it goes….

Also, employers who’ve managed to push through a hire require quick decision turnaround from students - 48 hours to 2 weeks.

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Employer use of AI

According to a recent World Economic Forum report, 90% of employers use some form of automated or algorithmic system to prioritize, rank, or deselect candidates.

Honestly, if they don’t use AI, I don’t think they have a chance of keeping up

“The most effective model looks less like full automation and more like the real estate market. Platforms (e.g., Zillow and Idealista) shortlist options, but trusted professionals guide the final decision. Data does the heavy lifting, but humans remain accountable for judgment, context, and trust.”

hbr.org/2026/01/ai-has-made-hiring-worse-but-it-can-still-help

“Thanks to AI, hiring has become a noisy, crowded arms race of automation, often more inhumane for both job seekers and hiring managers.

Advances in recruitment technologies have historically centered around new talent tools deployed by employers and recruiters.

Today, innovations around AI hiring technologies are causing even bigger changes to how job seekers approach the process, with most candidates deploying AI to optimize their search and perfect their applications, including their interview tactics. With generative AI, applicants can produce immaculate CVs, perfectly crafted cover letters, and highly polished interview responses. They can complete assessments with algorithmic coaching and apply to hundreds of roles in a single afternoon.

The result is an ecosystem where both sides are inundated, sometimes fooled, occasionally impressed, and mostly exhausted, with a rising crisis of trust.”

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, AI Has Made Hiring Worse - But It Can Still Help, Harvard Business Review, January 26, 2026

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Employer Preferences - Constants

Experience & skills reign supreme.

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NACE Job Outlook 2026

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NACE Job Outlook 2026

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NACE Job Outlook 2026

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How To Improve Your Chances of Landing a Job

Slide deck of our best tips from across our many workshops and resources. The slides cover the following topics:

Mindset
Materials
Connections
Application Strategies
Interviews
Stay Active

careers.uw.edu/resources/how-to-improve-your-chances-of-landing-a-job

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From Plan A To Plan Next: How to Pivot Your Career Plans

Slide deck that acknowledges the struggle and encourages students to adjust their mindset, even just a little bit, to open themselves up to a wider range of possibilities.

Mindsets
Advice
Resources

careers.uw.edu/resources/from-plan-a-to-plan-next-how-to-pivot-your-career-plans

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Beyond Internships

Page that helps students understand they can build career readiness competencies in many ways beyond internships:

On-campus and off-campus employment
Leadership roles
Student research
Civic engagement / volunteering
Hackathons / case competitions
Micro-internships / self-paced learning

careers.uw.edu/resources/beyond-internships

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Build Career Readiness Competencies

Employers who hire new college graduates have identified a few core skills that are critical to students’ success in the job search and in the workplace.

Competency descriptions and behaviors
Competency worksheet, self-assessment tool, and inventory
LinkedIn Learning (video learning platform)
Forage (job simulations)

careers.uw.edu/channels/build-career-readiness-competencies

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