Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Job Placement Officer Assistant

🎯 Role Definition

The Job Placement Officer Assistant provides operational and administrative support to the career services or placement office, enabling successful employer engagement and student placement outcomes. Core responsibilities include managing job postings and applicant tracking systems, coordinating on-campus recruitment and job fairs, delivering resume and interview preparation support, liaising with employers to secure internships and placements, collecting placement data and performance metrics, and maintaining strong relationships with students, alumni, faculty and external partners. This role combines hands-on student-facing career coaching tasks with event coordination, database management, and routine employer outreach.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Career Services Intern or Placement Intern
Administrative Assistant / Office Coordinator (student services)
Recruitment Coordinator or HR Assistant

Advancement To:

Job Placement Officer / Placement Coordinator
Career Services Specialist or Career Advisor
Employer Relations Manager / Recruitment Manager

Lateral Moves:

Student Affairs Advisor
Academic Program Coordinator
Alumni Engagement Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Coordinate and maintain the applicant tracking system (ATS) and job posting portal, ensuring accurate job descriptions, timely posting, candidate screening labels, and routine data hygiene to support employer access and student applications.
Proactively build and maintain relationships with employers and industry partners to develop internship, part‑time and full‑time placement opportunities, negotiate job posting terms and follow up to secure recruitment commitments.
Provide individualized resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile reviews for students and recent graduates, delivering actionable, role-specific feedback and formatting for both local and international job markets.
Conduct mock interviews and interview preparation workshops, including competency-based and behavioral interview coaching, feedback sessions, and interviewer briefing materials for participating employers.
Coordinate logistics for campus recruitment activities including on-campus interviews (OCI), employer presentations, career fairs, information sessions and virtual hiring events, managing schedules, room bookings, equipment, and candidate communications.
Screen student applications against employer requirements, manage shortlists, and coordinate candidate communications including interview scheduling, offer letters, and follow-up inquiries to ensure a smooth placement process.
Monitor and report placement outcomes, internship conversion rates, time-to-hire metrics and placement pipelines using Excel, Google Sheets, CRM or institutional reporting tools; prepare weekly/monthly dashboards for the placement team and leadership.
Manage employer and student outreach campaigns via email, social media and the institution’s job board; craft SEO-friendly job descriptions, event listings and promotional copy to increase engagement and quality applicant flow.
Maintain and update a placement database and alumni employment records to track graduate outcomes, employer engagement history, and sectors hiring alumni for longitudinal reporting and compliance.
Support students with job search strategies including targeted networking approaches, sector mapping, salary negotiation basics, and personalized job-search action plans.
Assist in developing and delivering career education programming such as employer panels, sector-specific workshops, internship readiness bootcamps and cohort-based skill-building sessions.
Facilitate the onboarding and coordination of employer assessment activities (assessments, case studies, presentations), ensuring instructions, evaluation rubrics, and scoring are communicated to students and recruiters.
Collect, document and summarize employer feedback and student placement feedback post-hire or post-internship to inform continuous improvement of placement processes and employer relationships.
Administer employer agreements, confidentiality forms, internship placement contracts and MOUs; ensure compliance with institutional policies and local labor regulations, and escalate legal or visa requirements to senior staff.
Support outreach to underserved student groups and international students by providing tailored placement support, resource referrals, and employer introductions where appropriate.
Coordinate transportation, accommodation and stipend logistics for off-campus interviews or employer site visits when required, ensuring student safety and budget adherence.
Prepare recruitment materials, employer directories and targeted employer prospect lists in partnership with the placement officer for strategic employer engagement campaigns.
Track job market trends, employer hiring patterns and sector demand to inform program development, employer targeting and student advising recommendations.
Assist in preparing grant, accreditation or institutional reports by compiling placement statistics, outcomes narratives and employer testimonials needed for funding or compliance.
Research and recommend third-party tools, job boards, and partnerships to expand employer reach and automate repetitive placement workflows while supporting pilot implementations and vendor communications.
Provide day-to-day administrative support including appointment scheduling, intake form management, follow-up reminders, and maintaining a calendar of employer visits and student appointments to optimize team capacity.
Ensure confidentiality and accurate record-keeping for student files, employment agreements and assessment results in accordance with data protection policies and institutional standards.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist senior placement staff with special projects such as developing employer scorecards, diversity hiring initiatives and internship-to-hire conversion studies.
Maintain and publish weekly placement newsletters and employer spotlights to increase visibility of opportunities and celebrate placement successes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Applicant Tracking System (ATS) proficiency — experience using platforms such as Handshake, Symplicity, Greenhouse, or local institutional ATS for posting, tracking and reporting.
Job board management — posting, optimizing and syndicating job listings across multiple portals (LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, industry boards).
Recruitment operations basics — candidate screening, interview scheduling tools (Calendly/Outlook), offer processing and employer liaison.
CRM and database management — maintaining contact records, placement histories and employer engagement logs (Salesforce/Excel/Google Sheets).
Event planning and logistics — coordinating career fairs, virtual hiring events, employer visits and on-campus interviews.
Reporting and data visualization — Excel advanced functions, Google Sheets, and basic dashboarding skills to prepare placement metric reports.
Resume and cover letter evaluation — practical experience with resume formatting, ATS-friendly resumes and role-specific content optimization.
Interview coaching techniques — behavioral/competency interview frameworks, mock interview facilitation, and feedback delivery.
Basic employment law and compliance awareness — familiarity with internship regulations, confidentiality agreements and visa/authorization basics for international hires.
Social media and marketing basics — writing SEO-friendly job descriptions, event promotions and employer outreach copy via LinkedIn, Instagram and email campaigns.
Microsoft Office / Google Workspace — day-to-day document, spreadsheet and presentation creation.
Familiarity with student information systems (SIS) and alumni databases for tracking outcomes and employment history.

Soft Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication tailored to students, employers and faculty.
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build rapport quickly and manage stakeholder relationships.
High organization and attention to detail to manage multiple recruitment events and vacancy pipelines simultaneously.
Empathy and student-centered advising approach, especially when supporting underrepresented or first-generation students.
Problem-solving mindset with an ability to triage issues during high-pressure events (e.g., job fairs, last-minute employer cancellations).
Time management and prioritization skills to balance administrative duties and student-facing activities.
Professionalism and discretion handling student records and sensitive employer information.
Adaptability and resilience in a fast-changing job market and shifting employer needs.
Team collaboration and cross-functional coordination with academic departments and external partners.
Networking and negotiation skills to persuade employers to engage with the institution and to advocate for student opportunities.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Associate degree or diploma in Human Resources, Education, Business Administration, Social Sciences, or related field (or equivalent work experience).

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Career Development, Counseling, Education, Business, or a related discipline.
Certificates in Career Services, Higher Education Administration, or Recruitment/Human Resources are advantageous.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources, Career Development, Education
Counseling, Psychology, Business Administration
Communications, Public Relations, Social Work

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

0–3 years for entry-level assistant roles; 1–4 years for those with more autonomous responsibilities.

Preferred:

1–3 years of practical experience in career services, campus recruitment, employer relations, student advising, or recruitment coordination. Experience with ATS/CRM tools, event coordination, and student-facing coaching preferred.