University of Pennsylvania Career Services

J. Michael DeAngelis brings 22 years of experience working in higher education, witnessing firsthand how student communication has evolved with technology. His work focuses on understanding where students spend time, how they use technology and how institutions can communicate in ways that remain relevant, useful and human.

Pairing Digital Tools with Human Connection

Digital tools are no longer optional in higher education. Students expect to be served through technology, and digital channels have become central to how people communicate. But those tools should work hand-in-hand with the in-person experience rather than replace it.

In career advising, students can use digital resources to improve resumes, search for jobs and practice for interviews. Asynchronous preparation allows advisors to spend meeting time discussing their career needs, challenges they face and resources that can move a student's search forward.

Human connection becomes important when students move from finding opportunities to securing them. LinkedIn, Handshake, Indeed and similar platforms give everyone access to job postings, creating crowded applicant pools. Digital tools open the door, but conversations, relationships and human networks help students stand out, get interviews and build the human capital employers ultimately value.

Staying Visible in a Crowded Digital Space

Student communication has become harder to manage as academic departments, student services and other university groups send messages to the same students. Email remains important, but information can disappear quickly among competing messages, making repeated communication across multiple channels necessary.

I have watched that change throughout my career. Facebook was just emerging when I started in career services, and social media initially seemed separate from school life. As students moved from Facebook to Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, video and podcasts, institutions had to follow them.

Today, communication means creating useful content wherever students are already spending their time, while staying alert to how quickly those platforms and audience habits change.

Being present also means competing with the advice students receive from other sources. Institutions need to put credible information in front of students consistently, create engaging content and establish themselves as trusted authorities. A short video or social post may not prompt immediate action, but repeated exposure can help students remember a service when they eventually need it.

Adapting to AI and Emerging Technology

Students are already turning to AI, and higher education should understand those practices and provide tools that help students apply technology effectively.

For example, in career services, ChatGPT can produce an acceptable resume, but a tool built around verified career resources can provide more targeted support. When students prepare beforehand, appointments can move beyond bullet points and formatting, toward deeper conversations about their career goals and decisions.

Guiding Young Professionals through Communication Change

I have learned not to guess what students want. Student involvement provides a reliable way to understand what information feels relevant, accessible and worth engaging with.

Two students help me create content, bring their friends into the process and sometimes even their professors. Their participation creates an implied peer-to-peer learning model that is more interactive than handing students a handbook or resume guide.

For young professionals entering higher education communications, change creates both challenges and opportunities. Traditional institutions may favor tried-and-true approaches, but disruption creates room to learn from successful examples, examine student engagement and test new ways of communicating.

Understanding how students receive information and what engages them can help the next generation develop more effective communication in higher education.