Employer Relations Confidential | Edition 002

Guest: Christine Routzahn, Director of the Career Center at University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Career centers are under more pressure than ever to prove ROI, compete for employer attention, and prepare students for a job market that keeps shifting beneath them. Employer Relations Confidential is a recurring series that goes straight to the source: the practitioners doing the work. Each edition features an unfiltered conversation with an Employer Relations leader about what's actually working, what keeps them up at night, and where the field is heading. No fluff. Just real answers from real professionals.

In this edition, we interviewed the Director of University of Maryland Baltimore County's Career Center, Christine Routzahn. Here's what she had to share...

What metrics do you use to determine whether your employer engagement efforts are successful, and why did you choose those measures?

The metric that matters most to me is whether or not employers come back.

Career fair attendance is nice. Satisfaction scores are helpful. But if employers don't return, we haven't really accomplished what we set out to do. When an employer comes back year after year, starts posting more opportunities, recruits additional teams, sponsors a student organization, connects with faculty, or engages alumni, that's when I know we've created real value. We've moved beyond a transaction and built a partnership.

Of course, we track hiring outcomes, internships, employer participation, and satisfaction. Those metrics matter. But the strongest indicator of success is when employers continue to choose UMBC because they've had a positive experience and found the talent they need.

Employers have countless options for where they invest their recruiting time and resources. When they continue to invest in UMBC and our students continue securing meaningful opportunities as a result, that's the metric that matters most.

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How has your employer relations strategy evolved over the past three years, and what factors drove those changes?

Three years ago, like many career centers, we spent a lot of our energy on events. Career fairs and recruiting programs are still important, but I've seen employers become much more interested in building ongoing connections with students rather than relying on a few recruiting touchpoints each year.

As a result, we've focused more on helping employers establish a year-round presence at UMBC. That might mean participating in our partner program, sponsoring a student organization, engaging alumni, connecting with faculty, creating internship opportunities, or even hosting a welcome event where students they've hired can meet one another and connect with UMBC alumni at their organization before their start date.

The labor market has changed, students are engaging differently, and AI is reshaping how people explore careers and recruit talent. One thing that hasn't changed, though, is the value of relationships. We've found that employers who engage with students in multiple ways throughout the year build stronger connections, and ultimately stronger talent pipelines.

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What role do job development and regional partnerships play in your employer engagement strategy, and how have these collaborations helped improve employment outcomes?

They're critical. I've learned over the years that career centers can't do this work alone. 

Many of our strongest employer partnerships and student opportunities have come through relationships with the Governor's Office, the Maryland Department of Commerce, the Maryland Department of Labor, TEDCO, Baltimore Collegetown Network, the Greater Baltimore Committee, BioBuzz, and many others. Working together helps us stay connected to workforce needs, identify emerging opportunities, and better connect employers with talent. 

One example is the Maryland Technology Internship Program (MTIP), which UMBC is honored to administer on behalf of the State of Maryland. MTIP provides financial support to small businesses, startups, nonprofits, and state and local agencies, enabling them to hire more interns. It's a great example of how partnerships can expand opportunities for students while helping organizations develop future talent. 

For me, the value of these partnerships is simple: They help us create opportunities for students and employers that none of us could create on our own. 

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What advice would you offer to colleagues who work with employers?

Listen more than you talk.

Honestly, that's advice I give myself and our team all the time. Career centers can get so focused on promoting programs and services that we forget to ask employers what they actually need. Some of our best ideas and strongest partnerships have come from simply listening

to employers and learning about the challenges they're trying to solve. 

The workplace is changing quickly right now. Employers are thinking about skills-based hiring, AI, workforce development, and talent retention in ways they weren't even a few years ago. If we're not regularly asking questions and listening to what they're experiencing, it's easy to fall behind. 

And always follow through. I've found that responsiveness and reliability matter more than any sales pitch. Employers remember when you do what you say you're going to do. 

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What is the most innovative employer relations initiative, service, or strategy your organization has implemented?

At UMBC, we are excited about expanding work-integrated learning and creating more ways for employers to engage with students beyond traditional recruiting. 

We're participating in the National Work-Integrated Learning Accelerator, one of eight institutions selected nationally to explore new ways to scale career-connected learning opportunities. Through the initiative, we're partnering with The Forage to pilot virtual job simulations and other experiences that help students connect academic learning to workplace skills while giving employers new ways to engage talent. 

We're also expanding opportunities for employers to connect with students through case projects, service-learning, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities. In addition, programs like MTIP help employers engage talent while providing students with valuable hands-on experience. This year alone, MTIP supported nearly 400 student internships across Maryland. 

What excites me most is that these efforts create multiple pathways for employers to engage with students while helping students gain relevant experience and explore career paths throughout their college journey. 

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What are the biggest challenges career centers face when it comes to job development and employer relations?

Attention is probably the biggest challenge. 

Students have countless demands on their time. Employers have more recruiting options than ever. Career centers are competing for attention from both groups. 

The other challenge is navigating how quickly hiring and workforce needs are evolving.

What I hear from employers right now and what I've heard echoed in conversations across our profession is that everyone is trying to figure out what skills matter most, how AI is changing work, whether credentials and microcredentials add value, and how to assess talent fairly in a skills-based hiring environment. We're actually bringing employers together for discussions on some of these topics because I don't think any of us have all the answers yet. The most effective career centers will be the ones that stay connected to employers, listen carefully, and adapt as workforce needs continue to change. 

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How do you identify and engage new employers?

A lot of new engagement comes from listening and paying attention to the data. 

We look closely at where our students intern, where they're hired after graduation, where our alumni are succeeding, and which employers and industries align with our academic programs. We want to continue building relationships with employers who already see value in UMBC talent while also identifying organizations that may not yet know us.

Many of our strongest connections come through referrals from employer partners, alumni, faculty, and students. Our regional workforce and economic development partners also play an important role by helping us stay connected to emerging industries, growing employers, and workforce needs across the region. 

We engage employers in a variety of ways- through advisory boards, On the Road employer visits, career fairs and recruiting events, internships, and programs such as MTIP. We also look for opportunities to highlight and celebrate our employer partners through stories, LinkedIn, and other forms of recognition. 

When approaching a new employer, we focus less on selling services and more on understanding their talent needs and how UMBC can help. The strongest partnerships are built when both the employer and the university see value in the relationship. 

If an employer had to choose your organization over every other career center or workforce partner in your region, what would you want them to say is your greatest differentiator?

I would hope they'd say that UMBC is a true partner.

One of UMBC's greatest strengths is that collaboration is part of our culture. When an employer wants to engage with our students, they're not just working with the Career Center. They have access to a network of colleagues across the university from alumni engagement and corporate relations to faculty, student organizations, and academic departments, all working toward the same goal of creating meaningful opportunities for students and meeting employer needs.

I'm also incredibly proud of our team. They care deeply about students, build strong relationships with employers, and consistently go above and beyond to connect people and opportunities.

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Looking ahead five years, what do you believe will distinguish the most successful employer relations and business services teams from the rest?

Having worked in this field for more than two decades, I've learned that our profession has always evolved alongside the workforce. 

Over the next five years, I believe the most successful employer relations teams will be those that remain deeply connected to employers while helping students navigate a rapidly changing world of work. The challenges employers and students face today don't fit neatly within traditional boundaries. Career services, employer relations, workforce development, experiential learning, alumni engagement, and academic affairs are increasingly interconnected. The organizations that can bring those stakeholders together to create meaningful opportunities and address workforce needs will be best positioned to make an impact. 

What continues to inspire me is the purpose of this work. Every day, employer relations and career services professionals help people discover opportunities, help organizations build talent, and strengthen communities. I've seen firsthand how a single internship, mentor, or first job can change the trajectory of a student's life. While the tools, technologies, and hiring practices will continue to evolve, that impact remains constant and perhaps more important than ever.