Making Sense of Career Data: A Sit-Down with Dr. Maureen Guarcello
- American Association for Employer Relations + (A+)
- Nov 4
- 8 min read
Data can feel intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Behind every chart, survey, and placement rate is a story about people, opportunity, and impact. In career services and employer relations, data is not just a report-writing exercise. It is how we prove that the work we do actually changes lives; we change lives every day. It is how we show stakeholders that their partnerships matter and demonstrate to job seekers that the work we do is impactful. Data and outcomes help both career centers and employers in determining whether the work we do works. It is how we hold ourselves accountable to the people we serve.
A+ | American Association for Employer Relations + took the opportunity to have a 1:1 Q&A with Dr. Maureen Guarcello, to help understand her approach and why career centers and employers need a new approach to career outcomes.
Dr. Maureen Guarcello created Career Outcomes: Data Camp, a three-part series designed for anyone who has ever felt unsure, anxious, or curious about data and career outcomes. Maureen has spent more than fifteen years helping institutions measure impact in a way that feels human, accessible, and meaningful. Her goal is simple: remove the fear, build confidence, and help professionals use data as a tool for clarity rather than a source of pressure.
Whether you work in employer relations, career education, institutional research, or simply want to better understand the “why” behind your programs, this conversation will give you a preview of what Data Camp offers. It will also remind you that you do not need to be a statistician to make sense of career outcomes. You just need the right guidance, the right questions, and a learning space that welcomes curiosity over perfection.
Grab a coffee, settle in, and enjoy this Q and A with Dr. Guarcello. Then get ready to level up your data fluency in a way that feels friendly, practical, and even fun.
A+: Maureen, tell us about yourself and your background with data and outcomes tracking.
Maureen: For the past 15 years, I have worked with data in academic and non-academic settings. One of my areas of expertise is measuring outcomes and impact. Impact does not mean counting things, though that is a part of it. Impact is when the things we set out to do with an event or resource are accomplished. In other words, would the people who attended your career fair agree that they walked away with the skills, tools, or networks you intended for them to acquire? Measuring outcomes also means you must set outcomes at the beginning!
A+ (commentary): We get it, you specialize in helping people measure whether the work they're doing is working, or whether goals are being met. That's important.
A+: What motivated you to design this 3-part “Career Outcomes: Data Camp” series, and what gap or challenge in career outcomes measurement are you most eager to help attendees overcome?
Maureen: Data Camp is a theme and training ethos I created to lighten the mood when it comes to working with data and assessment. People tend to get nervous when they are asked to measure impact or write reports. Imposter syndrome creeps in, and I find that there is a feeling as though there will be a pop quiz around the corner. Data Camp provides a scaffolded approach to understanding the principles of measurement and analyzing impact. Camping is fun; it can be a little messy, and there is definitely a learning curve in order to feel comfortable in your surroundings. Data Camp is the same way, with less dirt.
A+ (commentary): Interesting... So, just to clarify, Data Camp isn’t a “how to run your First Destination Survey (FDS)” or a standard career outcomes collection, and it’s not about walking people through the current models or standard processes for FDS collection. Instead, you’re zooming out and focusing on the core principles behind meaningful data work: how to design a survey or measurement tool with purpose, how to collect information in a way that actually reflects impact, and how to interpret the story the data is telling. FDS can be part of that picture, but it’s not the focus. In fact, you’re introducing a fresh way to think about FDS and data collection overall, moving people away from box-checking and toward intentional outcomes-based design.
A+: In Session One, you cover “Sample Size, Margin of Error, and Confidence Intervals.” For someone new to this area, what’s one insight or “aha” moment you hope they’ll walk away with?
Maureen: These terms sound scarier than they are. The key is to recognize them when you see them and when you don’t! Data fluency is something everyone should possess. When you read a report, it is important to know what questions to be thinking about. If you are reading about a program with a 100% placement rate, what does that mean? How many people does that include? How was the information gathered? How do we know the placements were tied to the program outcomes? These are all questions that should be conveyed through the reporting, data visualizations (graphs, charts, labels, etc.), and footnotes. Data Camp will help you know what to look for and how to provide this evidence in your own work.
A+ (commentary): We love that Data Camp helps us understand our own story and how to communicate it. We also heard that you will demystify the rule that career centers need to collect a 65% response rate. That's interesting. A lot of folks in career services, especially at universities, tend to avoid the word “placement.” It’s almost become a trigger word. But really, “placement” is just a shorthand way of saying “employment outcomes.” Career centers don’t place anyone in a job; employers do. The term just helps stakeholders quickly grasp what we’re talking about: whether candidates are actually getting hired. Instead of cringing at the word, maybe we reclaim it. Placement isn’t a negative or outdated concept. It’s a measurable sign of success. If we want to demonstrate impact, we need to get comfortable naming what that impact actually is: people getting jobs.
A+: Disproportionate impact and equity gaps are central to Session Two. Can you share an example where analyzing disproportionate impact revealed an actionable equity insight?
Maureen: Think of disproportionate impact like this: two people are running the same one-mile race. They start at the same line, finish at the same line, and seem equally capable. But even though they’re both giving full effort, one of them can only run at about 80% of the other person’s speed, no matter how hard they try.
Now scale that up. Imagine 100 people running that same race, and the same group keeps falling behind every time, even though they’re working just as hard. Something unseen is holding them back, and unless we look deeper into the data, we won’t know what that is.
There are often unmeasured variables in the data. While everything appears equal on the surface, if the underperforming group doesn’t eat before the race, they won’t make it over the finish line before their opponents. This is not something we knew about the runners at the outset, and part of the reason why measuring disproportionate impact is important. It helps seek out sneaky variables that may be putting people at a chronic disadvantage.
A+ (commentary): That analogy really brings it to life, and your reasoning is compelling. This approach may feel completely new to most career centers because it gives us a real, structured way to understand equity and decide where resources should go, not based on guesswork, but on an actual formula, helping career centers make truly data-informed decisions. That’s exciting.
A+: Regarding survey design (Session Three): What are the most common and most avoidable mistakes practitioners make when crafting surveys, and how will your session help them sidestep those?
Often, the first solution to a problem is, “let’s put out a survey.” While surveys can provide valuable information, they are also overutilized and ask questions we already know how to answer. We will get into more detail during the session, but I will share tips on how to design an intentional and economical (few questions, data-rich) survey. I will also share how using passive data, micro-assessments, and tracking engagement may take the place of some surveys.
A+ (commentary): A survey with as few questions as possible, and practical? Sounds good to us; let's do it!
A+: You teach “Macro, Meso, Micro” data analysis frameworks. Could you briefly describe what those levels refer to in the context of career outcomes, and why it’s powerful to think across all three?
Maureen: Alignment is key when planning programs and measuring outcomes. Institutional change is no single person’s responsibility, but it is also everyone’s responsibility. Let's take a college campus, for example. If a strategic goal (macro level) of the institution is for 90% of graduates to enter into full-time employment upon graduation, it is incumbent upon career services to break that goal down into smaller pieces. What does this look like, and how does it map to the larger outcome? This may include meso-level goals to grow employer relationships, increase career fair offerings, and strengthen internship to employment pathways.
Measuring the effectiveness of these efforts hinges upon capturing student data, from advising to resume completion, to tracking student journeys from their first career services engagement to their last. The micro-level tracking sounds tedious, but it is the absolute most important component in the evaluation process. Measuring macro outcomes without micro-level assessment would be like trying to build a house from a photo rather than a blueprint.
A+ (commentary): Measuring outcomes across three levels is probably going to feel brand new for most career centers, and that’s the point — it pushes us beyond the usual way of thinking. Through your framework, A+ is helping career centers evaluate impact at every layer:
Macro: Institutional outcomes, the big picture, everyone is responsible for achieving
Meso: Career center outcomes, what the department is directly accountable for achieving
Micro: Program and individual outcomes, which services, staff, and initiatives are actually driving results
It creates a full story of impact, from campus-wide goals all the way down to what’s working on the ground.
A+: For someone on the fence about registering, what transformation or change in practice do you hope they’ll be able to make by the end of the series? In other words, what specific “return on investment” can participants expect?
Maureen: If you are open to learning more about measurement and have had “learn how to work with data” on your list of things to do, this is the time. My teaching style is participatory and friendly, and we use our time wisely. Participants will walk away with a practical set of skills, a working data fluency, and will not look at survey or program design the same way again. Data Camp is designed to be fun and empowering, not scary or overwhelming.
Thank you, Maureen! Career centers and employers are being called to show real impact in ways that go beyond good intentions and great programming. The future of our field belongs to the professionals who can prove outcomes, not just describe them. As Maureen reminds us, data is not a barrier; it is a bridge. A bridge to stronger employer partnerships, smarter resourcing, more equitable practices, and a clearer story of success.
Data Camp was built for the people doing this work every day, especially those who never saw themselves as “data people.” If you want to replace anxiety with clarity, guesswork with intention, and metrics with meaning, this is your chance. You’ll walk away with practical tools, a new mindset, and the confidence to lead conversations about outcomes instead of avoiding them.
If this conversation sparked even a little curiosity, follow it. Join Data Camp. Learn the language of outcomes in a communal space where questions are welcome, you're supported by peers, and impact is the goal.
Your data story already exists. Data Camp will help you learn how to tell it.
Listen to the Deep Dive Podcast about this interview.
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