Here are some of the best questions for a college graduate student survey about career services, along with tips for building surveys that actually reveal what students need. With Specific, you can generate a powerful, conversational survey like this in seconds—just by telling the AI your intent.
The best open-ended questions for college graduate student survey about career services
Open-ended questions let students share their honest experiences and ideas—perfect when we want to understand the “why” behind their opinions, not just yes/no answers. Here are the ten most effective questions to surface actionable insights on how college grads feel about career services:
What was your overall experience with the career services offered by your institution?
How did career services help you prepare for your current job or career path?
What was the most valuable aspect of the career center for you, and why?
Were there any services or resources you needed but couldn’t find at your career center?
How has your perception of your institution’s career services changed since graduation?
Can you share a story where career services significantly impacted your job search or professional development?
What could the career center have done differently to better support your transition after graduation?
Which skills or resources provided by the career center proved most useful in your job hunt?
If you didn’t use the career services, what factors contributed to that decision?
What advice would you offer the career center to improve the support for future students?
These open-ended questions reveal both the strengths and gaps in current offerings. Given that approximately 33% of college students have no experience with their institution’s career center, it’s crucial to dig deeper and understand both participation barriers and success stories. [1]
The best single-select multiple-choice questions for college graduate student survey about career services
We use single-select multiple-choice questions when we need to quantify answers or break the ice. Sometimes it’s easier for a respondent to pick a quick answer than compose a thoughtful paragraph—especially when starting out. These questions also make it painless to spot trends, and you can trigger deeper follow-ups as needed:
Question: Which career services did you use during your time at the institution?
Resume/CV development
Mock interviews
Career fairs or recruitment events
Job/internship search assistance
Career exploration or choosing a major
Other
Question: How satisfied were you with the support from career services?
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Neutral
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: What best describes your reason for not using career services?
Unaware of available services
No time to participate
Did not find them useful
Already had a job/internship
Other
When to followup with "why?" If a respondent picks a choice like “Somewhat dissatisfied,” always ask why. Their reasoning often points to actionable problems or unmet needs (for example, unclear expectations or lack of relevant employers at job fairs) that quantitative data alone can’t uncover.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? The "Other" option invites unexpected responses—which can be gold. After a respondent chooses "Other," a follow-up lets them explain their unique perspective, uncovering needs you hadn’t anticipated.
Nearly 29% of students in one study were unaware of career services and hadn’t sought help at all. [7] Questions like this help clarify real barriers, and richer follow-ups clarify what’s missing, so teams can build truly inclusive support.
Should you use an NPS question for college graduate student surveys about career services?
NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a classic in customer and user feedback. It asks, “How likely are you to recommend this service to a friend or peer?” (on a scale of 0–10), then follows up smartly depending on whether they’re promoters, passives, or detractors. For college graduate student feedback on career services, NPS is ideal to quickly gauge overall loyalty and advocacy—then go deeper:
The NPS score instantly reveals your strongest advocates (promoters), those on the fence (passives), and those who are unhappy (detractors).
Smart follow-up logic means you ask promoters what they loved, and detractors what would have made their experience better.
NPS is a great metric for benchmarking improvements over time.
Try building a ready-made NPS survey for college graduate students about career services—then adjust with open or multiple-choice questions for richer context.
Given that students with paid internships receive far more job offers (1.61) than peers with unpaid internships (0.95) or no internship (0.77), NPS and follow-ups can also unearth which specific services make a practical difference in post-graduation outcomes. [5]
The power of follow-up questions
A single email survey usually stops at the first answer. But if you want to truly understand graduate feedback, follow-up questions are a must. Automated follow-up questions—the kind that Specific nails—create context-rich insight in real time. Follow-ups let the survey “listen” like a smart researcher, clarify ambiguous responses, and surface deep, actionable stories—not just surface-level ratings.
Student: “Career services were helpful.”
AI follow-up: “Can you describe a specific way career services helped you during your job search?”
Student: “I didn’t use any services.”
AI follow-up: “Was there a reason you decided not to access career services? Were you aware they were available?”
How many followups to ask? We’ve found that 2–3 follow-ups are enough for the richest context. The key is to design the survey so you move to the next question once you’ve got the depth you need—Specific makes it easy to set this up.
This makes it a conversational survey: Each answer shapes the next question, making the experience feel more like being interviewed by a thoughtful human, not filling in a static survey. Respondents stay engaged—and share much more.
AI survey response analysis: Thanks to AI, analyzing all those open-ended and follow-up answers is effortless—even when you have hundreds of responses. See how it’s done with Specific’s AI-driven analysis tools.
AI-powered follow-up is a brand new way to do research—try creating your own survey with smart follow-ups and see how much richer your feedback gets.
How to prompt ChatGPT (or any AI) for great college graduate student survey questions about career services
The key to getting high-quality survey questions from an AI is giving more context, not less. Here’s how you’d ask for a first draft:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for college graduate student survey about career services.
But you’ll get way better results if you explain the situation, your goals, or the audience. For example:
I’m creating a survey for recent college graduates. I want to understand how effective the career services office was in helping students prepare for the job market—including finding internships, networking, and improving job search skills. Suggest 10 open-ended questions that capture both positive and negative experiences, and help us prioritize areas for improvement.
Once you have a list of questions, have the AI group them by topic:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Then double-click into the areas you want more detail about. For example, if “internship support” is a big category, use:
Generate 10 questions for categories about internship experiences and support from the career center.
What is a conversational survey (and why AI is a game-changer)?
Conversational surveys go far beyond traditional forms—they adapt questions in real time, ask follow-ups, and naturally engage respondents. With Specific, the survey literally feels like a helpful chat, not a cold form. This format pulls context, motivates honest answers, and generates qualitative insights you’d never see in a spreadsheet.
Manual Survey | AI-Generated Conversational Survey |
|---|---|
Questions are static and generic | Questions evolve in response to each answer |
Limited to simple multiple-choice/open text | Dynamically asks smart follow-ups |
Analysis is time-consuming | Summarized and categorized by AI instantly |
Response rates often low | Highly engaging, mobile-friendly chat format |
Why use AI for college graduate student surveys? AI eliminates guesswork and busywork. You get better questions, real-time probing, easy editing (see how with the AI survey editor), and deeper insights—without needing to be a research expert. AI survey examples show how much richer the results are, since follow-ups clarify what students really mean.
With Specific, you get the best user experience in conversational surveys, making feedback collection seamless for you, and engaging for every respondent. If you want more detail on building a survey from scratch, check out our guide on how to create a college graduate student survey about career services.
See this career services survey example now
Unlock real career insights from graduates—see how a conversational AI survey delivers better data, richer stories, and next-level feedback instantly. Experience smarter follow-ups, effortless analysis, and a friendlier survey—from Specific.