Here are some of the best questions for a college undergraduate student survey about career services, plus key tips on how to design them. If you want to generate your own College Undergraduate Student survey about career services, Specific makes it effortless.
The best open-ended questions for college undergraduate student survey about career services
Open-ended questions allow us to capture genuine experiences, ideas, and unmet needs—especially helpful when we want rich, nuanced feedback. They're ideal when we’re interested in discovering what students truly think (versus simply confirming what we already believe). Notably, only 16% of U.S. college graduates found their career services office to be very helpful[3], so understanding the "why" behind these stats is crucial.
What do you wish your college career services did differently to help you prepare for your future?
Can you describe your most valuable experience (if any) with career services at our institution?
What challenges have you faced when trying to access or use career services?
How has your perception of the career center changed while studying here?
What type of guidance or support would be most helpful to you right now?
How do you find out about career events or resources on campus?
If you haven't used career services, what has kept you from doing so?
What improvements or new services would you like the career center to offer?
How confident do you feel about finding a job after graduation, and why?
Share any suggestions you have for making career services more relevant to undergraduate students.
The best single-select multiple-choice questions for college undergraduate student survey about career services
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when we need clear, quantifiable data or want to ease respondents into discussing career services. Sometimes, it’s simply easier (and less intimidating) for students to select from options before they share a detailed opinion. Respondents can signal preferences and barriers, which makes follow-ups even more powerful.
Question: How often have you visited or interacted with the career services center this academic year?
Never
Once
2-3 times
4 or more times
Question: What is the main reason you use (or would use) career services?
Career exploration/choosing a major
Attending recruitment/networking events
Résumé development
Finding internships/jobs
Other
Question: How helpful have you found the career center's resources?
Very helpful
Somewhat helpful
Not very helpful
I haven’t used them
When to follow up with "why?" If a student selects "Not very helpful" (or any low-score answer), always follow up with "Why did you feel that way?" Open-ended follow-ups uncover the reasoning behind dissatisfaction and highlight areas for improvement—crucial since about 31% of students have never interacted with their college career center[6]. This is one of the most effective ways to transform scores into insight.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add "Other" when the topic is broad or the provided choices may not cover every situation. When a respondent selects "Other," prompt them to specify. Their explanations can reveal needs or problems you never considered, generating unexpected insights for your team.
NPS question for college undergraduate student survey about career services
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one of the simplest and most powerful tools for benchmarking student satisfaction and loyalty. For career services, it helps us see the big picture: “How likely are you to recommend our career center to a friend or classmate?” This widely used metric makes it easy to monitor change over time, prioritize issues, and even compare against other institutions. For a ready-to-use format, build an NPS survey right now.
NPS works well here because many undergraduates don’t use or trust the career center—33% say they have no experience with it at all[1]. The “why or why not?” follow-up question is what unlocks the story behind the score, helping schools design experiences students will truly recommend.
The power of follow-up questions
We’ve seen again and again that a simple score, or an initial one-sentence answer, rarely tells the whole story. The automatic AI follow-up questions in Specific dig deeper by asking clarifying questions in real time—just like a skilled interviewer would.
This approach is a game-changer. Instead of following up by email to clarify vague answers (which is time-consuming and inefficient), the survey turns into a real conversation. Here’s how it plays out in practice:
Student: “The workshops are okay.”
AI follow-up: “What did you find helpful about the workshops, and what could make them even better?”
Student: “Never used the career center.”
AI follow-up: “What has stopped you from using it, or what might motivate you to try it?”
How many follow-ups to ask? Generally, 2-3 follow-ups per topic are enough to capture depth, while minimizing fatigue. Specific lets you define this, or even enable respondents to skip follow-ups once the info you need is collected. This smart flexibility is critical for conversational surveys that require nuance without overwhelming users.
This makes it a conversational survey: the format transforms static forms into an engaging two-way chat, increasing both completion rates and insight depth.
Easy analysis with AI: Don't worry about how you’ll sort all these open-ended responses—AI makes it a breeze, even at scale. Take a look at our article about AI-powered survey response analysis to see how you can surface themes, stats, and even chat about your data just like using ChatGPT.
These dynamic follow-up questions represent a new wave in feedback collection. Try building an AI survey to see this in action for your audience.
How to write a prompt for GPT to create college undergraduate student survey about career services
Crafting a great survey with AI starts with providing excellent context in your prompt. A simple starting point:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for college undergraduate student survey about career services.
If you want more tailored results, be specific about your goals and target group. For example:
I’m conducting a survey with undergraduate students at a large public university to improve our career services, particularly regarding internship guidance and post-graduation job search skills. Suggest 10 open-ended questions to surface pain points, desired resources, and overall satisfaction.
After brainstorming, categorize your questions for clarity:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Once you have categories—like “accessibility,” “quality of resources,” or “workshop effectiveness”—you might zoom in:
Generate 10 questions for categories "workshop effectiveness" and "internship support."
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey is more than a list of questions—it’s a guided, natural Q&A experience that feels like chatting with a friendly, knowledgeable interviewer. An AI survey builder like Specific crafts these surveys in minutes, integrates smart follow-ups, and analyzes results with zero spreadsheets or manual crunching required. Traditional surveys feel rigid, while AI-generated conversational surveys adapt, probe, and spark honest sharing.
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated (Conversational) |
|---|---|
Create questions from scratch, edit manually | AI suggests expert questions and customizable logic |
Static, no follow-up or context awareness | Real-time AI follow-ups mimic natural conversation |
Analysis is tedious, usually manual | AI analysis summarizes, finds patterns instantly |
Higher drop-off, less engagement | More engaging, mobile-friendly, higher response |
Why use AI for college undergraduate student surveys? AI survey makers like Specific ensure your questions are unbiased, current, and tailored. For undergraduates evaluating career services, this delivers richer feedback (especially since nearly 50% are not confident about their post-college job prospects[2]) and actionable next steps. See our AI survey example to kick off your own conversational college feedback survey, or check our guide on how to create a survey for college undergraduates.
Specific offers a best-in-class user experience for conversational surveys—making every feedback opportunity smoother for creators and more engaging for undergraduate respondents.
See this career services survey example now
Instantly experience how an AI-powered, conversational college undergraduate survey can turn student feedback into actionable insight—and capture what generic forms can’t. Don’t miss out; create your own and see what you've been missing.