Leander Howard II's Linkedin Analytics

When I founded WriteSea, my mission was clear: help every student graduate career-ready. At a pivotal moment in this journey, I connected with David Kozhuk, Founder & CEO of uConnect, and we immediately clicked over our shared passion for empowering students through data-driven career insights. We both recognize how critical career readiness is—it's not just about securing a job; it's about protecting the investment students and families make in higher education. Without actionable data, universities risk unprepared graduates, low placement rates, and reputational damage. Join David and me for an impactful fireside chat where we'll discuss how innovative institutions are leveraging data to proactively identify and support students at risk of falling behind in their career preparedness journey. Don't miss this opportunity to discover proven strategies and personal insights on elevating student success. Reserve your spot today: https://lnkd.in/ecRKXmc2 #CareerPreparedness #HigherEducation #StudentSuccess #DataDrivenLeadership

As I onboarded a new institution onto WriteSea last week, I was reminded of how critical student onboarding is for effective career services. This institution uses 18 strategic onboarding questions to deeply understand each student's career goals, readiness, and support needs. Effective onboarding not only accelerates personalized career guidance but also boosts student engagement and outcomes. What onboarding questions does your institution ask students to better support their career journey? Let me know in the comments. #CareerServices #StudentSuccess #HigherEducation #WriteSea

Everyone’s been asking why career readiness tracking is suddenly top of mind for university leaders. Is it about rankings? Retention? A response to employer demands? Here’s the truth: It’s about risk. On March 27 at 1 PM EST, we’re breaking it all down LIVE. I’m sitting down with David Kozhuk, Founder & CEO of uConnect, for a can’t-miss fireside chat on how leading institutions are using career readiness insights to mitigate risk, improve student outcomes, and strengthen their reputation. We’ll unpack: 🔹 Why tracking career readiness isn’t just important—it’s urgent. 🔹 The hidden risks universities face when they don’t monitor student preparedness. 🔹 How career services teams can use data to engage students before they fall behind. This is THE conversation higher ed leaders need to hear in 2025. 📅 March 27, 2025 ⏰ 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST 📍 Live on Zoom Save your spot now: https://lnkd.in/ecRKXmc2 Don't get left behind—join us and future-proof your institution. 🚀

The key to building a successful business. Agree?

This is a really interesting concept that could help nonprofits streamline hiring while benefiting job seekers who came close but didn’t land a role. Here are the pros and cons to consider: Pros ✅ Access to High-Quality Candidates – Nonprofits get access to pre-vetted candidates who have already made it far in a hiring process, reducing sourcing time and effort. ✅ Faster Hiring – By having a pool of strong candidates ready to go, nonprofits can shorten their time-to-hire, which is critical given their limited resources. ✅ Better Candidate Experience – Final-round candidates who don’t land a job often feel left out in the cold. This gives them another chance at a meaningful role without having to restart the process from scratch. ✅ Builds a Community of Mission-Driven Talent – Many candidates who apply to nonprofits are mission-driven. This database could help them stay within the nonprofit space instead of pivoting to corporate roles out of necessity. ✅ Reduces Wasted Effort – Companies invest significant resources into screening candidates. This ensures that strong candidates don’t go to waste when they narrowly miss out on a job. ✅ Potential for Reciprocity – Nonprofits might be more willing to share their runner-up candidates if they know they’ll benefit from others doing the same. Cons & Challenges ⚠️ Privacy & Data Protection Concerns – Candidates would need to explicitly opt in, and you’d need to ensure compliance with data protection laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.). ⚠️ Maintaining Candidate Interest – Candidates who were close to landing a role may have already secured a job elsewhere. Keeping the database fresh with actively job-seeking candidates could be tricky. ⚠️ Differing Hiring Standards – Just because someone was a finalist at one organization doesn’t mean they’d be a great fit for another. Different nonprofits have different cultures, structures, and needs. ⚠️ Logistics of Keeping the Database Updated – You’d need a system to remove candidates who are no longer looking or have found roles. ⚠️ Nonprofit Buy-In – Some organizations may be hesitant to rely on external sourcing, or they may have strict hiring processes that require their own internal screening. ⚠️ Equity & Bias Considerations – If hiring teams aren’t careful, this could unintentionally reinforce hiring biases by circulating the same types of candidates rather than expanding opportunities. Ways to Mitigate These Risks Clear candidate opt-in & out process – Make sure candidates can update their availability and control their data. AI or tagging system for nonprofit needs – Allow nonprofits to filter candidates based on skill sets, causes they care about, and experience levels. Feedback loop – Get insights from hiring managers and candidates to improve the system over time. Diversity focus – Ensure the database doesn’t just recycle a narrow pool of candidates but instead promotes access and equity.

❌ Employers: "Colleges aren't producing job-ready graduates." ❌ Students: "I have a degree, but I can’t find a job." ❌ Universities: "We focus on education, not job placement." The disconnect is real—and it’s costing students their futures. At Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business, they’re tackling this problem head-on by embedding career readiness into the curriculum. Faculty, career services, and employers are working together to bridge the gap between education and employment. 🎓 If you're in higher ed, ask yourself: ✔️ Are your students learning in-demand workplace skills? ✔️ Is career readiness part of the student journey from day one? ✔️ Are you collaborating with employers to ensure students are workforce-ready? If not, it’s time to rethink your approach. Join myself & La'Kesha M. Hughes M.Ed. TODAY to learn how GSU is solving this crisis. 📅 Live Virtual Event | 1 PM EST 🔗 :Register Now: https://lnkd.in/en2DA9WQ What’s the biggest reason graduates struggle to land jobs? Drop your thoughts below. 👇

I haven’t posted like this in a while, but every day I talk to talented people who are struggling to land their next role. And I’m not just talking entry-level—seasoned senior leaders are also facing tough times right now. So let’s do something about it. If you're open to helping someone out, drop their name, tag them below, or make a quick intro. A single connection can change everything. Let’s lift each other up. #Referrals #JobSeekers #Networking

For decades, career services have operated the same way: 🔹 Resume workshops 🔹 Mock interviews 🔹 Career fairs These are valuable—but they’re not scalable. Today’s students want on-demand career support, not just office hours. And career services teams are overworked and understaffed trying to provide it. That’s where AI comes in. ✅ AI-powered resume reviews – Instant, structured feedback tailored to employer expectations. ✅ AI-driven interview coaching – Students can practice anytime, anywhere, with real-time feedback. ✅ Smart job-matching – Helping students find roles that align with their skills and goals, without endless scrolling. But here’s the real challenge: Most institutions aren’t keeping up. If career services doesn’t evolve, students will turn elsewhere—LinkedIn, TikTok, or paid coaching—to get the help they need. Higher ed has a choice: adapt or lose relevance in career preparation. This isn’t the future. It’s already happening. How do you see AI transforming career services? Drop your thoughts below. ⬇️ #AI #HigherEd #CareerServices #FutureOfWork #StudentSuccess

How I Stopped Doing Everything in My Business When I was bootstrapping Spark Your Resume, I wore every hat—sales, marketing, operations, fulfillment, customer support. You name it, I did it. I didn’t have funding to hire people, so I had to figure out how to scale myself. That’s when I discovered Zapier and it completely changed the game. Automation became my secret weapon. How I Think About Automation I follow one simple rule: 👉 If I do it more than twice, I need to automate it. If a task is repetitive, it can (and should) be automated. Here’s my framework: 1️⃣ Trigger – What external action kicks off the task or project? 2️⃣ Sequence – What series of events need to happen to complete the task? 3️⃣ Goal – What’s the final outcome of the automation? Once I define those three elements, I: ✅ Identify the tools I’m already using to complete the task manually. ✅ Plug them into Zapier to see what triggers & actions are available. ✅ Mind-map the automation based on Trigger → Sequence → Goal. ✅ Build it in Zapier and hit publish. The result? I free up hours of my time every week and focus on growth instead of grunt work. If you’re still manually handling the same tasks over and over, it’s time to think about automation. Want me to break down an automation I use? Drop a “Show me” in the comments. #Automation #Zapier #Scaling #Entrepreneurship #Productivity

Agree?

5 Years, 5 Lessons: What Entrepreneurship Really Taught Me Five years ago, I had a vision: build something meaningful, make an impact, and create my own path. But let me tell you—entrepreneurship isn’t just about passion and persistence. It’s about sleepless nights, hard lessons, and realizing that what you think will work often doesn’t. It’s about launching a business and realizing revenue doesn’t mean profit. About hiring too soon and learning the cost of inefficiency. About scaling too fast and nearly breaking everything you built. So here’s the raw truth—what five years in the game actually taught me: 1️⃣ Cash Is KING 👑 I used to think more sales meant more success. But revenue is vanity—cash flow is reality. I’ve watched businesses grow on paper but crash in real life because they ran out of money. Lesson learned: Track your cash like your business depends on it—because it does. 2️⃣ You Don’t Need a Team to Start Early on, I thought I needed co-founders, employees, and a big team. I was wrong. At the start, speed and execution matter more than headcount. Hiring too soon can slow you down. Lesson learned: Start lean, move fast, and only bring on people when it makes sense. 3️⃣ Mentors Save You Years Experience is a great teacher, but mentorship lets you borrow wisdom without paying the full price. The right mentors have helped me dodge costly mistakes and accelerate my success. Lesson learned: Find mentors who have done what you’re trying to do—and actually listen to them. 4️⃣ Document Everything In the beginning, I ran my business off memory, sticky notes, and scattered Google Docs. Then I realized: If I stepped away, everything would fall apart. Lesson learned: Build systems, not just a hustle. If your business can’t run without you, you don’t have a business—you have a job. 5️⃣ Your Personal Brand Is Your Power Businesses change, industries shift, but your name stays with you forever. My personal brand has opened doors I never imagined—partnerships, clients, and opportunities I never had to chase. Lesson learned: If you’re not building your brand, you’re leaving money and impact on the table. 🚀 Entrepreneurship isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about staying in the game long enough to figure them out. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your journey? Drop it in the comments—I’d love to hear your story. Let’s keep building. #Entrepreneurship #LessonsLearned #StartupLife #BusinessGrowth #PersonalBranding

For higher education institutions, the lack of career readiness tracking isn't just a missed opportunity—it's a serious risk. Unprepared graduates result in lower job placement rates, dissatisfied alumni, and damaged institutional reputation. In this fireside chat, Leander Howard II, Co-Founder & CMO of WriteSea, and David Kozhuk, Founder & CEO of uConnect, will explore how leading universities are using data-driven insights to identify, support, and engage students falling behind in career preparation. Join us to learn how career readiness tracking has become an essential risk management strategy for forward-thinking higher education leaders. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ecRKXmc2

5 Lessons from 5 Years of Fatherhood Today, my son turns 5. Watching him grow has been the greatest blessing of my life, and along the way, he’s taught me just as much as I’ve taught him. Here are five lessons I’ve learned over the past five years of being a father: 1️⃣ Patience is a virtue – Kids are constantly learning and developing their independence. As parents, it’s easy to want to do everything for them, but true growth comes from letting them figure things out on their own. It might take longer, but in the long run, we’re teaching them how to fish instead of just handing them one. 2️⃣ Discipline is required – Children don’t naturally know right from wrong; they rely on us to guide them. Setting clear boundaries and reinforcing discipline (with love) helps shape their character and decision-making skills for the future. 3️⃣ Communication is key – I believe in talking to my son about everything—why I make certain decisions, what I do for work, how I feel. Kids understand more than we think, and treating them with respect in conversation helps build trust and emotional intelligence. 4️⃣ Health is wealth – Movement is essential. Getting kids involved in physical activities, especially sports, not only keeps them active but also teaches them teamwork, discipline, and how to respect authority beyond their parents. 5️⃣ Love is required – More than anything, kids need to feel loved. Tell them you love them, encourage them, show up for them, hug them, kiss them, and pour positivity into them. The way we love them now will shape how they love themselves and others in the future. Fatherhood has been an incredible journey, and I know there’s still so much more to learn. Happy birthday, son—you’ve made me a better man. For the parents out there, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from raising kids?

The Howard’s 📈 3️⃣ generations of boy to men. Cherish the time you have with your family and make sure y’all take some nice photos every once in a while. Thank you to my brother Isaiah Everett for capturing these moments. Love, Lee ❤️🙏🏾

When I graduated from Georgia State University in 2020, I had an offer from AT&T and secured a job as a Financial Analyst at Adobe. On paper, I was set. But something kept bothering me. I watched friends—smart, ambitious, hardworking—struggle to land jobs after college. They were sending out application after application, getting ghosted, and feeling stuck. I started helping them—fixing their resumes, optimizing their LinkedIn profiles, and showing them how to navigate the job search strategically. That’s when it clicked. The problem wasn’t them. It was the system. Colleges focus on education, but career readiness often takes a backseat. Career services teams are underfunded, outdated, and overwhelmed. I couldn’t shake the thought: 👉🏽 What if we could scale career support for every student, using AI? That’s why I built WriteSea—to bridge the gap between education and employment. To make sure every student—no matter their background—graduates with the tools and confidence to succeed in the job market. Because career readiness shouldn’t be a privilege. It should be a standard. If you’ve ever felt like the job search process is broken, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment below. ⬇️ #HigherEd #CareerServices #JobSearch #AI #StudentSuccess