One of the services my institution provides for the students is externship program where a potential employer will have more time to evaluate the student skills and by the same token the student will have a chance to see if the site is a potential place for employment.

Career Services should be a part of all decision making at the institution particularly in the admission department both of these department are the front and back end of students outcome.

When it comes to graduate outcome I am 100% sure that everyone in the institution needs to be working together for a positive outcome.

In addition to the already existing barriers some additonal that I find in graduates is the barrier that the graduate uses against him/her for intance the lack of transportation should not be used by graduates a barrier to find employment on the contrary it is a challange but it should not be a problem.

I say yes!!!

I read this statement in the training, and am not quite in agreement with this. It is my understanding that we should be very conservative of how we present information to students so not to imply certain information. For example, if we say these employer "hire" grads, then it may place the institution in a situation where the expectation is that the grad will be hired. The training states that it is a "great for the admissions department to boast about where our school grads are working". Again, I am not sure if that is the direction of admissions due to regulations. Any advice?

Our campuses did an exercise to develop our Statement of Purpose, Mission Statement for the department. There was debate in our philosophy in regard to how much of our purpose is to coach and enable and how much is dedicated to employer development. Overall, our philosophy is 50/50. "Teach the students and graduates how to fish... and within a fully stocked lake". Is that philosophy similar to other career colleges who focuses on placement outcomes?

What is the most difficult obstacle to overcome in building an institutional culture which supports employment outcomes at every instance of the students tenure?

In thinking about your relationships with hiring employers, what do you feel is the key motivator for them to hire your graduates? Is it their relationship with a trusted career services rep or the quality of the graduate? How do you know?

There was a recent article http://finance.yahoo.com/news/employers-skills-gap-not-problem-100000789.html in the news which said that employers don't feel that it's their job to "fix" the skills gap that exists today. What role, in your opinion, do employers have in addressing this problem and is this something your institution is addressing?

I have just begun working for a new and small online school, who have just begun developing student services department and career placement. I am looking for advice and tips on how to create contacts in industries to help with placement?

1. track employers 2. track grads 3. placement statistics 4.student feedback 5. grad feedback 6. employer feedback

1. Being unique 2. Understanding skills and abilities 3. Must create the right resume. 4. Having great references 5.Having a postive mental attitude

To have a sucessful Career Services department the following items are needed: 1. resource library 2. job search seminars 3. job opportunities 4. internships and externships 5. personal attention 6. additional services

Developing a strong placement must start with a mission statement.A mission statement is the foundation of every department. Any decision made regarding the department, can be measured against it's mission.

There is empirical evidence that graduates today need specific, job related experience to be considered for employment. How important do you feel experience is in finding a job and what specific steps do you take with individual students to help them gain some experience prior to graduating?

The evidence suggests that students benefit most from individualized and structured instruction when finding a job. However, this presents a challenge when trying to manage workload. What resources do you currently use to help provide the student with individual attention (workbooks, videos, mentoring, etc.) that gets results while managing your workload in CS?

The benefits of having an active Alumni Association are many; however, only a small percentage of career colleges have them. Does your institution have a robust Alumni Association and if so, what difficulties did you face getting started and how did you overcome these challenges? Has your institution tried to start an Alumni Association and failed? If so, what happened?

The course discusses how employers site a skills deficiency despite the skills training that they receive in institutions of higher learning. This skills gaps suggests colleges need to improve methods of measuring work-readiness. How do you measure the job readiness of your students? Do you assess both technical and soft-skill readiness? What tools (if any) do you use?