How much should a placement department do?
How far should a placement department go in placing their students? I see some departments say that they give them all fo the tools (resume seminars, job search websites, networking resumes, mock interviews, etc) and say they do everything EXCEPT get them the job. Other departments, like the one at my school, offers job leads. Which is best? I do find that sometimes the students get a little lazy and learn to depend on and expect job leads from my placement department. When they do not get the amount of leads they want, they become upset. I feel that they should be responsible for their job search and they are given the tools that they need to do so. Any thoughts on how to make this transition. "Spoon feeding" them seems to make it harder on my Placement Manager and she spends her time emailing and faxing resumes when I think her time would be better spent preparing new seminars, conducting mock interviews, etc.
Joyce,
We totally agree. Placement discussions begin at admissions! We also think that employment skills training is an every day matter. It should be happening in the classrooms and hallways. Fun contest-like events can help to focus awareness on the job search process. There are lots of clever ways to teach needed skills for placement success. Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
I feel it is not only in the placement department and writing resumes and educating on job search techniques. I believe that placement begins all the way in the beginning from the classroom to externship then to placement. The techniques and information a student needs to know about themselves to better project themselves as well as help create their resume it all boils down to consistency in teaching them this techniques in class every week the teacher touching base or including in the curriculm a little piece of the puzzle throught put their program so when they reach placement assitance they are not only more knowledgable they know themselves better and with that said builds a stronger confidence within the student which in turns enhances their overall job search techniques in every way from persistence in finding a job " they know they will" from creating a resume "they know themselves" to "Acing an interview" they know who they are have the skills and techniques and know the job is for them. Hope some of this info was helpful
Good points, Jason. In a career school students enter and graduate frequently during the year. So there are always new students to train. And the training should certainly be so effective that the student is confident and has skills to seek employment. Career services staff also need to reach out to the community on a day to day basis. That means developing and sustaining relationships with current employers plus development of new employers. Career services are essential to a school, in our opinion. They impact on admissions, student success, job placement, and community outreach. Thanks, Susan
This reminds me of the old addage "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." In my opinion a Placement Department should spend much of its energy making individual Placement Officers superfluous. If you can teach the person how to write their own resume, if you can teach the person how to write a good coverletter, if you can teach the person how to network for a job, etc., then you've provided that person with skills that could benefit him/her for a lifetime.
Hi Jere, This issue comes up from time to time. How much assistance should be provided and how much responsibility for getting a job lies with the student? We still believe that grads need a lot of skills plus a lot of hand holding. We believe they have to be trained in the job search, goaded, motivated, encouraged, and more to get to the interview successfully. And when not successful then prepared even more. Every one is a winner when every grad gets placed. Thanks, Susan
Our placement department offeres placement assistance. So our students know up front they will have to contribute in their job search. We give them the tools and it's up to them to land the job. We can't get the job for them. It's a team effort. What I like to say is "I'll do 40% of the work but are going to do 60% of it. Students/Grads do tend to get lazy and it is hard transistion for them, but you have to be up front with them from the bery beginning. Let them know you are there for Assistance.
Hi Kimberly
Sounds like a great plan to follow grads every few weeks. There are a lot of benefits as long as you track results. You can discover things like what helps them be successful in their job search, what frustrates them, where did they lack information or skills to be successful, what would make a difference. Then use the information to design better career services. Keeping in touch could help with job retention. So your school will get known not only for great candidates but for employees that stay and contribute to the company. Lots of opportunities for everyone when you stay in touch with grads. Makes the Career Services Department essential in any school. Best wishes, Susan
We like to follow-up with our graduates every 2-3 weeks, as well. While following up with the graduates, we are asking them where have they submitted their resume, where have they applied, etc. We try to make sure our graduates understand our job is to "assist" them in finding placement services.
We love the word "ACCOUNTABILITY & RESPONSIBILITY" around here!
Great techniques, Michele. If we all followed what you do all career school placement departments would be outstanding. What your comments brought up to us is the importance of relationship building and sustaining the relationship with the employer. You're doing a great job. Thanks, Susan
Hi Chris-
I'm all for spoon feeding and hand holding but...if we teach them "HOW TO FISH, THEY'LL KNOW HOW TO FISH FOR LIFE"...Essentially, they will have the skills necessary. I have set interviews for prospects/students and for employers at our site & their site or a local facility. I attempt to coordinate whatever is needed to ensure they get a job and the employer is also satisfied.
I strongly try to empower & encourage the students/grads with client lists as well as googling new companies. I also utilize a hard copy job order book for job search that provides updated and more detailed info for searching. However, in documenting a job order, I try to ensure that we don't impose on the employer by asking the question: "Will you accept direct contact from a prospect/student?" In this way, I can be certain not to impose on the employer and jeopardize our relationship. Good Luck, Michele
Fantastic idea, MariaElena. Putting students in job search teams works on so many levels. They have helpers and mentors in each other. They can share their fears. And practice skills and ask each other questions without feeling too embarassed. We believe that you have to get rid of the job search fear before there can be results. The balloon exercise is perfect. Thanks for sharing your placement secrets. Best wishes, Susan
First day of job search workshop
I start out by letting them know that we need to build on teamwork.
The truth of it is employers do expect them to take the initiative in their jobs search so in bringing employers to speak with them and letting them know what employers are expecting from a job seeker and an employee makes a difference.
Having them bring a job lead a day in and post that up so the take part in this manner.
We also do an activity so that we can set up Team work in job searching.
I have the group blow up baloons and we sart by having one student stand in the middle and we have them juggle one baloon and then the rest of the group strats adding baloons in the air for this one student to keep them all up in the air of course this is imposible and they struggle well I pretend that is me or if the student were all alone doing the job search. It can be overwhelming so then I have the oposite all students stand in a circle and I start throwing the baloons all in the circle and they all keep them from falling and they are successful.
This shows the effectiveness of team work both in their job search and on the job.
I think our training center is fortunate that we have a consistant flow of employers so a list of job leads are distributed but I have them do the follow up and depending on what the employer wants to go about setting up interviews; sometimes I set the interview up, students setup interview, or employer contacts the.
As I have been progressing through this course I have been asking myself this question. We have always offered resume writing assistance and announced available jobs, but now I need to decide how much further we should go. Since we usually have very few graduates, the idea of just sending our student's details to employers is appaealing. The problem would be when an employer decides he likes our candidate but the candidate doesn't like something (such as the location) of the employer. We could try to survey our students about their employment requirements and preferences, but maintaining and utilizing such information might be cumbersome.
Hi Lindsey
Always a challenge to determine how much is enough and how much is hand holding. We believe in the extra hand holding. Hopefully when grads have long gone from your school they will be able to use the skills you taught them and think kindly of your school and you.
Best wishes
Susan
I think it is important to offer the students and grads all the tools possible. We want to help them in every way possible, however we want them to uderstand that we are there to help them and not hold there hand. Once we give them the tools they need it is up to them to go and get the job.
Hi AnnaMarie
Sounds like you have a comprehensive plan in place. Always a challenge to keep track of grads. One way is persistence and patience. Start calling within 2 weeks of graduation. Get cell phone numbers and contact info from 2 other people that the grad knows. Early contact and persistence and consistency will pay off in a lot of ways.
Good luck, Susan
Our school offers placement assistance which includes resume preparation, interview skills prep, job leads database (and book for those who feels less computer savvy). We rely on our graduates to convey information about employers and businesses to know the type of people who will succeed best in that particular place of business. Although we exit interview with all of our graduates, getting them to followup with Placement is not always easy. Contact info is confirmed so we have the most up-to-date but often, when we attempt to contact them via phone or email, they don't call back. We have even sent out letters with stamped return envelopes and not get them back. I like the idea of re-surveying them and hopefully obtaining the information that our accrediting agency requires. However, there is no absolute way to have graduates followup...any ideas?
Very well said, Jacquelyn. Maybe a required computer course would be in order. Then students would have the skills to create their own resumes and more. The spoon feeding takes place in the training, when needed. With the goal of the students doing things on their own. Yes, always a challenge for a small placement staff. How about getting grads to come in and assist? Or pair students up with one helping the other.
Best wishes
Susan
This is an interesting dilemma. Our school trains many students that are not computer savvy and it's labor intensive to get the students to write their own resume or do many of the online job search tasks that they may need to learn how to do for the future. However, it's a simple case of teaching them to fish or fishing for them. If we do everything in placement and do not teach them how to do some of these things on their own we are truly doing them a disservice because at some point the school's placement office may not be there to “spoon feed†them through their next job search. It's a real balancing act and requires decision making with every student. Each student must be assessed and a personal plan is put into action for that student which meets his or her needs and doesn't overtax our small, understaffed placement office.
