Developing and maintaining relationships with those employers who continually hire our grads or take them as externs is vital. We hope at least half of our students get hired from thier extern site, so keeping those relationships solid is very important. We also recently started using our Alumni who have went on to great careers and have excelled in thier field. In addition to the short list it is obviously important to continue to develop these relationships so that "short" list will continue to grow into a "long" list, providing more opportunities for our grads.
Yes, David. We agree and call it community outreach. Career services people must be out in the communinty visiting employers and also attending civic and professional meetings to get the word out about what your school does. Then the contacts at each company need to be entered into some kind of CRM and followed on a regular basis. Yes, the employer is the ultimate customer - along with students. Thanks
We have found that the two best ways to build the list is to: 1. go to them, 2. get them to come to us.
By 'go to them', I mean sending our Career Services reps out into the field on a regular basis to meet with employers at the potential job sites to survey needs and establish a relationship. The objective is to get 'top of the mind' awareness with them when it comes to hiring so they will call us first with job opportunities.
By 'get them to come to us', I mean effectively recruiting and utilizing employers on our Program Advisory Committees so we can keep them engaged with the campus and regularly 'pick their brains' on what is happening in their industry and what our graduates need to be employable.
In a very real sense, the employer is our ultimate customer - we need to be responsive to their needs and flexible enough to adapt when the need changes.
You present great points, Erich. Relationships with employers require being out in the workplace to develop the relationships and maintain them. It's important for career services to work with employers to understand their needs and even suggest curriculum modification to meet employer needs. We feel it's all about the relationship. Be sure your school is THE resource in the community for training and staffing. Thanks, Susan
Hi Christopher, Yes - we agreement that career services has to start right away and that it is important to continually reach out to the community and the businesses that hire your grads. We suggest that someone keep in touch with employers and get their updates. Counting on them to do is probably won't happen. We also believe that job openings should be posted on your website as long as that part of the website is password protected. Thanks, Susan
The placement department has the responsibility to make their services not only easy for students to access and learn from, but companies as well. Once an easy plan is implemented, inviting companies is also a key. The employer would only have to update their own listings, once filled.
Gathering information as well as making a partial list available on the internet is a necessary step. Connecting with companies that have hired students would be another.
HI Elda, Yes, we see the growing value of alumni associations in career schools. They can impact on admissions, retention, and placement. The more people and businesses in your community that know about your school as a resource, the more benefits. It's just that easy. And hardly costs anything. It means focusing on getting out into the community and following up. Thanks, Susan
Alumni are an excellent source in obtaining potentail employers. Local associations are also a vital and ongoing source for developing and maintainance of employers. Community involvement also provides the school with exposure that can attract employers.
Hi David, You provided a great checklist to create and develop a list of employers. Yes, for sure start with the employers that your grads interview with. This includes where they get jobs and where they are refused. You can ask why the grad wasn't hired. It might be useful tp enhance your curriculum. And for sure contact all the clinics used for intern- and externships. Then it's important to contact the workplaces and build relationships with the hiring managers. Find out what they want to see in an ideal candidate. Ask them for feedback re equipment, learning materials and more. People enjoy giving their opinions! And most of all, stay in touch by email, mail, visits, and invites to the school. Thanks, Susan
There are many ways to create the Employer Short list. 1st use your leads from your current grads. Since we are creating a new placement department at a Medical School, I will be contacting all of our advisors where our students work to do their clinical rotations, internships and externships. After speaking with these individuals, I will be asking them for 3 references of potential places that might be hiring. Get the name and contact # and ask your reference if you can use their name when contacting the leads.
We are also adding a new link on our website so that potential employers can now make contact with our placement dept. to post jobs and look for future graduates to hire.
Hi Jacqueline, Thank you for the additional information. It's great for everyone. It is important to look at what entry-level means in your industry and how much externships count as work experience. Certainly makes an argument for putting in intern- and externships wherever possible and where it makes sense. It raises the level and meaning of entry-level. Thanks, Susan
In the typical agencies ,it is harder to hire entry-level workers. However, in the health care field, there are Home Health Agencies that will hire recently graduated HHA's and NA's with certification. Also, the externship experience for the Nursing Assistant and Medical Assistant helps establish "work experience " even if they are not getting paid for it. Thank you for your feedback. Jackie
Hi Jacqueline, Great idea that you are keeping in touch with employers. And very good that you have a plan to update the list when grads come back for their CEUs. But what if the grad takes CEUs someplace else? You might want to stay in touch with grads regularly. In that way you have a chance of getting their updated addresses and contact information. You can also get ongoing feedback. And staying in touch will enable you to tell grads about new school programs and offers. Visiting employment agencies is a great idea. Our thought is that typically agencies don't hire entry-level workers. How is that working out for you? Having monthly goals is great. Thanks, Susan
We maintain a list of the employers who have hired our graduates in the past, as well as the phone calls we get for job orders. The list is continually updated and expanded when graduates return for continuing education. We would like to include visits to the employment agencies as a goal to be implemented within 6 months. Visits can be divided up into weekly and monthly goals. For example, 5 visits in one month.
Hi Lesli, Yes. There are many ways to keep in touch with your entire school community - prospects, students, staff, faculty, employers, alumni, and more. We find it's good to vary communication and there are so many ways - email, snail mail, open houses, fax, career days, social internet networking, blogs, and more. Be consistent and persistent. You'll build a loyal and interested following. Thanks, Susan
at our school we keep in touch by emails, giving them a courtecy call every other month and by visiting our sites.
Hi Linda, We also believe that the success of a career services department depends on employer relationships. That's why we encourage schools to reach out to employers. And also prospective employers. Take an interest in their job needs. What does an ideal new hire look like? What does the person need to know and what skills do they need? What is specific to their company that you might be able to teach? Then it is important to bring back this information to the director of education to be sure curriculum can be modified to include the new learning objectives. Thanks, Susan
Hi Karen, Good point. Yes, your next job openings are right with the companies that have already hired your grads. That's why it is important that your programs train students to be work ready the day they graduate. And why it is important to develop and maintain relationships with your employers. Using the same techniques you can reach out to companies that don't employ your grads yet. Tell them why it's to their benefit!, Thanks, Susan
The most effective way to build a list of employers for our college is to look to our placement report history. Since we are a small college, we tend to have a great track record with placing multiple graduates at local companies. This list tends to grow as time passes with new companies.
We also look to our alumni to help us continue the opportunities for the grads.
