Get Your Students Hired
My team and I are currently working with a student that has unreasonable expectations. She is to the point that she is demanding us to complete her applications for employment, and even trying to have us assist her with her assesments. Have any of you come across this behavior and what advice do you have for us? She seems very dependent on my team and I and we don't want to offend her.
Greg,
the great point here is to get to know our students personally & know how to help motivate them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I agree completely. Often times, I have to understand the student or their personality in order to reach them. Once I determine the approach they are most comfortable with, I try to make progress by pushing them to do things on their own. I give them leads and assistance, but I limit what I do by the responses they give me back in what they are doing themselves. The more they push, the more I push. If I have a student who is highly UN-motivated, I do have to spend more time working/teaching in their soft-skill development.
jonathan,
this is a challenge & one that we are faced with constantly. I believe through a slow process we can teach them to stand on their own two feet.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I see this more and more with new student coming in and wanting everything done for them with no effort on their part. I would lie to have some training on how to handle / teach thins new generation of entitlement kids.
As an educator, I have noticed that the current generation in full of individuals that have a strong sense of entitlement. They are unwilling to be flexible and work toward career goals. Ultimatley, I think that this student needs to take ownership of her career goals and use the career development team for guidance.
Ellie,
yes, the best gift we can often give someone is to have these type of tough conversations.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I would move toward a conversation with this young woman, discussing the importance of a group effort, but also highlighting the role/responsibility of each individual. We can benefit from collaboration, but we must also be individually assessed to determine strengths and weaknesses within our self. It would be good to redirect this behavior before she is delivered into the career market...the demands you have mentioned would make her susceptible to being quickly singled out and eliminated in most organizations.