Placement Services
Discuss ways to enhance your placement department regardless of how many employees or staff hours you can budget for it.
1. Invite employers or potential employers to be on my advisory board.
2. Invite employers to come to the student clinic and experience massage from the students.
3. Organize supervised outreach (chair massage or sports massage) with area gyms or sports facilities.
4. Organize supervised chair massage outreach with local corporations as a service to their employees.
Sandra,
Sounds interesting. Please let us know the policies and procedures you set up, who the service is for, and other details like impact on placement, employer relationships, enrollment, and more. We think governing and advisory boards are one of the keys to success. Of course many regulatory agencies require them. But, it is really how you structure and use them that matters. It also depends on who you invite to sit on your boards. Members have to commit to be involved. They also need to have great ideas, care, and be a draw. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
We know the importance our governing board puts on placement. As a result, we have decided to open a job placement service as an additional component to our school.
Aaron,
Good points. We think that community outreach is a must. A school rep must visit with every employer and potential employer. It is important to know what skills and knowledge grads need to be work ready. By staying in touch with the community you learn about new jobs and training needed. And of course you learn about job openings, externship openings, and more. It's a partnership. Employers need to look at career schools as The source for training and staffing. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Getting employers to visit schools regularly will create relationships that will lead to placements. Employers wll by nature begin to have an interest in the welfare of the training and outcomes of students. This is espectially true for any employers who actively participate in the extern or internship programs for a school by training the students.
Eric,
WE agree. People enroll in school to get a job. Usually they care more about how the school will assist them to do that than the course work. Sounds like you offer comprehensive career services that are also customized to the student. That is so good. One on one support is key to success. It is great that you are staying in touch with employers and potential employers. They can give you great feedback about how well trained your grads really are. Also great that so many people at your school are involved in the employment process. We actually feel that career services people should sit in admissions and be part of the admissions process. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Placement is an essential piece of the education pie. It is the result that students are expecting. There are several ways to enhance the services we offer to students. Our career services staff meet with students as early as their first quarter to discuss their career plans. Ongoing meetings can occur throughout the year students spend with us. Additional help is available around topics like interview skills, resume writing, career planning, practic building etc. We offer both 1x1 support and group skill building sessions. We also spend a considerable amount of time building relationships with local providers who might be interested in hiring our graduates. Our deparment maintains a jobs board and attempts to connect graduates with those looking to hire. We also have students interview local business owners, shadow a professional and create both short and long term SMART goals for after graduation. Most importantly this is not left up to one individual, faculty teach students the skills and attitudes they need to be successful, admissions prepares students on the front-end and we follow up with alumni to continue offering support.
Hi German, Online students and ground students all benefit from similar employment skills and job search training. All students need the specifics of how to write a resume, for example. Plus the confidence to conduct the job search and be successful. There are many tasks and exercises that can be completed on line for both types of students. Instructors can provide feeback and coaching via phone and email. Online students can be taught to use local job research opportunities. Every town has newspapers, professional organizations, companies, and more to contact. Only the specifics change from town to town. For those students who are aleady employed, we suggest they complete detailed questionnaires and forms to show how they are using their training from your school to grow their own businesses or use at their current job. Thanks, Susan
In my case, running an online school, I find that the vast majority of my students are already employed. Also, we have students dispersed globally. I have focused my team on developing a platform to develop interviewing, presentation, and networking skills. Something that may be more universal. How may an institution like mine present a more hands on placement strategy?
Good points Brian. Offer programs where skilled and trained workers are needed in your community. And those that match the needs of the current economy. Great that you meet with employers on a regular basis. That's the only way to be sure your curriculum is relevant. It's the only way to anticipate changes and updates that will be needed to ensure your grads are always work ready. Making sure your students have current technology and tools is vital although it can be expensive! But as you said - your school is on the cutting edge. And the word is probably out. Thanks, Susan
Very good idea, Harry. It is very possible to involve the entire school - staff and students in placement and publicizing your school. This could be a once a year campaign set up like a contest with goals in different categories such as number of new employers, new job listings, new places to talk about your school and its career training, and more. There can be different goals for the staff and students. Thanks, Susan
I work for a private post-secondary tech/trade and medical school. Our primary goal is to offer only those programs that have the most viability in the long term job market. While some programs, like Electrician and HVAC Tech trend with the ups and downs of the housing market, for the most part even they have long term viability.
The way we make sure that our programs curriculum aligns with what employers want is that we hold semi-annual meetings with the employers where we ask them to critique our current curriculum.
We then take their comments and suggestions to in-house curriculum committees we have for each program where we edit the curriculum and determine what resources are needed to implement the changes. In some cases we have to change the tool students are required to have to complete the program. In some cases we have to acquire new or different equipment in our lab and shops in order to train students in the new curriculum.
These committees [of employers] are in valuable in keeping our curriculum at the cutting edge of technology and providing us with the infomation we need to produce valuable prospective employees.
GET THE ENTIRE STAFF AND STUDENT BODY INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS. EXAMPLES ARE:ASSIGN THE STUDENTS/ STAFF PROJECTS TO BRING IN NEW COMPANIES LISTS LOCATIONS ECT.Mail letter of intro inviting them to hire entry level from your schoolk explain cost saving invite them in for school tour
Hi Christopher - You are quite right. Regardless of the changes in the economy you need to provide systematic employment skills training and job search assistance to every student with the goal that every graduate will get a job! It's a challenging task. But once you have a plan in place it can be easy to implement and to update as needed. The placement department has to be alert to job saturation in your community. There are just so many x ray tech job openings for example. If there are fewer job openings in any field you train for it is important to bring this to the attention of school leadership. Best wishes, Susan
Our school does everything we can, regardless of how many employees or man hours. The economy has and continues to change, and we need to do everything we can to make sure our students get into the career he/she wants and deserves. Having a resource room for the students, Job search seminars, how to interview, resume's. I think that 1 on 1 time with the Placement specialist is crusial. Having the GPS actually knowing the student can really help.
Hi John and Chad
We encourage schools to hire instructors who also work in the field - industry professionals. Then the instructors can talk first hand about the job and workplace. We also encourage schools to bring in professionals from each industry to be on hand to coach students, tell them what working is really like, and talk about the job requirements and how to be successful. Thanks for the ideas, Susan
Hi John
Really great ideas. Yes, students should be taught to investigate their prospective employer. What is the work culture, advancement potential, organizational structure,products and services? During an interview grads will really sound informed and interested in their prospective employer. We also support the idea of joining professional organizations. Many schools offer student membership in relevant organizations and encourage students to get involved. Thanks for the ideas, Susan
For professional occupations, one helpful way to increase the success of students and graduates is to teach techniques for researching prospective employers. During the process of researching a given field or company, speaking with current employees can reveal a lot about their respective organizations. That interview process can reveal a lot about the company and provide a basis for key themes to hammer away at during the initial interview, or just to secure that interview in the first place. Taking an active role in professional organizations is another way to get leads on jobs before they become public.
I agree with Chad. Having industry professionals on staff is extremely helpful in navigating past the 'gatekeepers' to those making the hiring decisions.
