Questions I find helpful:
What, specifically are you looking for in a college?
How did you become interested in that field?
Tell me about your previous education.
What previous experience do you have with this field?
Are you doing anything currently in this field, if so, at what level / in what capacity? What is your knowledge of this field now?
What are your goals once you succeed in this training? Are you interested in a career with a company, or are you more interested in starting your own business?
So what you are saying is that if the student knows where they are currently and can visualize where they need to go, you can help the student move forward and fill that gap, is that right? That sounds like a great technique. Thanks for sharing that with us Caterina.
Hi Shannon,
It helps to visualize the concept of where that student will be in their new career. When you can relate to the environment or surroundings of what this career choice might do for you, then that vision can result in an action to take place, which results in the prospect moving forward.
Thanks Caterina. These open-ended questions will allow the student to be able to answer fully and provide both you and the student with information. What specificially do you like about these questions in particular?
What is happening in your life currently that is making you consider a career in this field?
Where do you see yourself after you complete your education and graduate?
You're right, Andrew, every student is different and it's important we are aware of the specific needs of the student in front of us. Well- formed questions can be a powerful tool in helping the student to determine what it is that they want. As you ask questions, it's important that you keep in mind the goal. Is the goal to have them answer it honestly; is the goal for them to answer the way YOU want them to; or is the goal to help THEM figure things out?
Some questions from older admissions training methodologies used questions to get students to answer in a pre-determined way. Our challenge in today's environment is to tweak our questions to serve students in a very effective and ethical manner.
Everyone is diffrent, some know what they want others have to be directed. Some have no idea. we keep asking open ended questions find the pain then give them the prescription.
Great question, Andrew. These are great to ask to determine the student's future goals, indeed. It also sounds like you see that the answers to these questions help you to create short term and long term goals for your students. How do your students typically respond to these questions?
Where do you see your self in a year ,3 years and 5 years. This really brings a student to the table to road map there acheivements. step by step.
Sirena, most of your questions are open-ended which allows the student to share more information. Great! How would you change your first question, "Have you used a studio before?" to allow for an open-ended response versus just a "yes/no" response?
Have you used a studio before? How long have you been thinking about this career choice? Why are you choosing this path verses others? Why our school is a choice for you? What was high school like? (the reason for that question is because being an audio engineer you have to be a peoples person so exploring there communication and people skills are important as well as how fast they learn)
This helps me determine how responsible they are, if they have anything in there life to kep them on the straight and narrow path, or if they have anything that could they potentially loseby not getting there degree. I find this infrmation very useful, from a high school to an adult applicant.
These are all great questions, Jeremy. I notice that you tand to use open-ended questions. I'm sure that helps to initiatebthe conversation and gets your student talking about them. I'm curious about the question, "are you working?" - what are you hoping to find out with this question?
How did you hear about the college?
What made you contact us today?
Have you attended college in the past?
Are you working?
What are you interested in studying?
These are very interesting questions Patricia. Those first two allow for the student to take the lead and may provide more than one word answers. "What" and "How" questions are great for that.
What program of study are you looking to pursue?
How did you become interested in that field of study?
are you taking any classes now or have you taken any classes that got you interested in that field?
Is anyone helping you with your college search?
Good question, Patricia. Getting an understanding of the student's commitment level or motivation can be very helpful when you're trying to get a better understanding of what, specifically, is important to that student. How have you found asking the student about their college search helps you understand their commitment level?
" what are you interested in studying?"
I also like to ask how their college search is going to find out how far they are in the commitment process. It also gives me an idea of the type of situation they are looking to commit to.
I get the sense that you like to use open-ended questions, Gianna and that's great! Open-ended questions are a wonderful way for you to learn more about your students and what it is that they're looking for. My only caution is using "why" questions. Many times the word "why" implies judgment and can cause the other person to get defensive. How might you rephrase your first question to eliminate using the word why?
