Employer presentations...
Who can you ask to provide employer presentations? Who in your community can you call on to be a guest speaker about the industries for which you train? What do you have to do to approach these people to be part of your Placement Department?
Josephine,
Great points. Working faculty ideally talk about how the skills and knowledge they teach are used in the workplace. Hopefully they talk about the workplace a lot - the challenges and the satisfactions. This is a way to help students get used to or prepare for the world of work. We totally agree about the value of Alumni. They are usually ready, willing, and able to help in whatever way possible. They are credible people in the admissions department, can mentor students to help keep them in school. Alumni can also assist with placement by reviewing resumes, holding mock interviews, and lots more. When training students in the interview process, alumni might think of a job opening where they work that would be ideal for the student upon graduation. Maxk offers an online course on building Alumni Communities. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Faculty are a great resource. Particularly part time faculty that also work in the industry they teach. These are employers and educators so they have a high stake in sending the right message to students on what employers expect of a new graduate and good advice on how to get started in their career.
One of the best community resources for guest speaker series on the industries we teach have been our alumni. Because we have an existing relationship with these folks, it makes it a really easy sell and often times our alumni want to give back in some way. Having alumni present also gives the student a new perspective to consider, the people you are in class with could one day be your peer, boss, or your employee!
Stephanie,
Sounds like you are doing everything right, Stephanie. Very impressive. We feel every career school should have an active Advisory Board regardless of whether required. If you get the right people and hold just the right number of meetings - not too many and not too few - you will be able to determine how well your training matches the needs of the workplace. Grads should be work ready on day 1 on the job and not need any additional training to make a difference where they work. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Stephanie,
It's great that you are getting bona fide stats re salaries, etc. Be sure that the information you collect is specific to your area. There can be a great difference in salaries and job openings depending on where you are located. Many state licensing agencies do require that the placement information you provide is documented. Great point. Thanks
Dr. Susan Schulz
I have been successful in keeping Program Advisory Board Member by inviting all to give feedback and to present a list of training that they would like to see our school provide for potential candidates. We get equipment donations, employers who want to teach a specific class for a specific need and much needed feedback for success.
I have reached out to the Bureau of Statistics, Career Info Net and the Workforce Investment in my state to support trends, salaries, skills and knowledge regarding classroom curriculum. All have been supportive in their ability to provide me with updated information regarding job placement for my graduates.
That's great news. There are Workforce offices throughout the U.S. Great idea for all of us to check to see if there is a knowledgable Job Developer on staff. And then see if the person is willing to work with you on career and employment skills. Thanks for the good info.
His title is Job Developer & he is employed by Work Force 1. Marcia
This sounds great Marcia. Can you get the job title of this person. There may be a similar person in other communities. He sounds like a great resource. But whether he does exist elsewhere, we should all be able to find people like this who can assist in a variety of ways. It might take several people, but it all points to reaching out to our communities. There are many mutual interests between career schools and the needs of the community. It takes communicating. Thanks, Susan
One person I asked to provide a presentation is someone in a governmental agency who finds jobs for graduates who are hard to place.
I found out this man was working with a former graduate who had obtained & then within a very short period of time, lost two jobs. We had a mutual interest in placing this grad & decided to work together sharing contacts. Ultimately, one of our contacts resulted in a good job offer.
The man was very pleased with the success we had working together. We invited him to our school to discuss how we might work together in the future. We came up with a plan to do exactly that.
In addition, we invited the man to participate on our community advisory panel. He said he was honored & agreed to do so.
In conclusion, we targeted someone with mutual interests. It's in both of our interests to have our grads employed; therefore it made sense for us to work together. It's been a win-win for everybody.
HI Wanda, Sounds like you have a lot of strategies in place that work. You might want to look at the consistency and persistence of the career services department. Do you reach students early enough? Are there tasks for them to complete occuring throughout their school experience? What is their confidence level? Do you stay in touch with them during the job search process and give feedback for each interview. And most important - what are they doing on the job? You may place them - but what if they are a medical assistant and get a job in a hospital? But in the laundry room? So do you know where your grads are working and what they are doing? Always good to measure measure measure. Facts are what regulatory bodies love to see. Thanks, Susan
Our career development course is a part of the curriculmn which includes resume writing, interviewing skills, and developing the career portfolio. After the course we have our Career Fair in which we invite our past placed graduates to tell about their experience from day one to placement. Additionally community HR Personnel are invited to speak about their company and job openings. We have placed many students from our twice a year Career fairs.
Wanda S.
Interesting use of agencies. Perhaps you can also offer some of the skills training at your school. Then you won't have to rely on agencies and students might feel more comfortable staying on campus. Thanks, Susan
I usually start with agencies, I can always achieve anything I need from them. They help me with the students employments. They go out and take test, such as typing, writing, and reading. To test their knowledge and based on that they are placed in a salary and job.
Hi Theresa, Suggest you bring people in as often as possible. The more people the more talent you get to review. Put some measurements in place. See what gets results. Ask questions. You will discover many innovative ways to use employers to develop the best grads and make the most effective placements. Good luck, Susan
I have a large data base of employers. How often would you recommend to bring in guest speakers? Student population is about 900.
Hi Lawrence, Very good to remind us all the importance of employer relationships. To us developing and maintaining contact with employers and potential employers is a must and win-win situation. Employers can sit on advisory boards, review curriculum, give you feedback about your grads, hold mock interviews, give presentations about what hiring staff is looking for, how to keep a job, get a raise, mentor students, offer job shadowing opportunities, etc. Best wishes, Susan
Just getting out there, networking, and meet potential employers is the first step. Once they have confidence in you, they are willing to become partners in preparing the students. Like you said, they hold mock interviews that seem more “real” because they are out of the school and not with school staff. They then can follow up with the students and career placement on how the interview went and what improvements can be made. Once the employers trust you and see how you are preparing the students, they will be more than happy to forgo the fees for posting jobs and going directly to the placement office.
Hi Kerrie
Can you tell us more about your employer strategies. Employers can be a great resource. They can mentor, evaluate curriculum, hold mock interviews, tell students what it takes to get a job, improve on the job, get a raise, and make the employer interviewee relationship successful. Thanks, Susan
