Yes, Ubaldo. We also agree in the power of alumni. Alumni can increase enrollment, retention, and introduce you to lots of hiring decision makers. Alumni Associations are still new to career schools. The schools who are thinking ahead are setting up alumni associations. MaxKnowledge will soon have a course on how to set up alumni associations. Susan
I think that a great way to identify and keep an effective list of employers could be also through the alumni, which are already working in different professional fields.
Hi Jack,
Thanks for sharing these strategies with us. They are a great way to create a network and make connections that are long term with the community. The end goal of every program is quality placement for each student. This is a great way to get the part of the effort moving forward.
Gary
by specialist that have hired in the past
The most effective way to build a short list is to send surveys to graduates who are working in their field and ask about their experiences and another way is to join the local business clubs and send them weekly newsletters about our school and the programs available to our students. I have also noticed in our newsletter employers will post openings to new graduates and with that information I create a separate file for the employer and suggest certain students to apply.
Sounds like you are at a perfect time in your school development to put all these community outreach strategies in place. Building a list of employers is key. Then visit them, develop strong relationships, sustain the relationships, and keep employers involved. You might want to poll your staff to see what local organizations they belong to. Maybe they can spread the word about your school to the org memberships. You are sooo right that it's all about getting out of the office and visiting employers, groups, and more. Once I asked a school owner how many people were on his advisory board. He told me 150. I thought it was an exaggeration. Turns out he convinced me since he is out in the community every day. His community definitely knows about his school. And is very much involved. You have that opportunity. Thanks, Susan
Since we are a new school we are just in the progress of building our list of employers. We will be utilizing our externship sites, networking both in the community and using the internet. We also run a low cost clinic that we will be a good source of promotion for our school and possible employment opportunities. Getting out of the office and visiting sites and centers and promoting our great students and school will also be an effective tool we will draw on.
This is great Angela. You have outlined a formula to reach employers. Now the task is to create a plan to systematically introduce yourself, set appointments to meet with employers, and stay in constant touch to get feedback re your programs and when jobs open. You'll probably want to stay in touch after your grad is hired. You want to be sure that grads stay on the job and are successful. And if not what changes have to be made with the program. Building relationships with employers also gives you the opportunity to enroll their employees. Thanks, Susan
Effective ways to build a list of employers that are likely to hire our graduates are through graduate and employer surveys, networking at job fairs, cold calling, developing a reaching out letter to employers, joining various chamber of commerces and attending community events.
Good question, Amy. It is important to measure the results of every marketing initiative. That means the effectiveness of your website. You will probably need some technical assistance. But at the least you can measure quality and number of students that come from your website compared to other advertising strategies. Typically websites work best if you have someone to increase your internet viewership (SEO). That means that there are many ways to drive traffic to your website. Of course your website has to be easy to navigate and the information needs to be clear and complete. Thanks, Susan
I absolutely love this idea!!!! We need this and I am going to communicate this idea to my employer. How have you measured the affectiveness of having a website like this vs. the cost?
Hi Bonnie, You have outlined all the problems that face schools. And did a great job. Some solutions take time. LIke you need working grads to introduce you to their companies. In the meantime, you might want to schedule your time so that you are out of the office and meeting with employers at least 80% of your time. This requires creating a list, emailing them, phoning for an appointment, and then visiting with a brief and informative presentation about your school. Plus time to find out about their needs. Create a relationship and then develop and maintain it. It's all about networking. Takes time. Like planting seeds. Good luck, Susan
I will be very honest and admit that finding and connecting with employers is my biggest challenge as Director of Career Services so far. I have been most fortunate with the employers that have reached out to us looking for employees. I have stayed in touch with them and continue to give them thanks for leads that they send. Part of the problem is that we are a smaller (and newer) school and I just don't have that many graduates to send to these employers that have reached out to us. I guess the answer would be to stay in touch with regular communication until we do have a graduate to send their way? Should I develop a newsletter to send out a few times a year? Direct communication? Site visits?
In direct answer to the question, I do have a "short list" of employers that I frequently refer to. I developed the list by brainstorming, doing research on local companies, and referring to documentation that shows where our graduates have gone in the past. I also include any companies that have reached out to us looking for employees.
I saw in the thread that I should be making 5 calls a day to make employer connections. Is there any advice as to what I should be saying to these employers? Especially when I don't have any graduates to send to them immediately? What should be the action/follow-up plan for these calls?
We totally believe in community outreach and relationships with employers. We feel a school needs one person who spends all their time in the community to make that happen. Thanks, Susan
We like the concept of the hidden job market. Can make it fun to put in strategies to find it. We think it is easy. Just develop relationships with the hiring decision makers and keep showing them why your grads are the best. Thanks, Susan
Great point. And the only way to find out about these jobs is to develop and sustain relationships with hiring decision makers. That takes work but can be done. One way is to stay in touch with your grads and ask them who hires where they work. The goal is for all companies to see your school as a great source for new employees. Thanks, Susan
We agree. In fact, we feel a school MUST have a community outreach program to develop and sustain relationships with all employers in the community. Thanks, Susan
Got it. Again, back to your discussion earlier about the importance of building those relationships with employers. Thanks.
Ryan
What I refer to as the hidden job market are jobs that are not posted to the public - jobs that are avaiable and are found out about becuase of a call or visit to the employer.
Yes, relationships are the key. What do you mean by "the hidden job market?" This is a new term to me so I'm curious what you mean. (I'm a very curious person who loves information!)
Ryan
(in for Susan)
