Targeting Intervention Strategies
Although we do not have a specific assessment in place to determine whether an intervention should be applied, I do use a rubric to measure employability skills during our students' final mock interviews. If a student does not perform well in the mock interview, I typically speak with them after class and schedule additional sessions to improve interview skills, emphasize professional dress, social cues, etc. I try to emphasize throughout the course that although our assignments, interviews, etc. are graded, the purpose of the class and all of the assignments are there to improve employability, and I will work with the them in and out of class toward overcoming barriers to ensure success.
Luckily we have an amazing staff that, if we have a concern for someone, we get together and find out the best way to approach said person. It has worked very well to where we have amazing communication with out students.
Jose ,
Jose, I applaud your institution's strategy. Can you share with us when the first meeting is and how often they meet? also, are the meetings sometimes done in group settings or always one-on-one?
Sheri Leach
Our institution work with the students from day one. They have a system in place to meet with students during the program. They have to assess students employability skill and barrier thru one-on-one intervention with each student. Then work with them to overcome those barrier and prepare them. They keep record of each intervention. We have a standardizes system but if the student need more coaching, they provide it to ensure the student is ready.
Does your institution’s career services department assess student employability skills and barriers to success prior to offering interventions? If so, what assessment is used and how are interventions applied? If not, how does the staff personalize interventions to ensure that the best approach is applied to each student?
Hi Joseph,
Whereas one person can't possibly personalize intervention approaches for each individual, how might make determinations about how you prioritize your intervention strategies and ensure they are appropriate for targeted cohorts? Might you focus on your reporting cohort graduates differently from beginning students or those who need intensive case management services vs. those who need self-help resources? What ideas do you have to adapt in these ways?
Robert Starks Jr.
With our career services department being under staffed, one person to help a student body of 500 students. I do not see that the staff can personalize interventions for each student at this time.
They are currently seeking to hire another person for the department.
ESTABLISHING WORKING ALLIANCES WITH STUDENTS AND HELPING THEM OVERCOME BARRIERS TO BECOMING EMPLOYED BOTH TAKE TIME.EARLY ITERVENTION IS NECESSARY AND A RELATIONSHIPSHOULD MAINTAINED FROM ADMISSION TO POST-GRADUATION.
We haven't so far but we are going to test run one we put together this Friday. We think it will help us determine who is self sufficient and who is a little bit more needy.One of the big questions we had on there is if the person had computer skills and were able to apply for jobs online or off of our job bank where our employers post jobs. We also ask them if they have a resume prepared or if they still need to make one.
We do now thanks to this class. I always thought I should have an assessment but wasn't sure how to put one together that would be meaningful. With the help of my supervisor and new co-worker, we think we have a winning survey. We will take it on its first test run Friday.
Carolyn,
The support from your President is great! Thank you for sharing and providing real-world examples of how partnerships (i.e. Your OneStop relationship) and buy-in from other internal groups (Faculty, Campus Leadership, etc.) can expand capabilities. You have many of the best practices in place and as your school grows, the challenge will be to scale them and to continue refining the foundation you have built. Thanks again for engaging so much and participating in discussion which is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of the learning experience. It enhances everyone's experience. I appreciate it.
Take care!
Robert Starks Jr.
Robert,
Our course is about 45 minutes long, and it's mostly just me! I do have a representative from our local Onestop come in to speak to the students one day during the end of the module. I also am lucky enough to have support from my Campus President-he helps facilitate our final interviews on the last day so that I can observe and make notes.
Carolyn
Carolyn,
How long is the course and do others facilitate or just you? This is a perfect example, by the way, of the many roles career professionals serve in the career college environment!
Regards,
Robert Starks Jr.
Robert,
Thank you!
Our course is designed to promote a variety of aspects of career development. We start out with resume building, focus on building a positive online presence through sites such as LinkedIn, create professional business correspondence such as cover letters and thank you letters, apply for jobs, practice interview skills, have professional dress days, and cultivate a personal portfolio. I did develop my own curriculum. I use a variety of methods to accomplish our course objectives, such as PowerPoint, handouts, worksheets, guest speakers, class discussion, and tutorials. I provide each student with a folder at the beginning of the module that contains all the handouts and worksheets we will use in the class. I put their name on the folders, and that becomes the folder they use to submit their final portfolio to me.
That's a great question! I have only taught and done career management as part of a smaller campus. However, I attended a very large university, and I have tried to translate some of the successful ideas that were implemented there into part of my methods. For example, building community within our campus. Ironically, this is a concept that I felt a very strong sense of as part of my large university (our campus population was almost 60,000 students!) Students, faculty, and staff there have such a strong sense of pride for their school, and it really improves the student (and staff!) experience. I do my best to promote this sense of pride on my own campus-by doing things such as building on campus events, promoting growth of student groups and our alumni association, and supporting other staff members. While I understand that it seems easy to get buried in all the tasks we 'need' to do as part of career services, I try to incorporate those extra things in whenever possible. The benefit (and I feel that this is translatable toward a larger campus) is that other people-staff members, faculty, students, alumni, community members start promoting the goals of your department. It is so beneficial.
I feel that if I was part of a larger campus, we would probably have to accomplish Admissions interviews in a different way. The students could all be a addressed as a group, I suppose (I already speak to them during Orientation, but we could schedule maybe a few group career sessions leading up to orientation?) We would lose out one the one-on-one interaction, but at least many of the predominant appointment goals could be met.
Carolyn,
It sounds like you have a well-designed program for interview assessment. Might you be willing to share what content you have as part of your course? Does this include PowerPoint presentations, handouts, student worksheets? Did you develop your curriculum for your class or did you decide to use a vendor? Just to get your thoughts, imagine having a population of 2,000 students vs. 200. How might you envision scaling some of the things you currently do? What might change for the Admissions interviews or the ways in which you currently address employability skills? I think this is likely something others with larger populations and low student-to-staff ratios might struggle with and would love to hear your ideas.
Thank you!
Robert Starks Jr.
