Event Programming
While several of the suggestions mentioned are utilized or incorporated in the student learning experience at our school, the idea of holding a Networking Mixer appeals to me as a new way of encouraging students and graduates to practice their communication and presentation skills in a fun environment.
We held a "Block Party" once which was meant to enhance awareness of our school and its mission to our business neighbors as well as promote dialouge within our industry's local community thru an informal forum held before the block party began. It was a fair amount of work to coordinate but a successful venture overall.
I think it would be good to try something like this again only tailor it more for the students to apply what they are taught regarding their "soft skills" in a professional environment.
Identify at least one new event programming idea you learned in the course that you would like to see your institution implement (Job Skills Olympics, Job Fairs, Networking Mixers, Industry/Alumni Speakers, Intern/Extern/Volunteer Fairs). How do you believe this would improve graduate employment outcomes?
INDUSTRY SPEAKER SERIES AND ALUMNI SPEAKER SERIES SUCH AS PANEL DISCUSSIONS, WEBINARS. SKYPE INTERVIEWS AND OTHER RELATED WAYS TO FACILITATE GUEST SPEAKING EVENTS ARE GREAT FOR LETTING STUDENTS NETWORK BUT ALSO EXPOSING THEMTO THOSE WHO MODEL BEHAVIORS THAT LEAD TO SUCCESS.
The event that really interested me was the Job Skills Olympics. Because we have had low participation in the past, I think that having something fun and competitive may come across as more appealing. This will allow me to evaluate the students' skills in a less intimidating arena.
We have thought about doing mixers but haven't had the staffing to do this in the past. We do now. There are some employers that have suggested they would like to come in and talk to students about interview skills. I want to initiate some of these events and then also some events with our alumni that are successful in the field. We have utilized our alumni with facebook but I was thinking we could bring them in around the time of our job fairs to talk to students. I was thinking of doing this in the form of a sign up sheet with a limited number of students assigned to each session.
