Some of the teachers use panels in their classes but I think it would be beneficial for all the applicable teachers to implement this opportunity. We just completed a curriculum review recently and bringing employers/alumni into the classroom on a regular basis will become a reality.
Cathy,
I agree that student interactions with industry professionals and successful alumni helps improve overall placement rates. These interactions can take various forms. Casual interactions such as having the speakers join the students for lunch provides a intimate atmosphere in which the students may feel more comfortable asking questions and will be rewarded with straight forward answers. Other functions like a panel of speakers will help provide students with different points of view or will help solidify a particular point. A great starting point would be to ask some of your go-to employers to speak to a class or ask an instructor to arrange a time with an industry colleague. What other opportunities can you think of to bring students and industry speakers/alumni together? Is anything standing in your way of implementing this initiative?
Sheri Leach
I would like to see our school implement regular industry/alumni speakers. I believe these opportunities would provide students with a true sense of the "work world reality", increased confidence through opportunities to interact with industry professionals/alumni and a feeling that these opportunities may give them "a leg up" over other candidates in terms of being hired. Ultimately, I believe that these opportunities would increase our overall placement rate.
Manuel,
Please check back to let us know how the job skills Olympics work for your institution. You can also share your ideas and get best practices from others when you visit the Career Lounge.
Sheri Leach
I believe that job skills Olympics would something new and very effective, I will suggest to my institution, so we can start this type of event ASAP, .
Lazara, most students learn by doing. A great best practice is to conduct mock interviews and host a dress for success day. Can you think of another event that would help teach job skills?
Vivian, student - employer interaction can be a powerful learning experience. Not only will students gain real world perspective from their conversations, they will gain confidence and not feel as intimidated when speaking to an employer during an interview. Have you organized or participated in an event that produced these results?
Chasminh, job skill competition events not only benefit the participants, but other students on campus can learn as well. Keep everyone on campus informed of events and timelines, invite non-participating students to be spectators or judges. This will help raise the awareness of the career center and may help other students feel more comfortable with the advisors. Can you think of any other benefits?
One new event programming idea I learned and would like to implement is the job skill competition event. This is a great opportunity to bring out the competitive nature of students so that they can push each other in improving their skills.
I would love to implement the job skills Olympics. I feel with the type of students we have the hands on would greatly motivate and teach them much needed skills.
I would like to see our Institution implement Industry/Alumni Speakers and Networking Mixers as event programming to support our students in learning more about employment opportunities and achieving successful employment upon graduation.
I believe implementing these two event programs would foster a greater sense of community involvement and lead to higher graduate employment placement rates. Additionally, I believe students would feel they have an advantage in obtaining employment and they would gain confidence in this knowledge and from their interactions during these events.
