Excellent. Grad prep is great. The key is to connect career services and employers early in the enrollment process.
Dr. B
Our Career Services-placement- Department does a grad prep with all student starting their program. They then meet with the students within the first 3 months to start getting to know them and prepapring for getting them hired. They also have started going into the classrooms and talking with students as well as bringing in employers to talk with the students.
They help our students write resumes and apply for jobs as well as giving them leads and helping them prepare for interviews and follow-up from interviews.
Things that could be improved:
The Grad prep is a little boring- it could be made a lot more exciting- maybe bringing in employers from the begining to let students know what employers are looking for.
The Career Services team could put on monthly workshops for students helping them with things such as resumes, job searching, interview skills, taking entrance exams for a job, etc...
We could hired a couple other people to work in the Student Services Department so that we can work more one on one with students.
Good. Do you have chats with students to inform them why? Professionalism is a major issue with employers... So, practicing is a good thing. Tell students why and what is in it for them.
Dr. B
Professionalism is emphasized every day at our school. Attendance, being on time, and appearance are every day tasks that can be taught and are effective for success.
Good. Now, how can we get them involved early in the process. You will find that early involvement and advisement on job opportunities is one key to retention.
Dr. B
They help them create a resume and help keep it current. We also have job fairs and quest speakers from the trades from time to time.
We have a on-line job board which places all new jobs weekly. THis department also assists student with resume seminars and have advisors to assist students with their job goals.
They also have employer seminars in which employers come to school to recruit students and 2 job fairs a year for recruting.
The career service advisors also go into the classrooms to make presentation about the services their department offers. They also assist students prior to going out on externship.
Instructors, Admissions, and other staff refer students to Career Services if the need arised for students to find jobs.
At the school where I work we have a great program,I feel that they will go above what most would think as a good way to help the student get ahead, they have gone out and made sure that the studwent get every chance to recieve the help they need to find a job even if in some cases finding a ride for them as well. I don't know of any other school that has made this much effort to see that the students recieve and are even asked if they are employed if not they try to find out why or why not . Great job if I can say so.
This a tough subject at our school. You try to support the students individuality and keep them in uniform. I have to do line ups at the beginning of each class. I try to get them to feel proud of the uniform.
The placement department at the school interacts with the students. Maintains a board in the center of the clinic with all the available jobs, contacts students as they approach completion to inform them of what is available to them.
Our Career Services Department hosts many part-time job fairs and "employer days" as well as career fairs twice a year. They publish an updated part-time job list every week on the student portal and they have a resume intern in their office to assist students.
We also have advisors for every student whose focus is to talk with students about job experiences and possible externship sites.
Our students have heard about employment from their first visit and throughout their time in school. Nearly every class links the content to what the student will actually be doing in the field.
I believe this directly corresponds to our high retention rates.
The course I teach we have the students write a resume. We have them dress up and go through mock interviews and teach them the interview process. We also have great job placements for our students when they graduate and local job placements while they are in school.
Excellent. I like that they hold frequent job fairs. The idea is to link career services early in the educational process. Thanks for sharing.
Dr. B
Our placement department goes through extraordinary measures to publicize their department and its responsibilities to our students. They often hold job fairs where employers are invited to address the student body and interview potential candidates. This gives our student body an outside prospective of the industry they’re entering and shed light on any expectations. They also have a web site where potential employers can post information. Workshops are also held periodically to teach the students things such as successful interviewing techniques as well as proper etiquette and attire
Do you measure how many students get a job at the externship site? You should and you should publish this... students appreciate knowing that you are training them to succeed.
Dr. B
We have an externship coordinator that works directly with the students from day one. He is a part of the Career Services Dept. and introduces himself at orientation. He plays a more direct role nearly half way through their time at school
Excellent. This is an important link to current students. Why? Becuase students see success... therefore, they start to think, "if he did it, then I can do it." Hence, retention.
Dr. B
our career services department often puts on job fairs involving both local and national companies. Specifically for our pastry-focused students they started a question/answer forum involving area pastry chefs (to include graduates of our school who have started their own bakeries) who take a tour of our facilities, sit in on our classes, and sample student work. It not only familiarizes the chefs with the intensity of our program but also gives the students an invaluable networking opportunity.
Chefs and career services need to work together for the good of the student. Both are responsible for helping students to enter the profession. Do all that you can to get career services involved early in the process.
Dr. B
Thats a great question. To be honest with you, our placement person is soooo busy and it seems udnerstaffed. The chefs (faculty) play a big roll in helping the students out with resumes and such however, I do think we need to put more resources into the placement department.
