At CDA, the instructors interact with the students regularly as they have a history in the field they are teaching. Companies actively pursue information from my instructors on who is the best student, have the maturity, certain skills, military, etc. In most cases instructors remain in the class room to participate in the Employability and Communications class we provide. So job search activities are automatically included with the instructors. Our Instructor are readily included in Career Services.
Len,
Great that instructors are so involved with students. When you think about it, most students think the instructors are the school! We think that every instructor should be coached about how to talk about the world of work everyday. They need to show how the theory and skills taught in the classroom are used in the workplace. We feel that every instructor must have current work experience in the fields they are teaching. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
I think it is a good idea to start jobs search projects in the class room. Some of the students don't have a lot of experience with job search, interviews or even how to behave in a professional setting. I think that it is a good idea to video tape a mock interviews. This way the student will be able to understand what they can do better while interviewing or say the right things.
Students should be graded for how they conduct themselves during school.The students should learn how to make it a habit to be on time, dress appropriate and just on the job etiquette.
Of course the students feel the instructors are the school, they spend the better part of their time with the instructors and trust them more. Since my school teaches a speciality, the instructor have had "real world" experience and bring "all" of it to the classroom. Even the process of employability and communications. The instructors here, at my school, make my job easier.
KIMBERLY,
Great strategies and very easy to put in place. And you are right - start the employment skills training as early as possible. Students need the skills and self confidence and it takes a while to build them. Reminder that alumni can help so much with this process. Alumni can hold mock interviews, review student resumes (and reduce your work load), tell you about job openings, and mentor students. It all helps to teach the inexperience student about the world of work. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Len,
Sounds like you know how to hire great instructors! It is so important for instructors to constantly talk about what they do on their job and how the theory and skills learned apply. We think that talking about the job makes the world of work real and less scary to the new and inexperienced student. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
I think its a great idea to be in the class rooms this helps with building effective career plan for the students. I like to give projects of networking. I aske the students to pick two locations that is in field and two locations related to field. Then compare skills needed. This helps with career paths.
Dorothy,
Interesting assignment about networking. Where does that fit within your list of employment skills assignments? We think that students have to be prepared to reach out and talk to people. They certainly need a high level of confidence, which takes time to build. Perhaps they also need a "script" or talking points to connect with the people at the locations and explain what they want to do. This is a great idea. It is amazing how much preparation is needed to make it work. thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
It is very important to integrate a career prep class for all programs and if they require externship even better so we can have the direct feedback of the externship sites. As a vital part of the school the instructors need to be involved in preparing the student not only with the skills but all possible aspects of an employer's expectations.
ARIELYS,
We agree that employment skills training needs to be happening every day and in class and through workshops. We also think that if there is an externship then students have to be specially prepared for that. Externs must think of their experience as an extended job interview! They need work ethic training plus all the skills and knowledge. The must know the importance of being professional and doing their best. We once worked with a school that has 100% placement from its externship sites. Isn't that great? It does take a lot of work. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Currently, the instructors conduct interviews with professionals from the students' field of study. Do you think inviting a former graduate to assist with mock interviews would be beneficial?
Ingrid,
Thanks Ingrid, Successful placement services means persistent and consistent attention on the job - which is the goal of training. Great that instructors are conducting mock interviews. Alumni are also a great help in the process. They can talk about life on the job, the fears of the job search process, how to overcome them, skills needed, and more. We think that everyone on staff needs to take responsibility for assisting students to gain skills to get placed. Thanks
Dr. Susan Schulz
For our school I think the easiest would be for instructors to have them write down in groups what they do during their clinical rotation sites. This would help form their resumes and they could be uniform among all students. The instructors would be able to help fill in the gaps and remind them of items they may forget that could be important to the working world. Instructors could also relay and ask students "what are our sites looking for in you as a good employee?" to begin dialogue surrounding job retention. Perhaps the most difficult would be negotiating salaries and asking for a raise.
Leah,
Clinical rotation sites offer opportunities and challenges. The goal is to meet all requirements for each clinic rotation. This requires a checklist of knowledge and competencies to be practiced. We think this all needs to be formalized with constant evaluation by the site supervisor and school clinic supervisor Before students start their clinic or externships they need to be trained to view this as an extended job interview. This means they need to know employment skills. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Our most popular activity that really engages the students is having them create a list of 10 contacts to invite to their portfolio review event. After prepping the student on job search techniques, cold calling, and researching we turn it over to them. We tell them, this is your future so who do you want to work for? This is your chance to connect with your dream company-no strings attached. We ask each student to research 10 companies in the area they want to work for and find out the name of a contact person. It's up to them to contact the employer and invite then to the event. The key marketing strategy the student shares with the employer is, "You have an opportunity to meet X number of potential future employees, with no committment!". The point of this exercise is the instructor is giving the students a sense of ownenership in their future but at the same time instilling good networking practices with the students.
Josephine,
Wow. This is great. This activity helps to improve self confidence and get the student to be responsible for the job search process. You can then be seen as a resource. We assume that you get copies of the company, decision maker, and contact information? It is important to provide coaching and feedback to students at each step. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Job Description Analysis exercises. Some students that have not worked in their field of study are not able to decide if some of the job requirements are a match for their skills. Also, some of the industry verbiage may be foreign to students who lack experience.
Arlissa,
Good points. All this reinforces why employment skills and career services training should start early, be frequent, and be required. Students don't have any experience in getting a serious job. It takes more than a course or end of program meeting to give them the skills that are needed. Alumni can help overworked career services staff. Alumni can work with students and grads on the verbiage, resumes, mock interviews, and other concerns related to getting a job. By the way, MaxK offers a course on how to set up an Alumni Community. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
As the career services coordinator at my school one of the activities that I have helped implement is a resume writing workshop in our classrooms. I provide the instructors with a resume worksheet that guides students with the breakdown of writing a resume that they really enjoy and find helpful.
Nicole,
Sounds great, Nicole. We feel that resume writing and other employment skills training requires a lot of repetition and practice. We are also aware there are many new forms of resumes that students need to be aware of. Depending on your industry the resumes and portfolios might very further. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
