As a school offering a Massage Therapy Diploma, students are usually not all that willing to let a school know their "real" income. Often in conjunction they do not even wish to disclose employment. It is an ongoing battle but we stress we need to provide the many agencies we report to accurate statistics and this helps a little. This is done along the way in the Program not after they graduate and it is too late. This shall become even more important with Gainful Employment new regulations.
Successfully meeting placement rates requires having the right Career Services team in place. At our campus there are 2 individuals responsible: one for the direct "placement" of students and the other for securing and placing students at externship sites. We have set focus groups that graduates attend to help them learn a self directed job search so that they can use these skills throughout their careers.
The biggest challange is actually getting the student to successfully complete their externship. In order to overcome this problem, we have a placement workshop, where we discuss the importance of completing their externship, because this could lead to their future job.
Our biggest challenge has consistently been graduates who decide to take time "off" to get married, have a family, or for other reasons. Though these graduates may intend to work at some point in the future, they often do not seek placement prior to the reporting deadline. We are alleviating this issue by requiring new students to meet with the Career Services Director to discuss their career path and plans/goals PRIOR to beginning classes.
Always remind students they need to give 100 percent to their career goals!!
What I have noticed from some institutions is that they guarantee job placement to graduate students. I feel that this not only takes away from vital interviewing and interpersonal skills as well as relationship building with employers, but I have not seen these practices in action to know if they are legitimate.
