Get Your Students Hired
Ive asked students how long have they been thinking about this career? How did they hear about it? Us? What are they doing now and is it related to why they are calling?
I ask if they have a ged and or hs diploma, and if they are a citizen or have a green card? Married? Single, Children schedule?
I like the are you and have you questions. This of course is more probing and personal. Does anyone object to too many questions?
Using open-ended questions is a great way to not only learn more about your student but to help them understand what they need to consider as they prepare to attend school. Thanks for sharing.
Dr. Jean Norris
Who is supporting you in making this decision?
How long have you been thinking about a career change?
What is your work schedule like?
Tell me a little about your past education?
What is your ultimate goal to accomplish with our training?
We teach a dive medical technician course and about 90% of the jobs require you to be a commercial diver; if they aren't really interested in doing commercial diving, I try to see if our other programs can accomodate what they are ultimately trying to accomplish, i.e. hyperbaric technician or our EMT program.
Open ended are best: "Tell me about your educational background" "Tell me about your employment background" Where do you see yourself in 5 years: what are your hopes/ dreams/ gaols? Where do you see yourself if you don't change the path you're currently on?"
Most helpful questions asked during probing stage:
Why are you considering a new career?
Where are you currently working (probe about how long/likes/dislikes) or unemployed (are you looking for work/what are you finding/why do you think you are not getting responses?)
How do you feel about your current income (if working)
What (field, career program) are you interested in? How long have you been interested? Have you researched it or know anyone else in this field?
Tell me about your educational experiences?
Who is supporting your decision to go to school?
Summarize what I heard from probing
Let them know we have solutions for their needs
Book the appointment!
Are you currently in school or are you working these days?
Who encourages you and supports you with your decision to go to school?
Do you enjoy the work you are currently doing?
How did you hear about our school?
Stephanie, thanks for sharing these open-ended questions. I'm curious, what information are you hoping to uncover using questions such as these?
Dr. Jean Norris
How long have you been interested in this industry?
What are your career goals?
When do you see yourself staring school?
What makes you interested in this field? Do you know someone in this field right now? If the individuals knows someone, I ask them: What do these people like about this field? How long have you been considering doing this? How does your family feel about doing this?
What prompted you to want to continue your education?
What stopped you from going back to school before?
Where do you want to see yourseld in 6month? 1 year? 5 years?
What does a job mean to you?
What does a career mean to you?
What attracted you to pursuing information from our school?
What are your long term goals in the medical field? Are you interested in an accelerated class or our more in depth class?
Jaime, thanks for sharing these questions. These open-ended questions can get the students talking. I wonder, what information are you hoping to gauge from the students by using these questions?
Dr. Jean Norris
Have you had any education past high school?
Why do you think now is the time to go back to school
Antonio,
That's a nice touch to start with questions that are more geared towards the student's discovery. How has this helped you in building rapport?
Dr. Jean Norris
I normally start asking questions looking for background,skills, expertise,goals,motivation,a question that allows me to know personal interests and what seems to be the target. then I proceed with the information we need.
How did you hear about us?
- This question helps us find out where our inquiries are coming from.
How long have you been thinking about the Audio Technology Program? Have you looked into other institutes, what made you decide to contact us?
-These questions help us know their urgency and see if they are still shopping around.
Do you have any experience within audio engineering?
Are you currently working in the audio industry, if so what made you decide to look into going to school for it?
-This helps us find out if the program is right for them. If they will need a fast paced course or something slower.
Do you have any previous education within audio engineering, how far did you get?
-This will help us know what course they've done and what they haven't so we can use it to help intrigue them with a different course that they have not learned about.
Have you used Ableton, are there any other programs that you know?
-This question helps us sell our different types of softwares that comes with the program.
Tien,
Wow! Lots of great questions and a mix of open and closed versions. I'm curious, what is the purpose of your questioning? In other words, what do you do with all this information?
Dr. Jean Norris