Getting the student to use their resources.
I am having a problem getting the students at my school to use the career development services that are here for them to use. I call them, e-mail them and I'll be lucky if out of 20 students, 5 call me back. Any ideas?
If you are at a school, like I was, where there were Externships required, no one could go out on Externship until all the departments signed off and in my case a resume was prepared. So I saw every student. Then between the completion of Externship and Graduation I would call the students (who hadn't been hired at the Externship) and tell them I was working on some job leads and wanted to discuss the opportunities with the students. Once in my office I would discuss job search, interviewing, networking etc. At the end when asked about the job leads I would say that I had leads I was working on and that they should keep in touch with me weekly and meanwhile do what we discussed to make sure they took advantage of any and all possible opportunities on their own. I would then follow up with the students on the phone and they usually took my calls.
My first question is do you and how often do you meet with the students?
If you are not meeting with the students more than twice a month than I would suggest doing so. The more contact you have with your students the more likely they are to respond to your phone calls and emails. Students want and need to feel like someone cares about them and their future. We feel like that we show them that by offering the different resources that we do but in fact, they might need some hand holding.
Like we said in admissions smile and dial!
HI Faith - We totally agree that handholding is perfectly fine to build relationships with students, get them through any difficulties, and coach them in whatever areas they need extra help. That's what differentiates our sector from other postsecondary options. It's important to see you as a resource and feel comfortable about answering your calls, emails, or text messages. Best wishes, Susan
Interesting points about externships. Great idea to require students to create resumes prior to the externship. We hope that students are required to update their resumes at the end of the externship because they certainly have more experience to add. Great idea that you develop job leads for the grads and have them call you weekly. But that's a lot of time between calls and a lot of time to go without interviews or work. What about giving grads assignments they can complete like sending out letters and resumes to companies they want to work for and encouraging them to call you more often than once a week? Thanks, Susan
It's a common problem, Furman. Unfortunately. One way to overcome this is to go to the students. Ask for time in the classrooms and go to where they congregate during break times. Ask Admissions to introduce you to new students. Perhaps offer a required career services course or workshops. Match students up with grads or seasoned students so they can meet with you with a buddy to give them more confidence. Good luck, Susan
I agree with all comments/suggestions provided. Personally, I feel that our students/graduates lack the confidence and/or motivation and feel they won't succeed. Therefore offering required career service courses or workshops will help build the needed confidence to go out and secure that first job. Good luck!
Hi Eric
We totally agree that the most important skill graduates need is confidence. Most have a great fear of leaving school and entering the job search process. That's why we believe that skill and confidence building has to go along with learning the theory and lab of the project. In fact, it's a good idea to list competencies that the student has to complete in order to "graduate" from Career Services. This includes getting over their fears and feeling comfortable during the entire job application process. Thanks, Susan
