Unable to locate grads
We have a hard time with students and grads moving or canceling phones and email without notification. I have gone to lengths as far as creating a work Facebook to locate the students. What are some ways to get back in contact with graduates? At least I can still find students in school.
Hi Heather. Unfortunately every school has a hard time keeping in touch with grads or dropped students. Yet it is soooo essential to stay in touch and be the school that never leaves the student. There are many strategies. One is to constantly stay in touch with students while they are in school so you know of changes. Always get the cell phone and who to call in emergency. At the exit interview have the interviewee "friend" the student or grad. Convert the grad into an alumna or alumnus immediately and send lots of periodic newsletters and information to keep the grad attached to the school. This will get results. Not %100 but more than you are getting now. Thanks, Susan
We use outside resources like The Work Number to help locate grads. We also go through all of their files for other contact numbers like references. We have also done skip tracing to see if we can locate the grad. We have them do their resume and references in the first 2 weeks of school so we always go through thoes numbers first.
You bring up a challenging problem. Staying in touch with grads. There are two areas of focus. One is to locate the grads you have lost track of. The other is to put plans in place so you don't lose contact with new grads. This can happen with an effective alumni association. Before the student graduates be sure their contact info is current. Ask for contact info from a family member or friend. Ask to "friend" the student on facebook. Then after they graduate stay in touch every 2 weeks for a while and then at least once a month forever! Be sure you offer the grad a lot of reasons to stay in touch with your school. Then when you need information for placement or feedback about programs or a grad to visit the school - you'll have lots of contacts. And you won't have to spend time with skip tracing, etc. Thanks, Susan
I have made it part of my weekly goals to contact all of my graduates who are not currently working twice weekly. I also make sure to call all of my placed graduates at least 3 times to make sure they are comfortable with their new job. Prior to a student graduating I meet with each student individually to make sure both their resume and contact information are correct. I also make sure to get an email address and our Financial Aid Department collects references of family members and friends when the students enroll. So far, these steps have been very helpful in keeping contact with our graduates. We offer hands on training in a mechanically inclined industry and a large amount of our students are computer illiterate. Taking the time to meet with each person helps us to get a lot of our information from the students/graduates.
This is great Jennifer. By keeping in touch with grads you help to ensure you have their contact information. And you can determine what is preventing them from getting a job. In that way you can prepare workshops to overcome these issues. Great that you also stay in touch with your alumni. In addition to finding out how they are doing you can also ask them about job openings where they work and who their hiring manager is. You can also invite alumni back to work with students to encourage student success. Seems like you are doing everything right to stay in touch with alumni and keep their contact information up to date. This is critical for follow up, placement stats, and will impact on enrollment, retention, and of course placement. Thanks, Susan
I have found that not only having a work facebook but having an active and interactive constantly updated facebook page for the school I get more responses. For example, I had been trying to reach a student unsuccessfully so I wrote him on facebook with no response. Once I started actively posting job related advice, or interesting information, or commenting on his and other graduates pictures he responded. I've also noticed that being interactive with current students on facebook really creates a bond between myself and the students. They always want to know who's monitoring the page, its it me or someone else, and then we joke about it in the halls at school. This makes the students very comfortable and more likely to stay in touch post graduation.
Building a relationship while the student attends classes is imperative. Majority of the graduates will keep in touch with the person they spent the most time with. Instructors are also a great resource in helping you reach students who you have lost contact with.
Good point, Kathleen. Students do bond with their instructors mostly, sometimes staff, and other students. Instructors are a great source for locating grads. Another great strategy is to set up an alumni association and offer a lot of benefits to grads so they want to stay connected with your school. Best, Susan
This is great Lisanne. You have identified so many benefits of Facebook. A good reason to get every student and grad to sign up on your school Facebook page. And to ask students for their Facebook info during any exit interviews. As you point out, a lot of info can be disseminated via Facebook. It is also a great way to build rapport and relationships. Thanks for the tips. Susan
Yes Facebook is great! But I have a hard time getting them to fill out the required feedback forms we need from them, we've made the forms even available to fill out electronically. But some grads just don't want to take a min. out of their day and fill it out. What else can I do to encourage these ones to fill it out? I am persistent already with Facebooking, emailing and calling them.
Good point about getting people to fill out any form. When you find resistance you might ask some other students and/or grads to place calls to these people. Have them offer to fill out the form for the resistant person. You'll get the information, ideally in a phone call, and the involvement of the student and Alumni. Susan
using the technology of today such as FB and twitter is a great way to locate grads
Good idea. The secret to staying in touch with grads might also be alumni associations. This means staying in touch with them frequently before and after graduation. You want to motivate grads to have a reason to stay connected by offering them lots of services to meet their post school needs. Thanks, Susan
Hi I totally understand I found a website called The Work Number you have to pay for the service but it is worth the money it will tell you where a student works past and present and other information. Might want to check it out.
Doris,
Very valuable information. You might want to post on the MaxKnowledge Lounge as well. Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
This is an area we have a lot of problems in also. We have tried the Facebook approach, but are still having trouble locating past graduates. We have even tried using information from our Financial Aid department. Has anyone tried having an event for just past graduates to attend to gather information? We thought we could get information from the graduates that attend about classmates they keep in touch with.
Hope,
Finding and staying in touch with grads seems to be a universal problem. There are no easy solutions. What has to be done is to stay in touch early and often as students graduate. At the same time do whatever it takes to connect and then stay in touch with past grads. Starting an Alumni Community is a great way to get attention of grads and keep it. Be sure you offer your Alumni lots of benefits and never ask them for money. It's a way to keep them connected to your school for life. MaxKnowledge has a course on how to set up and benefit from Alumni Communities. thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
The way that we keep in touch with the graduates is by explaining them that we will be contacting them 30 60 and 90 days after they graduate to check on their placement status and then they fill out a contact form where they write the phone numbers of 4 people we can contact and also their own e-mail. so far it has work out very well.
Jymy,
This is good and is usually required by regulatory agencies. However, we think grads should be contacted every few days until they get a job. In that way you can provide whatever coaching assistance is needed during their job search process. Also you will be sure to stay in touch and be able to confirm their contact information. Alumni can assist in the process. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
