People who can assist with these exercises are Human Resouce Personnel in the community. Include people at both large and small compnaies. Ask whem to share some of their pet peeves and what are some qualities they look for when evaluating a position.
Staff can be a big assest if they insist that students complete this exercise to be eligible for graduation or to complete a program. They can enter at particular point ( completed 75% of their program requirements) to ensure that you ahve the more serious students.
Hi Sundra
Great idea to get human resouces people involved. If a comapny is too small for an HR department then maybe the president can be invited. They can have a great impact on getting your grads ready for the workforce. I agree that placement exercises should be required and students should know that placement and employment skills training is part of their fees. And make it a privildge to attend.
Great ideas.
Susan
Hi Susan, because our programs are geared towards self-employment, we encourage students to take a secondary program that covers setting up a business and clinical consultancy. For students that are taking our programs to enhance their current position we encourage them to participate in our Honors program, which requires a community project - This approach gets our students into their individual neighborhoods and gives them the skills to evaluate what is available to them upon graduation. As you know we are a distance educator and there is really no access for students to sit down and prep for interviews, however I have weekly follow-ups with our faculty to encourage them to guide each student's career goals from the first assignment. This seems to make it easier on the student from the get go. I will see if we can incorporate some career achievement diary format for students so they have a clear idea of what they have done over the course of the program. Thanks Kate
Hi Kate
Great idea to suggest or offer coureses on how to set up your own business, develop it, and practice management techniques. The community project sounds like a great way to push students to discover what other opportunities there are for them. Also other ways to serve the community. I don't feel distance education is an obstacle to interview skills development. There are books that provide great training and practice in interviewing. I just got a new catalog from JIST publishing. They have many many books on employment skills development. Something to look at. We find that encouraging career goals, planning, and building from the state has a positive impact on student retention and success.
You're doing great.
Susan
I think we will set up a short cohort class that has intakes regularly for student employment skill development. I really think students like grow with their classmates (it seems to add more motivation to complete) Often students can peer council better than an instructor can due to time constraints. I will get the book and read up (never can have enough books on my shelves) Have a good one Susan. Thanks again. Kate
Thats a great Idea - I could adjust this for an online guest lecture type series. Thanks
Hi Kate
The short cohort class of distance ed students sounds like a great idea. Students do learn from each other because each one is at a different level or has varied experiences to share. Lots of books on resume development, interviewing, salary negotiating,etc. available. You could even put together a list of resources for students and certainly have them suggest books and materials to add.
Best, Susan
This is true. If you have any other books that you would recommend let me know. I seem to buy the latest book and never have time to read them, so I always take suggestions. Have a great night. Kate
Our school also offers a comprehensive Professional Developent course. Unfortunately, some of the students who need the most coaching in this area are the ones who tend to not take this class seriously, therefore simply go through the motions and then wonder why they have trouble developing the resume after graduation.
Hi Sacey
Sounds like the Professional Development course is an opportunity your students don't realize is an opportunity. Maybe the course has to be marketed more. Sell the results and the sizzle, not the work. Issue statistics about the success of students who completed the course. Also you might want to look at the instructor and the course content. Maybe something has to be changed to make the course exciting and create lines of students to get into class.
Susan
Susan
We incorporate all the exercises in this module in a required course, "Portfolio/Resume and Career Preparation." I'm interested in additionally having a program in which successful alumni mentor students. Many of our students are not participating in professional organizations; I believe a mentoring program will help those students develop a more professional mindset. Do you have any experience with such programs? What activities are typical (such as job shadowing and periodic meetings)? How can I make it attractive to the alumni and the students?
Hi Sharon
Great idea about getting successful alumni to mentor students. Lots of ways to set up a mentoring program with both formal and informal requirements. However, no matter how you plan, mentors usually do what they want. And usually that is ok as long as the student has regular contact with someone who wants them to succeed. Activities can certainly be job shadowing, weekly meetings, working on homework together, showing how theory is applied in the workplace, practicing interviews, setting personal and professional goals, looking at job opportunities together and assessing them.
As to getting students involved in professional organizations - one way is to pay for all or part of the first year membership. Sometimes organizations have student memberships, which are lower. Makes a nice package. Also plan to go to meetings together.
How to get alumni and students involved? One way is to make it a privilidge to participate in the mentoring or other programs. Set up some criteria to qualify. It will be trial and error. The key is to keep adding alumni to be sure you have a lot of mentors. You could also offer alumni other incentives such as continuing education classes at no charge. Just have to watch that you stay compliant with your regulatory guidelines.
You have shared a lot of great ideas.
Thanks
Susan
We also have a required Career Development class during which the students develop resumes, cover letters, reference lists, thank yous and portfolios. It does seem to be the class the students cut the most, especially if it is the last class of the day. We have the usual speakers from outside come in to talk about what employers are looking for, etc. One thing that we have done is to have graduates come in to talk to the class about the job that they were just offered. Having the student come in to talk about their experiences and how the portfolio or prepared answers to "Tell me about yourself" helped them get the job. Attendance is usually better after we do this because the students hear from their peers that what we are saying in class is helpful.
Hi Alison
Thanks for the great information. Too bad students cut out on the Career Development class. Maybe to be expected. Sounds like there is one thing you know already to keep them interested. That is having them listen to successful grads. So why not invite grads within the first day or two of class. Have the grads focus on how the class helped them get a great job. You might also raise the grading standards for the class making attendance more important or establish a higher grade to pass. Or make it a privilige to attend. If you have great placement results students will be motivated to qualify for the class.
Best wishes
Susan
Past graduates willing to do presentations is always nice. Seems to get the current students more involved.
Hi Mathew
Yes, asking grads to stay involved with your school is win-win situation. The grads feel that they can contribute, the students get an understanding of work and their studies from their peers, and the school can benefit if the grads enroll in continuing education courses and recommend students.
What else can you ask grads to do?
Best wishes
Susan
In the past, graduates that have been compentent enough have ended up becoming employees of our school.
Hi Mathew
It's great that your grads like your school so much they stay on to work for you. You might require that they also get a job in their fields for experience. It is a way for them to stay current and be able to talk about the world of work to your students.
Best wishes
Susan
Over the past month, I have taken a small group of CNA students (who are currently in their Professional Development course), to meet with Human Resources personnel at two local facilities, one hospital, and one a skilled nursing facility. The HR departments welcomed them with refreshments and "goodies".
They spoke to the students about the interview processes, the type of questions routinely asked on an interview, the skill and personality they look for etc. They answered questions, and then took the class on a tour of the facility.
This has proved to be a great motivational tool for our students!
They are still talking about it two weeks later. Now they are quite motivated to get that resume written and work on their personal summary statements!
Hi Nancy
This is a great idea. Students should feel very comfortable going on a real interview after this experience. Maybe next time add a mock interview at the facility if you can get a brave student to participate. Another thought is to make the visits a reward for completing certain course work. Really great idea that can be implemented in most schools.
Best wishes
Susan
