Bringing Placement Services to the Classroom
As a career services representative, what job search projects and/or activities can you create that instructors could integrate into their instructional delivery?
In our 12 week beginning level program, we already have a field trip to several speciality hospitals so that students can see various types of practices that they may be interested in. We already have the students prepare a resume. I think we will now add some job searching skills and interviewing techniques. I will suggest to the instructor to develp a role playing activity for job interviews.
Hi Lore, Sounds like you have a good program with field trips and job search skills. You might want to create a list of 20 things that the student should be able to do or know related to employment readiness and awareness and skills like interviewing, creating resumes, etc. Even with a 12 week program there can be placement and career awareness and skill building built into every classroom session. You'll be surprised how you increase placement and job retention. Best wishes, Susan
Our Career Services Department frequently visits most of the career core courses; Human Relations, Info Literacy,Critical Thinking, Career Management and Internship. This gives the students the opportunity to gain some familiarity with us and visa versa. It gives us credibility as well as their better understanding of what we're all about. I always ask what their major is and emphasize the opportunities in that field. Students frequently doubt themselves relative to making the right career decision and this interaction helps to alleviate that doubt. Most importantly, it gives them an opportunity to ask questions, if they feel comfortable asking in the class, or a contact for them to ask one on one questions.
By adding about ten to fifteen hours into a lesson plan in order to train student in How to create his/her own resume, visiting the library to search about how to find a job thru the internet, and creating some orientention session for granduated students related to How to be prepare for a job interview.
This is a great question. Job search projects that can be added to the instructional delivery can be implementated very easily.
For example, when starting out the class the instructor can discuss what expectations the students had for an instructor of that particular class. What stuck out? Attire? Personality? Credentials? Experience? Etc...
One can also add it into several chapters when discussing interaction, certain knowledge that is expected and so on. Why this is importatnt to resume writing, presenting oneself in an interview, and how to keep the job.
Jolyn, Job search projects are vital. They can be integrated into many courses and also presented as a separate employment skills course or a series of workshops. Most important is that the projects be part of the school experience throughout the student's training program. Placement activities have to go hand-in-hand with occupational skills training. Placement is not a last minute event. Thanks, Susan
There are several activities that can be utilized in the classroom setting:
1. Provide specific names of employers in the community that routinely hire
2. Create a forum to discuss best internet job search engines
3. Inform Instructors/students of upcoming job fairs
4. Provide guess speakers from representatives of organizations in the industry to speak in the classroom
5. Conduct workshops in the classroom to focus on students acquire skills in the classroom & apply to requirements/qualifications with actual employers
6. Conduct mock interviews & critique performance
7. Provide a job search activity log & analyze success
These are several activities that if properly executed would make these aspects of job search come alive.
HI Aggie
This is a great list and all activities are do-able by most schools. We feel there should be 20 or more employment skills training activities that students are required to complete. It's important to have a long list to choose from since some students have more skills than others. Each student can have a customized plan to help fill in the areas they need to focus on. Thanks for the list. Susan
We have a class that each student must take to prepare their resumes. Once the resume is done we have another class for mock interviews, the student comes in dressed for sucess, each student gets a card with an interview question they all answer it and the class will also answer the same questions to bring in more of a team effort.
Lena Notarstefano
Hi Lena
Sounds like a great class. We like the idea that students must dress for success. It really does take time to put together the right outfit for the industries you are training for. Many students don't have an interview outfit so it's important to have resources where they can get the right business outfit at little or no cost. Thanks, Susan
I do an exercise that involves a questionaire for the students that translates into 4 different scenarios. The students then divide up into 4 groups and using easel paper and colored markers, they draw out the scene they are given to show how they would be "Prepared and Professional Job Seekers".
An example would be to show what they should do at home to prepare for an interview such as:
Make sure the car has gas
Have your interview outfit lined out and pressed.
Have directions to where you are going and even do a trial drive if necessary.
Get a good nights sleep and eat something before you go....
It has been very effective in getting them thinking and interacting with each other.
After they finish the "pictorial" they then share their scenario with the class one group at a time. The other groups are asked to add anything that they may think is needed but left off.
This is just one way to bring Placement Services into the classroom, but it works well.
This is fantastic, Sally. This exercise presents the information, encourages students to think of other tasks that have to be completed, lets them know that every one has the same concerns, helps them pre live the interview preparation process, gets them to buy into it, and gets them thinking that every task takes thought and preparation. Really excellent. Would be interested in the other scenarios you present. Thanks, Susan
We currently teach 3 programs at our school. We have taken the Program Directors, as well as the school directors and consulted with each other to develop an aggressive curriculum that can be used school wide. This includes a standard Power Point Presentation outlining the skills needed to be taught, at least one field trip to a potential employer, as well as we bring in guest speakers every month for a 1 hour seminar followed by q&a. Of course after this course, we will be further developing our curricula.
Good idea George. Not sure what you mean by aggressive curriculum. If you mean comprehensive and flexible to meet the changing work force needs, that's great. Reminder to be sure any changes meet regulatory board approvals. You seem to be a path to a uniform curriculum model or template. That's great. Be sure you review to be sure it meets students' learning styles and that the classroom experience is fun, interactive, and uses the technology skills of your students. Thanks, Susan
All instuctors at our school are working in the field that they teach, so actually it is a very simple process here.
The instructors as part of the program bring Placement Services to update on trends and have a couple of class sessions just for those students who are graduating to work on verbal interviews and working interviews right before starting externships.
Hi Walter, We also believe that every instructor needs to be working in the field they are teaching. We believe the instructors need to talk about life on the job - the fun part and the challenges. It brings the world of work into the classroom and helps students understand why they are learning certain skills or theories. By the way, we think that the class sessions you refer to and interview training prior to externships aresomething that should be going on throughout the students training. Thanks, Susan
the instructor could implament the most popular job serch fourms like class outings to local job fairs/local guess speakers/lot's of one on one mock interviews and dress for sucess days.important to make it as real as it can be.
Also resumes building is a critical pice to the puzzle,"presentation-preporation-interaction"is what i use in my career.having knolage is certainly important but if you can't come accros with a confident personality it can be difficult out there.
HI Roland, YOu're right. In many classes the instructors can wrap career service training around their curriculum. You're also right that employment skills training is an every day event and there are lots of fun things to plan. The goal is for students to have skills plus confidence when they are on an interview and the first day on the job. Thanks, Susan
Ihave found that having instructors incorporate field trips into the class activities is a great tool. In many cases I like to see field trips to companies that are not in the "mainstream" of the field of study. Through this exposure it helps to strengthen the belief that there are many related fields that a student can explore after completion of their program allowing them to broaden their job search acitvities. It also allows graduates to expand their thinking with regard to where they feel they would be most comfortable and best fit in the work place.
