Get Your Students Hired
This section reiterates and ties in the critical importance of (genuinely) building rapport with the students in career coaching and all campus interactions. I can have access to endless resources, tools, information, skills, networking, strategies, employment opportunities, etc. All of which is useless in the absence of a trust and respect. Effective strategies in student career coaching begin with valuing student rapport building.
In this section, I have learned that it is important to have an Unconditional Positive Regard towards the students. This ensures that they are not being judged as the career coach is being empathetic and patient throughout the entire process.
Coaching is more relational and needed to assist instead of dictate. We are members of a support staff for our students and need to keep in mind that this is not about us and the choices we would individually make. We are to be a guide on the side and not the sage on the stage.
Unconditional Positive Regard, while challenging in practice (as this happened to me yesterday), will assist in earning the trust of both my students and those who report to me directly.
In this module, I learned that it is important to be genuine to build a relationship with your students. When you're genuine, you're able to build trust that eventually will allow for career coaching. When you're coaching, you want to guide the student to create their own goals and plans, instead of directing them. By allowing the student to form their own goals and plans, we empower them to take control of their futures. When students feel empowered, they are more likely to follow through with their educational tasks and goals.
Work together(by listening) with the student to learn their technique and then work on the shortcoming to make it a positive effort for the student's progress towards the needed goal.
It is important to have a genuine connection with the student. All this implies is that you as the coach are being honest, upfront, and sincere in your approach.
I have learned to modify my coaching style to elicit more student participation in creating solutions. By asking students more about their goals and working cooperatively with them to explore solutions, I hope to teach them two things: how to be resourceful, and how to think of potential solutions on their own (with some assistance and guidance). This is in contrast to what I mistakenly believed I should be when I started working in this position: an authoritative expert.
Knowing that the steps for successful coaching are not linear, I think I can develop a worksheet I can use with each student to keep better track of their progress and areas where we may need to adjust the plans. Letting them know ahead of time what their career path may entail will help them make better decisions. Luckily in our business, finding a job isn't hard if you have the willingness to want to work.
I've learned about the value in curiosity and support when coaching students. Moving forward, I will focus on maintaining empathy and understanding in the assessment of a student's goals and actions in pursuit of a job.
What I have learned from this modules is that we need to know the big picture concerning our students. What I plan to do as career coach is to make sure that I understand the variables both internal and external. Make sure that I am partnering with the students regarding where they want to take their career base off what best fit their needs and interest. and understanding what they value and what they will bring to the table. Lastly, listen to the student. Making sure that if they are facing any barriers that we get them resolved so that the student can be successful.
I found myself enjoying this as almost a "refresher" to counseling. Going over concepts such as; using unconditional positive regard, developing rapport, and active listening- these are all key ingredients to being a good counselor. It was fun to go over these basics again. In addition, I really like the idea of coach vs. manager. As I reflect on my years as a counselor, I've found I'm becoming much more of a "coach" as I've found over the years that having students find answers for themselves is just far more productive than giving them the answers.
I've learned from this module that it is just as important to the student as it is to the coach to have someone who is willing to be genuine and just listen. I think a lot of the time some staff, whether they're administrative or professors, have a hard time being willing to just be a quiet listener for a student who may need it. Students stop coming to the staff when they start to feel like they're being judged or reprimanded. Going forward, I would like to implement more small talk with the students and let them know that I am here for them and their success.
In this module I learned that to be an effective mentor, the relationship has to be built on the foundation of trust and active &empathetic listening, being aware of the personal and external variables that students face.
I've learned that students need to develop information on themselves and their career options by collecting information on internal and external factors. I also learned how important student perception is; the student must recognize the coach's unconditional positive regard and empathetic understanding of their origin.
The term "Unconditional Positive Regard" reminds me of the practice of "bracketing" when conducting research. It is the ability (whether innate or learned) to hold back personal biases in order to be open to valuable insights. I appreciate learning another term for "bracketing" :)
In my opinion, the best skill in can have for every situation is being a good listener. Then building a rapport with the students to gain trust and understanding. I want the student to trust that I am assisting them in making a well informed decision. Lastly, we must be able provide the style that the student actually needs once we build a rapport and understanding of their goals.
I've learned that it is important to assess the individual's variables such as ne3eds, values etc. Understanding who an individual is and what particular needs he/she has can help you determine how best to assist him/her with finding solutions.