Placement and career preparation is a weak area where I teach. To compensate somewhat for this I use the last class lecture to cover resume preparation, assessing and accessing professional search firms, networking and the value of professional association membership.
Although not adequate in preparing students for finding a specific job, my students are all about to graduate from an advanced degree program. I also invite my A grade students to schedule an individual consult with me to discuss career development strategies.
A placement program as described in this course would be a wonderful addition to my institution.
Bob
Unfortunately, the two online institutions at which I teach don't appear very strong in placment of students. So instructors sharing their actual experience in daily work and advice on entering the healthcare field is valuable and appreciated by students.
I've noticed that quite a few universities lack active placement programs. A company I own is actively looking for a management healthcare educator. The right person can work from home anywhere in the US, no selling, no travel, and earn $50,000+ min/year.
It's difficult to believe but 10 out of 10 online programs where we wanted to place the offer to students lacked any form of placement program!
Bob
Currently, Career Services participates in new student orientation, offers workshops, works with finding externship sites for our medical programs, works with student who come into their office for assistance with job placements and conducts job fairs (once or twice a year)on campus.
I think this is one area that could use some improvement. Perhaps having a 'workshop' outside of a classroom (not everyone takes the same class). This way, you are available to all the students, not just the student in a particular class. If this is done on a quarterly basis, you would hit both students in the degree and diploma programs on a regular basis.
I believe this would improve retention, because the student will fill they are getting the assistance they need to find a job after graduation.
It's a great idea to have the student dress professional while they are in school. The students need to have an understanding of how their education will transition into the work place.
One of the first courses students take is College Success and Career Portfolio. Career Services talks to students about building effective resumes, introduction to the on-line resume network program available to all students, and how to go about searching for jobs. This early on introduction gets students thinking about employment, their current skill level and what they will need to attract the employer of choice. This course also integrates them into academics while partnering with Career Services. This a great relationship for building retention.
improving placement is always a little hard since you have to work with so many different students and their lifestyles but if you have a staff that can work out side the normal 9-5 it will be a great success
Yes, do all that you can to make career services available to students at a time and place that meets the student's need... not staff at the school.
Dr. L
Our school is very involved with retention and offers culinary guest speakers, contests, tutoring, and retention specialty counselors to call students that a faculty member has concerns about. I am not sure what else they could offer, except for a break room or lounge area for the students to have a place other than the hallways to hang out and socialize before or after classes. They only have 10 minutes in between each class in their block, so not sure how it would work at my school.
Students develop a combination resume during their first two quarters. Sometimes they are hard put to find enought information about their past to make the resume all they would like it to be, however they update it all along the path of their education and it serves them well when they graduate and Career Services helps them find a job. It would help improve retention if students had a stronger connection of educaation to rela life expectations anad could know of people in similar circumstances who overcame their obstacles and went on to be very successful in their chosen field.
Our school has a strong department team regarding placement. It is not easy, but if you have the right people to do it we certainly see some good result.
Our Career Services department conducts webinars throughout the year to cover things like "One STop Job Search" and a "How to" series on creating effective resumes, preparing for an interview, etc.
We offer services like 24 counseling on for various situations such as legal advice, personal issues, etc. We also have a peer tutorin program that is going pretty well. After taking this class I am formalizing a mentoring program to improve retention. We do some tings that contribute to our retention but we can certainly do more.
This is interesting. We offer a similar course for first quarter students called Strategies for success. I believe that offering students a course such as these will only benefit them and set the stage for their college experience.
Career Services goes into first quarter classes talking about what they can do for students. This introduces the team and gives students faces to go with names. Additionally they speak in entry level courses for specific programs to talk about job opportunities and what as students they need to think about as they move through their program. They show them how to get into the Career Services web page, post their own information and then scan for what's available in their field to begin to judge where they want to be when they finish.
The externship is an excellent way for students to take that first formal step into the industry out of school. Ideally, it should be an extended job interview in which the student builds bridges and creates opportunities which last a lifetime.
Our placement department does do a great job for both current students and graduates. Our industry thrives on networking and the majority of our instructors bring back job leads and help students find jobs that match up with the area they are most interested in. This helps the student stay focused on school and see what they are learning in the classroom is real world and that they will use it.
I will also bring in quotes or information that I discussed with industry professionals and in corporate that information into my lectures again adding a little real world aspect to the lecture.
If and when possible I will bring in grads to my classroom to speak with my current students so they can give real life experience and knowledge to the students experience while on campus. This has had a tremendous affect on some of those students I was having a harder time reaching.
Our Career Services personnel speak at all the new student orientations as a start. They introduce all the services they provide such as resume building, doing a job search, work study guidelines, interviewing skills, etc. They also continue going to classes, after the students start, giving them additional information on their services. For example, they show students how to access a Career Website. Our Career Services also handles much of the graduation arrangements making it an excellent ceremony.
An area that could be improved is the timing for our Career Development credit course that all students must take. It is offered to students only in their last or next to the last quarter. It should be offered sometime, perhaps, in the middle of a student's program. This could help them sooner in preparing for a job search.
In reality, an externship is a job tryout or audition. Students need to act as if they are 100% employed while at the externship site. It is not a class in school... employers are watching and will hire if they like what they see.
Dr. B
Good idea. It is important to keep the student's vision of employment alive. You can do that through advising while in school. Advise on career themes. Just an idea.
Dr. B
We have had career fairs where various companies come in and set up their booths. Students can visit each booth and get information on the type of services provided. They are also able to have their resume available for those companies who are actively accepting them and do "spot" interviews.
