Dear Susan, I have been working part time for two years on creating externship relationships with regional employers. Graduates find them very valuable, and we have had a significant number of hires out of the externships. However, it has been a process that has been slow-going, as I use a contractual clinical relationship and maintain malpractice insurance for the participants. The contract has to be approved, and that can take some time due to the various levels of review. Do you have any suggestions for facilitating this process, and crafting relationships that are attractive to employers? Thanks, Karl

Dear Susan, Do you recommend any other resources on the topic of placement? Are there any books available that expand on these themes? Do you have a book, and how would I obtain it? Karl Kaufman

I have asked my admissions department to ask new students to advise us of places they aspire to work with phone and address. I hope to contact them and to have a working relationship by the time the student graduates. Although this will not work for all students it should give me an idea of what the core needs are for our job seekers. Also I am sure this will give me a good start for building industry contacts. Any other ideas would be most helpful. Kate

What are some of the best tools used to assess a student so that he/she could fully understand their weakness and strengths in a positive way?

What surveys can you easily create and implement now to measure placement success?

Start to think about the exercises outlined in this module and how you can encourage students to begin to work on them. Who can you get to assist with these exercises? People on staff? From the community?

Who can you ask to provide employer presentations? Who in your community can you call on to be a guest speaker about the industries for which you train? What do you have to do to approach these people to be part of your Placement Department?

Assess your current placement services, if you offer any. What can be improved? If you do not offer any formal placement services, how can you realistically start to develop one?