Sandra Goddard

Once you have evaluated your services to see which ones are effective and which ones are less successful, you can start looking how you can grow your program. What areas need more attention, which services could be expanded. Start with small steps and identify realistic goals that can be achieved.

In order for your student services program to be successful, you must develop partnerships with employers in the fields that you. Start small (by contacting employers who have hired your students in the past), and build your relationship over time. Reach out through surveys, emails, and hiring events. As time goes on it may be possible to get these employers to make long term commitments.  Keep up with trends in the employment arena such as application process and changes in technology, and shift your strategy accordingly.  

The first step is to find out internally what competencies are already in place in the classrooms (research syllabi, talk to program director, etc) Then connect with employer groups to determine what competencies are needed in the workplace. This will help you determine what competencies are needed and how to integrate them into the curriculum. 

Then you need to organize the tasks to be implemented and decide how to distribute the work load. 

By laying the proper groundwork (determining beliefs, mission statement, vision statement, and goals), the career services program will have a clear purpose and direction. Having these things in place, would increase the likelihood of a successful program, and earn the respect of the learners as well as the community partners. 

This module delved some of the finer points of communication. First you need to find your ceiling of influence with the person - start out with a handshake, move on to discussing commonalities, then opinions, and finally interacting together. The module also included a pie chart of important elements of getting someone to trust - product knowledge (10%), sales skills (15%), people skills (25%), and finally attitude (50%). By boosting your skill in these areas, you can improve your rapport with customer (student).

In this module I learned about developing my listening skills. I admit I am guilty of - I stop listening once I think I know what is being said, I interrupt or finish what I think the speaker is going to say. I want to improve how I listen when someone else is speaking. I can do this by listening without distraction, paying attention to tone and body language, confirm and rephrase, filtering out my biases, and responding thoughtfully. AND DON'T INTERRUPT!

This module covered how important body language is when communicating with others. While words are important, body language has huge impact. Some recommendations to improve body language are: listen effectively, confirm that you understand what the other person is saying, have an open stance and understanding look, ask open ended questions, empathize, and respond appropriately. 

I learned how important it is to monitor body language and tone of voice when communicating with students (or patients/clients) - its not just words. When speaking face to face, try to have some concepts in mind so you are not completely winging it. When communicating on the phone, have a checklist to that you can make sure you cover all necessary topics. In an e-mail, you only have words (no body language or voice tone), so it help to have a prepared refined message that can be used interchangeably. 

Being a good leader is not the same as being as being a good manager. The skills required to be a good leader include being able to encourage and inspire others to perform at a high level; a good leader has passion to get others to excel. The qualities of a good manager involve management of schedules, reports, and working with higher-ups to attain company goals. However, a good manager must possess good leadership skills to encourage and inspire their team to increase production. As an instructor, I recognized the need to have qualities of both a leader (inspire and… >>>

The seven guidelines of learning was written for instructors, but can be applied to the students as well. The instructor can assist their students in understanding why goals are important, the steps necessary to achieve their goals, and how to evaluate when they have achieved their goals,