Dr. Susan Schulz

Hi Sundra Yes, it does seem that your school is aware and supportive of running an effective career center. Your offerings sound great. My guess is that some students don't realize the value of the service or may not think it is for them. There are two possibilities to consider. One is to require students to complete career service offerings. The other is to establish eligibility criteria in order to take advantage of your career services. For example, the student must complete at least 1/2 of the course work or a certain number of modules in order to set their… >>>

Hi Patty Very well thought out. I like the idea of an institutional plan to use not to collect dust. Sounds like you will need a specific plan to review it. Maybe 2 - 3 times a year? As to establishing who your ideal student is, how will you do that? Some people look at demographics. I like to look at core commonalities among prospects, students, and people successful in the field. What are the qualities an ideal person in the career has? Can a checklist be made for admissions staff to use to identify the ideal students? A marketing… >>>

Hi Harrison Sounds like you have great plans in place. Career services begins with orientation. That's great. I always think more can be done to integrate career services into the day to day. Of course it is a challenge. Instructors want the time to teach skills and theory in the timeframe given. Students are racing against time to study and meet deadlines. Not a receptive group to add more placement assignments. On the other hand, I think that if students are continually made aware of why they are in school, then retention will increase. If students complete employment and job… >>>

Hi Harrison The focus of this forum is to put in place surveys or other assessments to determine how you are doing and where changes can be made. Staying in touch with graduates is vital as most licensing and accrediting boards want to know how your graduates are doing as to placement. Taking this a step further, you can determine how long your grads stay on the job and how long it takes for them to gain a promotion or raise. This will tell you if they are trained sufficiently and also whether your career services includes skills building in… >>>

Hi Harrison Good point about networking events where you can have time to build relationships. What kind of follow up do you do after these events? Could you invite people to visit the school and talk about job interviews, review resumes, provide a picture of what life is like on the job, how to gain a promotion? Another way to network is to contact employers of your grads (with their permission). Find out what employers think about your training. Did they have to provide additional training for your grad or do your programs prepare job ready employees. Lots of ways… >>>

Hi Harrison Sounds like you have a good plan in place for resume writing. Resume writing is easy when a student has had some good jobs. But many have only held minimum wage positions and might not have a long employment history. What do you do in this situation? You might want ways for students to get in touch with their skills and demonstrated abilities that don't clearly show up on a listing of jobs and responsibilities. Building a resume is also a way for students to think about things to say about themselves during an interview. Great that your… >>>

HI Patty Interesting points you made. One is getting your staff involved so they share their thoughts and ideas. And getting them to do some of the development work that is needed to grow a schocol. Looks like you discovered that with the right direction, permission, and instruction, your staff can be problem solvers and come up with creative ideas. Brainstorming is a way to get ideas. The underlying premise of brainstorming is to create an open, accepting, non judgmental environment so every idea tht is presented is considered great. Some ideas can be implemented now and some later. So… >>>