Dr. Susan Schulz

Good question, Elizabeth. What is really important is that students, staff, and instructors know about your and your department. Communication is essential. Then little by little add services. Seek the assistance of employers. Get organized so that as staff become available you will know exactly what you want them to do. Write up a policies and procedures manual for your department so anyone can assist you. Good luck, Susan

Scott King

Elizabeth,

I agree with Susan that the most important way to begin is by setting the foundations of the department,how it works and then relying on your team (Faculty, Director, Admissions, Front Office etc.) to get the word out to the students. The new student orienation is also a great place to begin your exposure.

Once that's done, then you begin adding services and finding open positons for your students. Their are two places that are best to start:

1. Start with your past graduates that are already working in the field. Pick their brains for information on the job field and positions that are open in the idustry, possibly where they are working now.

2. Go to your local state workforce agency and solicit help on resume services, interviewing skills and job search techniques. They also have a wealth of job leads to choose from and have already paved relationships with some employers.

Good luck,

Scott King
TechSkills
Sacramento, Ca.

Dr. Susan Schulz

Great ideas. We also suggest checking out publishers that cater to career schools and colleges. There are also specialty publishers with resrouces such as www.jist.com.

There is also a company that provides a lot of free information plus free job postings for your grads. www.gadball.com.

If you limited staff and learning materials, you have to get creative.
Good luck, Susan

Theresa Roy

I started a new Placement Department about 3 and a half years ago. I feel I was very fortunate to have the backing of everyone including the owner. I found the most useful thing to be sitting down and determining what the processes would be (in detail) and allocating a time line for each. We started with what we wanted to be the end product and worked backwards from there. Initially we looked at placement from a stand point of how could we impact referrals and retention. For example, I wanted to set up a tickler so that I could be sure adequate follow up with the employers as well as the graduates was occuring. Then I got busy on creating a process (policy and procedure) so that I could insure that it would continue to happen if I turned my attention elsewhere. Some additional examples might be: cold calling, minimum number of placements required per month, who will be responsible for which tasks, etc.
Figure out what you want then figure out how to get it.

Dr. Susan Schulz

Thanks Theresa, you have given everyone a great formula for success in the placement department and whatever their job is. The secret - set goals, have the end in mind, and then work to reach it. You are lucky that you had the backing of the school owners and have gotten everyone on staff to see the importance of placement. And you seem to have the time and resources to focus 100% on placement efforts. There is so much to do. The placement department can be run like admissions. It's all about numbers, goals, qualifying people and getting them signed up! And it's about writing up policies and procedures and keeping them up to date so others can pitch in.
Thanks again, Susan

DARLENE TUCHOLSKI

I like your ideas. Thanks, we used to have a placement director, but she left last December. So far no body has taken on the job so I have volunteered. I have seen some of the materials discussed throughout this seminar. I didn't realize that we needed to be in contact with the graduate as soon as 30 days after graduation. We used to have a list of graduates and where they worked so I'll have to find that as a starting point. I am the registrar at our school and I do the exit interview (paper) so I will begin to use that information more productively. We use to have 100% placement and I'd like to continue with that trend. I know I have a lot of work to do but I can already see the results I'll have in the end.

Dr. Susan Schulz

Hi Darlene, Do we understand you to say that there has been no one in placement for a year and you have 100% placement. That's amazing. Would love to know how you make that happen. A list of grads is important. Grads can refer other people to your school, enroll themselves, or recommend job openings or assist in the employment skills development at your school. Best wishes, Susan

DARLENE TUCHOLSKI

Susan, The one reason we still have 100% placement is there are only 14 graduates a year. We only teach court reporting. Still we need the placement person to help keep in contact with new graduates and network with the old graduates. The last graduation which was in December 2008 we don't have all those placed yet. We had 4 graduate then. We couldn't have done it if we had a lot of graduates.

Dr. Susan Schulz

Interesting situation, Darlene. Right now you have a small student body. Do you plan to increase it significantly. With just a few students you can easily focus on placing all of them. You have the opportunity to grow your services by following all grads to ensure they stay on the jog or keep their freelance placement. And also help them advance on the job and give you contact information of their employers to you can determine if there are other job openings at the job site. Thanks, Susan

Cary Ortiz

Hi Susan,

I JUST START WORKING IN PLACEMENT. I'M WORKING VERY CLOSE WITH THE SCHOOL OWNER AND THE CAMPUS DIRECTOR TO DEVELOPE A GOOD PROGRAM THAT INCREASE THE PERCENTAGE OF THE STUDENT PLACEMENT. THE SCHOOL HAS GROW SIGNIFICANTLY AND NO CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THIS DEPARTMENT FOR A WHILE. CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME TIPS WHERE I CAN DO SOME RESEARCH ON MODERN TECHNICHS THAT WILL HELP TO SPEED UP THIS PROCESS.

THANK YOU,

CARY ORTIZ

Dr. Susan Schulz

HI Cary, This course will outline the how to's of setting up a career service department. As you are completing it you can write up a policies and procedures manual for your own department. Some keys to success include - involve everyone on staff, involve students from the time they interview, require career services assignments, and reach out to the community. Good luck, Susan