Relationship-building Strategies
Identify additional strategies that your institution already uses to improve relations with students, employers, alumni, or the community.
We build relationships with employers and allow them to become a part of our campus community. We host a job fair every two months and typically have about 30 employers in attendance. This allows our employers to connect with our students and graduates and build those relationships with members of the industry before students graduate.
Chasminh, on campus job fairs can be very productive and can also be a lot of work. What strategies have you employed to allow you to be so successful with hosting about 30 employers on campus every two months? Have you implemented a system that allows you to track interview activity and hires as a result of these events?
Our traditional strategies are events like job fairs and seminars but I believe that the Olympics will be a great addition to our events
Manuel,
Do you have any best practices for hosting a job fair that you can share?
Sheri Leach
I think it's a good idea to make sure expectations are clear. My team conducts "Rules of Engagement" meetings with all departments to understand our role, the role of other teams and the goals we share in common.
Stephanie ,
Setting clear expectations is one of the foundations of success. It is truly important for everyone to work with the same goal in mind. Partnering with other departments will help build on that foundation. Since a total campus environment is so critical for the success of our students everyone needs to work together. Can you please explain in more detail your Rules of Engagement meetings, how you put them together and why they work for you.
Sheri Leach
Sheri,
My team uses " Rules of Engagement' to meet expectations. We use these often inter departmentally. At our first meeting, we set up these rules as a way to foster communication, cooperation and to keep all parties on the same track. They have been very successful because they set ground rules collaboratively. When all parties agree about how the relationship should work in the beginning, process happens and expectations are met. These rules can be changed at any time on in as needed basis.
Stephanie ,
Open communication and everyone working towards the same goals encourages collaboration and improves the chances for success. Setting expectations at the onset is paramount. Continuing to work together can encounter some challenges. To help others, Can you share some of your "rules of engagement" that begin with?
Sheri Leach
At the Academy we have monthly graduations and we invite Directors of Nursing and other professional nurses to come and speak to the graduates. The speakers are always impressed with the graduation and the students cannot believe that someone that important would come and speak to them. Also, I set up appointments with human resources heads from different agencies and allow them to speak to the students before they graduate. This gives the graduate the ability to ask questions and learn more about what to expect.
Judi,
You have mentioned some wonderful best practices! Inviting speakers to your graduations is an ideal way to let professionals in your community become acquainted with your Academy and your students/graduates. Graduation is such a positive event and provides a great networking opportunity for your staff and the new graduates. I have seen Career Services Team Members pick out two specific students to introduce to each speaker. They do the introductions based on what they believe would be a good employment match.
You also mentioned having HR speak to your students before they graduate. At our institution we strive for a 50% placement rate at graduation. The only way to achieve this is to have students interviewing and conducting real job searches before they graduate. Having employers or hiring managers on campus prior to graduation serves several purposes. The graduate can gather information about the industry and available jobs and also interview for those jobs.
Sheri Leach
We invite the community to participate in our fairs and to visit our school
Teresa,
Do you host specific activities when people from the community visit your fairs and visit your school? What have you found to be most successful?
Sheri Leach
I believe that additional strategies that our institution can incorporate to improve relations with students, employers, aluni, and the community is increased attendance in outreach events, including career fairs and chamber events. Furthermore, partnering with institutions that provide contract training could be beneficial to cross promote value and illustrate programmatic demand in the community. Additionally, continued growth of Advisor Boards and having our Alumni attend such events. Finally, having specific Alumni functions, as well as, inviting them to graduation ceremonies could be beneficial.
Shannon,
Thank you for mentioning some key strategies. When you mention career fairs are you referring to your campus career fairs or community fairs? Both are important functions for both your students and Career Services Team members to attend. Obviously, when students attend career fairs, they have the opportunity to introduce themselves to multiple employers and to increase their chance of becoming employed. Oftentimes Career Services Professionals miss wonderful opportunities to introduce their students and graduates to employers. Outside job/career fairs are one such opportunity. The CS Team members can introduce themselves to the employers and start to establish a relationship that could benefit their students. A best practice that I have heard is when a CS prfessional takes a student or 2 to the career fair and introduces them to the employers. By doing this, the student learns how to address the employers and becomes more confident, so they are able to speak to employers on their own with more self-assurance. What other best practices relating to career fair or alumni events can you share?
Sheri Leach
We have an employer attend and speak at our Admissions Open Houses, so that the employer relationship is strengthened and the potential students getan idea of the types of positions available to them. We (Career Services) also go into the classes early on in the program to set goals with the students and get to know them better.
Jennifer,
You described what I call "early and often" and is one of the best known ways to develop a relationship with students. Meeting with the students early in their program and then consistently though-out their lifecycle is key. When you or your employers visit the classrooms, do you require the students to participate (other than listening) in some way? When a student is directly engaged they will feel more valued and will remember the lesson or principle that is being taught. Have you experienced this?
Sheri Leach
Some strategies that my institution used to improve the students community is we have an open door policy where the student can come in at anytime they are in need with anything. We also provide our externs and current students information for job fairs. For our alumni we have some speak during graduation and once they get placed their name goes up on our career services wall in the lunch area at school, this really motivates our current students.
Carol,
You mentioned some great best practices. An open door policy where students can visit the Career Services Department and feel welcome and respected is essential to the beginning of a sincere relationship. Also, the Career Services Wall is a great idea! To recognize graduates for their accomplishments makes them feel good about themselves and gives the other students much needed motivation. They don't even realize they are being motivated! Some campuses ring a bell each time someone gets placed, others are making announcements by the institutions' sanctioned social media outlet.
Sheri Leach
Our department makes an effort to meet with each class at least 3 times while they are in the program. Which meets the needs of currently enrolled students. As for alumni and employers we host an advisory board meeting twice a year where they can come and participate regarding changes we are making and what our students are learning etc. We like to invite alumni and employers to our campus when possible so that they can not only see how the campus and programs improve each year to meet needs but to also see the students interact on a daily basis and see whom they may want to employ.
