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• Academic Excellence
• Administrative Excellence
• Effective Orientation
• Internship and Practicum
• Job Placement Assistance
• Personal and Financial Counsel
• Pre-Enrollment Assessment and Testing
• Sector Involvement
• Student-Centric Core Value

Summary

Job Placement Assistance

Effective job placement assistance programs have, at their core, student career strategies that begin prior to enrollment. For example, Rhodes Wellness College in Vancouver, British Columbia, has included career strategies in their web site. Here prospective students can discover the types of skills that are developed in each of the programs and the types of employment graduates of the college are securing.

Many colleges include a comprehensive job readiness unit or module within every program of study. Module lengths vary among colleges, ranging from a low of two days to a high of six weeks, and help students improve skills in developing potential employer contacts, preparing an application letter, preparing a résumé, preparing for interviews, selecting appropriate dress, and a host of other topics. Colleges who invest exceptional amounts of time and energy in preparing students for entry into the job market report that higher post graduation employment levels are the natural outcome.

A number of colleges utilize human resources (HR) specialists and other speakers from industry to help prepare their students for post graduation employment. While HR specialists provide helpful information toward résumé writing and preparing for interviews, industry speakers can provide information relating to careers in their industry sector. This practice has the added benefit of both enabling the college to develop and maintain healthy and productive relationships within the business community, and enhancing the college’s ability to provide quality job leads to students.

While many schools provide job placement assistance for recent graduates, some provide this service for the duration of their graduates’ working career. Normally, a job board featuring current employment opportunities is located in a high student traffic area such as a lunch room or a student lounge. A few colleges have become particularly creative and have developed an online job board feature within their web sites.

A number of principles must guide the practice of maintaining a job board. First, it must be updated regularly, ensuring that job postings are current within the last thirty days. Secondly, job boards must be presented in an attractive manner that draws the student again and again. Lastly, remember that there is no replacement for employment counsel.

Case Study

Job Placement Assistance

Most career colleges also include a module on Career Strategies within every course of study. Perhaps the most comprehensive Career Strategies module that we encountered was that offered by the Saskatoon Business College. The topics covered in the SBC Career Strategies module may be found in the Guide under Appendix A.

It was refreshing to observe a class as they watched their videotaped mock employment interviews. There was no need for negative instructor feedback because the students could readily see weak points by watching the video together. This allowed the instructor to provide only positive feedback to the class in general and to individual students in particular. As a result, the exercise was seen by students to be a fun and rewarding learning experience.

Students enrolled at SBC must complete a portfolio of their work for their career strategies course. Each portfolio is evaluated by the instructor before being edited and fine tuned by the student. Students are then coached as to when and how to best present their portfolio during a job interview. The completed portfolio is an impressive and highly effective tool in the hands of the graduating student seeking employment.

Innovative Ideas

Job Placement Assistance

Here are some job placement assistance strategies and initiatives that your private career college might adopt:

1. Develop a comprehensive Career Strategies module for graduating students.  Within the module, be sure to provide helpful training on conducting a job search, preparing a résumé, and participating in an interview.
2. Have graduating students prepare a professional looking portfolio of their work completed during the their program.  Provide coaching on use of the portfolio.  This showcases your students as well as your college, and can give students the edge that lands them in better jobs.
3. Invite a number of Human Resources and industry speakers to participate in a Career Day at your college.  You will want to have them address such themes as opportunities within certain sectors, preparation of a résumé, as well as conduct and dress at employment interviews.
4. Make your college the place for potential employers to advertise new job openings.  Develop an attractive web page with new postings and keep it well maintained.
5. Offer your job placement assistance as a lifetime benefit to graduates.  Develop a Job Board web page that is easy to maintain and update.  Keep it current, with no posting being on the page more than 30 days.