APSCU Presentation 2012-"They\'re Hired! Proven Placement Programs and Practical Tools to Increase Graduate Employment"

1. They’re Hired!
Proven Placement Programs and Practical Tools
to Increase Graduate Employment
Proudly presented by:
Ann Cross Martha Lanaghen
Regional Career Services Director President
Institute of Business and Medical Careers The Sparrow Group
across@ibmc.edu martha@sparrowgroup.biz

2. Agenda
• Introduction
• Getting the whole campus involved!
– Case Study – Career Services Starter Kit
• What employers want
– CareerBuilder Research
– Case Study – 7 Habits
• Best Practices – 10 ideas in 10 minutes!
• Open Discussion

3. Tell us about your company:
1. One Campus 20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
2. 2-10 Campuses
3. >10 Campuses
4. Consultant or
Vendor
5. Other
1 2 3 4 5

4. Enter any of the campus departments that you believe should be
MORE involved in placement than they are today.
1. Administration /
17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17%
Campus Leadership
2. Education
3. Admissions
4. Student Services
5. Career Services
6. “Corporate”
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5. Tell us about You…
1. Campus Administration
17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17%
2. Career Services
3. Education
4. Admissions
5. Student Services
6. Vendor/consultant
1 2 3 4 5 6

6. Placement Best Practices
• Admissions
– Career Agreement in Admissions Process
– Compensation Planning for Admissions tied to
placement outcomes
– Meetings to provide insight
• Upcoming graduate class strengths and weaknesses
• Reconnect with prior term grads
• Acknowledge and recognize great admits
• Calculate employment rates by admissions rep

7. Placement Best Practices
• Education
– In-class reinforcement of “employment” behaviors
– Rewards and recognition to students that
demonstrate great employment behaviors
– Setting expectations with “seniors” about job hunt
– Include guest speakers in class – have them
discuss what they look for in new hires
– Meet regularly to discuss employment rates by
program

8. Placement Best Practices
• Student Services
– Assist with on-campus events that are oriented
towards placement outcomes and job
preparedness
– Reinforce career language
– Meet on regular basis to provide updates

9. Create a Career Culture
• The Career Services Campus-Wide “Retreat”
– All campus leadership attend
– Specific agenda oriented towards ACTION
planning around placement results
• Current and prior year results
• Areas of opportunity
• “What can Career Services do to help you?”
• “What can you do to help improve placement rates?”
• Identify action items and prioritize, create timelines
Reinforce accountabilities for
delivering on action items!

10. Create a Career Culture
• The Tools
– Career Services Dashboard
– Career Services Progress Board
– Term-based Meetings / Updates
– Compensation programs
• Ongoing – performance appraisals and base comp
• Incentive compensation
• Short-term awards programs
– Job Descriptions, documentation
– Level of importance must come
from the top!

11. Case Study:
Career Services Starter Kit

12. Please select all the points in the student lifecycle when
you are having formal career services meetings with
students (group or 1/1).
1. Before they start school
17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17%
2. During their first term
3. Mid-point through their
program
4. About a month before
graduation/externship
5. A week before
graduation/externship
6. After graduation
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Select all that apply

13. Thinking about the “soft skills” -- how well prepared do
you feel your graduates are, on average, for
interviewing and securing a job?
A. Fewer than 25% of my 33% 33% 33%
graduates have the necessary
soft skills to succeed in an
interview
B. About 50% have the
necessary soft skills
C. More than 75% have the
necessary soft skills
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14. “It Takes a Village”
• Career Services- Guest Lectures
• Student Services - Assemblies, Events
• Retention- Advising Meetings
• Faculty- In the Classroom
• Admissions – Career Contract

15. First Step
(Insert Nugget Icon)TIMS- Time In Motion Study
• Analyze: Activity versus Productivity
• Build your program around effective time
management
• Have the right people doing the right jobs
• Start with one area you can improve right
away and measure it

16. Career Services Starter Kit-Lifecycle
Professionalism- A Roadmap for Getting the most
Skills for the Success from Career Services
Workplace Week 1 Initial Advising
Taught in each Class Guest Lecture Student Service Advisor
Utilized throughout the Introduction to the Career Introduction to “College
students tenure Services Staff Central Network™”
Focused on Soft-Skill Discuss employable Building a portfolio
improvement behaviors Best practices for interacting
Integrated into the Image Management with Career Services
current curriculum Networking

17. Career Services Starter Kit- Lifecycle
Building an Attention Job Searching & Externship-What to
Grabbing Resume Interviews Expect
Mid-Program Career Marketing 20 Weeks Prior
Student Success Guest Lecture Student Service Advisor
Coordinator Completing an online Process of securing an
Portfolio review application externship site
Student work history Conducting informational Externship timeline
packet interviews Professionalism in the
Resume creation Do’s & Don’t of workplace
interviewing Ready, Set, GO!
Mock interviewing

18. Career Services Starter Kit
Must Have Essentials
• Our responsibility to you
• Your responsibility to yourself
• What to expect
• How To-Easy to understand steps
• Frequently asked questions
• Action plan

19. Measuring the Effectiveness
• Are students better prepared for job placement?
– Usable resume
– Successful mock interviews
– Lowered student anxiety
– Demonstrable employable behaviors
• Higher retention rates
• Increased productivity in Career Services
• Higher attendance for career services events
• Fewer employer complaints or MORE positive employer feedback
• Higher employment rates

20. What Employers
Want
7 Habits of
Highly Employable
Grads

21. CareerBuilder Stats
Survey Reinforces Importance of Soft-Skill Training
and Interview Preparation
90% 81% 80%
80%
68% 64%
70% 59%
60% 50% 50%
50% 46%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
From the report: “Opportunities in Education: Strategies for Private Sector Colleges 2011,” Presented by CareerBuilder

22. Candidate Screening Trends
• Social Networking
– Twitter
– Facebook
– LinkedIn
• Checking references before granting
interviews
• KLOUT and similar social evaluations

23. Job Search Info
• Networking is more important than ever
– students don’t know what that means
– TEACH them to network
• Incorporate it into class assignments
• Teach them LinkedIn
• Competitions or Rewards for networking evidence
• Technology is changing – make sure your
department is up to speed
– text messaging
– use social networking

24. Case Study:
7 Habits of
Highly Employable Grads

25. First Steps
(Insert Nugget Icon)Energize your next Advisory
Board
• Solicit Employer participation
• Create a plan to integrate
• Solicit Faculty feedback/input
• Start small and build on it

26. The Behaviors Employers Want

27. Integrating the Habits
Focus on one habit at a
time
Day 1 of the new session
Discuss what the habit
means to the student
Discuss how the habit
manifests itself into
identifiable behavior
Market to the student
Create TOMA

28. Integrating the Habits
Have Fun!
Have the students create You Tube Videos
Utilize Facebook
Give them stuff

29. Growing the Habits
Invite Employers to get involved
Guest lecture about the habit
Talk about it often with Employers
Capture hiring employers talking about the habit on
video
Get Employer testimonials
Reward Students!
• “Caught in the act” coupons
• Base assembly awards on employable behaviors
• Habit pins for lanyards
• “Habit Certification”

30. Measuring Results
• Increased “Direct Leads”
• Professionalism Scorecard
• Better response rate for Employer Survey
• Better response rate for Grad Survey
• Improved externship evaluations
• Increased Placement Rates

31. All of these are important – what are your top
two priorities for improving student
preparedness?
1. Getting other departments 17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17%
involved
2. Increasing career services
resources (talent) on campus
3. Starting sooner with students
4. Improving students’ soft-skills
5. Improving social networking
skills
6. Other
1 2 3 4 5 6

32. 10 Ideas in 10 Minutes
Take a minute to write down two or three ideas that
are easy to implement and that have made a
difference in your placement results
* 45 seconds or less to share the idea

33. Thank you!
Please feel free to contact us with additional questions.
Ann Cross Martha Lanaghen
Regional Career Services Director President
Institute of Business and Medical Careers The Sparrow Group
across@ibmc.edu martha@sparrowgroup.biz