College Students Archives - The Voice of Job Seekers

How Parents can Help Their Student Prepare to be Job-Ready

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Parents must participate in helping their son/daughter prepare to be job-ready upon graduation. Millennials made up about 30 percent of the United States’ unemployment population. Despite being college-educated, many recent graduates are ill-prepared for the workforce, leaving parents wondering how to get their kids from backpack to briefcase. Bill Holland is working with parents to have critical career conversations to help their son/daughter prepare to be job-ready.

Are you having career conversations with your college student?

As usual, your feedback is essential for this discussion.

Here’s how you can participate:

Call and leave a voicemail or text me at 708-365-9822
Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
Send email feedback to [email protected]

Bill Holland and I have talked a few times over the last five years, and the last time on the show was on episode 47 when we talked about his last book. He is a career consultant, an executive in the Talent Management space for many years, and now Principal and Founder of College to Career Catalyst, LLC. He has been featured on NPR and USA Today, and 60 other media outlets.

Here a few highlights from our discussion:

Parent involvement requires reassurance they are doing the right thing. Many times they need to define what the right thing is
Parental involvement is needed, but not as a “helicopter parent” in the negative sense. Parents shouldn’t go from not engaged at all to total disruption including the student’s desires
The career conversations needed between parent and student is constant
Parents and students should visit the career services center together. Being job-ready is a rigorous process
We talk about how parents need to see the scope and importance of transferable skills
Internships are a requirement, need to be job-ready upon hiring
Parent and students should agree what their profile should look like
Make sure your student is in position to take advantage of resources in career services
Every student should utilize volunteer work, course work, career services, and extra-curricular activities to prepare for internships and to be job-ready

Need help with your career goals, directions, or efforts? Do you need coaching or instruction? I am here for it! Also, join our Linkedin community! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!

Feel free to subscribe to the show in iTunes. July 26 will be the last show of the summer (although it’s possible I will publish one or two short shows between July 27 – Sept 5. On September 6, I will start the fall season of shows. I hope you will find value in them.

I would still like to help self-published career professionals promote their books. If you’re interested, find more info here.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How Can College Career Centers Thrive with Don Philabaum

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Career centers want to students to own their career destiny, and use the center’s plentiful resources. Parents are encouraged to disengage once their son or daughter land on campus. Many alumni associations are at a crossroads in understanding their role to help current and soon-to-be-graduates. These are few of the points of discontentment and contention that echo throughout this universal discussion.

Don Philabaum is the author of CHANGE IT! Create a Career Centered College Culture. He has solutions of how to build a community to help increase student engagement and career success. Don is the founder of TalentMarks.com and has been involved in building online communities since 1996.

Are you a career center professional frustrated with the system? Are you a student that want to use the career center but find it too boring? Are you a parent who does not see the value in the system? This episode is for you!

I’d love your feedback in these three ways:

Blog: TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com (Use the send voicemail feature)

Email: [email protected]

Voicemail: 708.365.9822

Below are the highlights from our discussion:

Don stated that career training should start before college with parents setting the expectations, elementary school, junior high and into high school. Colleges can start reaching out to students upon recruiting them. Have them take the strengths finder, behavior and personality tests and other assessments
He shared that the entire community (parents, administrators, career centers) should be involved in the process. Don referred to the NACE study stating that students do not engage the college career centers. I also shared that at a recent college workshop that the room had upper-class men only. No freshman!
I asked Don did he think that parents misunderstand the role of college career centers. Colleges do not encourage parents to get involved, and they don’t want the “helicopter parent” to be engaged, and stay back
Alumni play a major part inspiring students and validate the career centers’ usefulness. LinkedIn has a great tool to unite students and alumni of the same college. Facebook has a similar tool to unite alumni and students together
Alumni associations should ask, “What kind of business are we in?” and “What kind of goods and services do we deliver to our customers?” The alumni associations must deliver relevant information to the college
I asked Don to explain his thoughts cited in his book that career centers should charge (additional to tuition) for advance career services to help students have a better career center experience
Listen for Don’s response as I inserted that career service professionals may need to have additional training to provide relevant and adequate help to students

I think that CHANGE IT! is a MUST READ for career services professionals. Don present ideas that point where colleges must go; an entity by entity business model structured so that engagement is prioritized. Career service professionals are then trained to advise competently , coach and empower students and alumni for now and future job searches.

Career center/service professionals, what do you think of this interview? How are you increasing student engagement? What are your challenges in reaching students?

Please comment below. Or feel free to use the contact information above and I will read your comments on air. You can also use your computer mic when you press the “Send Voicemail” button to your right.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Career Services, a More Dynamic Approach (AUDIO) with David Nicola

David Nicola (@capt_careerist) is the Director of Career Services at Laurus College. He advocates for students to use social media in his or her job search. His professional passion is in Human Services with a “Whatever it takes!” attitude. His infectious enthusiasm to help job seekers is demonstrated through his tweets and other other social media updates.

We first connected on Linked In, Twitter, then Google Plus. He often shares in his updates and forums about his student activities and workshops using social media. He also shares about some of his progressive ideas to increase student engagement on campus and desires to do more. I asked him to spend a few minutes with us to share his dynamic approach and strategy to prepare students for a successful job search.

Want to know more about David Nicola, you can email him at [email protected] or his Twitter handle.

Here is the outline of our discussion:

We discussed his journey to his current position including his career in Human Services

David talks to us about his discovery of the usefulness of social media while conducting his own job search

He shares about his challenges in his first year as Director of Career Services at Laurus College and the unprecedented growth the college is experiencing

David also talks about the strategies used to engage the student population through workshops and classes that direct assists students in his or her job search

Please, enjoy our conversation.

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