Employer Engagement
Education + Employers
As schools and employers work closely together, we encourage you to consider several potential options for engaging with classroom and students. This menu should enable you to become more familiar with most engagement possibilities within the key stages of Real World Learning (explore, engage, immerse). Each activity includes a brief description, benefits, requirements, preparation, as well as expected time commitments for guidance.
Explore
Workplace Tours
Host students or educators inside workplace to learn about the business, company culture, and observe work in progress.
Benefits:
- Amplify the connection between school-based skills and the essential skills needed in a profession.
- For Educators: Awareness of professions for career advice and how to make academic standards relevant.
Preparation:
- Route the tour
- Prepare the main points
- Make accommodations for security and logistics
- Solicit key staff
Time Commitment: 2-5 hours planning time + 1-2 hours onsite hosting
Career Presentation
Professionals participate in school-based classroom activities or an event focused on understanding a range of career options.
Benefits:
- Create awareness of future careers.
- Amplify the connection between school-based skills and the essential skills needed in a profession.
Preparation:
- Identify subject matter experts
- Prepare summary of personal learning, career journey
- Prepare summary of company and/or industry.
Time Commitment: 2-4 hours planning time + 30-60 minutes of engagement
Informational Interviews
Engage with students in-person or virtually either one on one or in a small group settings to build relationships and answer questions about careers and professional skills.
Benefits: Build communication skills and social capital.
Preparation:
- Identify subject matter experts
- Develop sample interview questions
- Consider adding a mini-tour
Time Commitment: 2-4 hours planning time + 2-6 hours host time
Job Shadow
Engage with students one on one or in small groups to give real-time insights into what a ‘day in the life’ in a career or within a company involves.
Benefits:
- Student awareness of career options, pathways, preparations and requirements
- Build social capital.
Preparation:
- Make accommodations for security and logistics
- Create an agenda that provides a range of things to see, people to meet and skills to learn.
Time Commitment: 2-4 hours planning time + 2-6 hours host time
Engage
Client Connected Project (CCP)
Provide authentic projects for students to complete individually or in small groups that allows for coaching and engagement with professionals along the way.
Benefits:
- Develops student essential skills and technical skills aligned with career options within the industry.
- Provide access to a growing and developing talent pool
- Create mentoring relationships and strengthen leadership skills in current associates
- Opportunity to collaboratively select real-world problems for students to engage in
Preparation:
- Determine problem statement and dates of interest in project engagement.
- Coach through project design process, provide engagement and feedback during project cycle
- Participate in project evaluation
Time Commitment: 2-4 hours planning time + 8-10 hours engagement (site visit, project check-ins & review)
Educator Externships
Engage with educators 1:1 or in small groups to show what a ‘day in the life’ of a job or industry involves.
Benefits:
- Develop educator awareness of career options, pathways, and preparation requirements
- Builds social capital
Preparation:
- Experience planning,
- accommodating security and safety requirements
- Optional: Coordination between public affairs teams
Time Commitment: 1-4 hours planning time + 2-6 hours host time
Immerse
Internships
Provide student internships (may be paid or unpaid) that allows them to perform real work activities under the supervision of current professionals.
Benefits:
- Develop student essential skills and professional skills aligned with the industry.
- Develop pipeline of potential future associates calibrated to company expectations.
- Strengthen connection between classroom and real-world application
- Opportunity for students to receive compensation for their contributions (eg. financial or school credit.
Preparation:
- Recruiting and placement process, on-boarding, continuous feedback process, evaluation.
- Potential background checks required
Time Commitment: 24-40 hours of preparation for student internship of 120+ hours
Apprenticeship
Provide paid apprenticeships with on-the-job training as a pathway to full-time employment within the company.
Benefits:
- Develop student essential skills and professional skills aligned with the industry.
- Develop pipeline of potential future associates calibrated to company expectations
- Strengthen connection between skills learned in the classroom and real-world skills learned in an authentic professional environment
- Potential for funding through Department of Labor
Preparation: Recruitment and placement process, on-boarding, continuous feedback, and evaluation.
Time Commitment: 40-60 hours of preparation for apprenticeships of 1,000+ hours
Hosted Classroom
Host courses, learning or professional events, and/or provide real-world equipment or other resources needed to support authentic learning environments.
Benefits: Provide authentic opportunities for students to learn as they build knowledge and practice about the profession
Preparation:
- Secure physical space,
- accommodation for security, and safety requirements
Time Commitment: 2-4 hours planning time, daily presence with some oversight