“This is how employment is supposed to work. Companies hire broadly educated workers, invest in appropriate training, and reap the profits of a specialized work force. Increasingly, however, employers have discovered a way to offload the nettlesome cost of worker training. The trick is to relabel it as education, then complain that your prospective employees aren’t getting the right kind.” [read full article]
Right now, however, career services professionals (and others) are scrambling to prepare students to meet seemingly impossible workplace expectations. Higher education institutions don’t see themselves as being “job training” entities – and neither do many corporations that are seeking to hire our graduates.
So who is providing job training? Unless you earned a technical degree in a technical field, well, almost no one.
Here’s my quick thought that will inevitably save the world: With all of the leadership development, career, and industry experts on our campuses, why don’t we flip our model? Instead of helping thousands of students prepare for thousands of different career paths, why don’t we consult with employers to develop dynamic on-the-job-training programs that our students can slide into after graduation?
Think about it.
Student affairs divisions employ a bunch of energetic, team-building weirdos* who build communities and draw out the strengths of individuals and groups alike. This is the stuff of corporate managers, trainers, and supervisors. We are MBTI and StrengthsQuest certified, we’ve taken and administered the DiSC Profile. We prep students and staff to handle crisis situations and critically think through problems.
We are the perfect choice to develop these partnerships with our corporate friends.
The results? 1) Less pressure on academic programs and corporate partners to “create” the perfect candidates; 2) a more specialized workforce; 3) broad and critical thinkers; 4) stronger external partnerships; 5) campus sponsorships (residence halls named after Fortune 500 companies!).
The possibilities are endless, but only if we take a look at the possibilities as realities. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.
*term of endearment.
