Knowing Your Audience Self-Check

Welcome to the Employer Engagement Toolkit

Welcome to the Employer Engagement Toolkit

A resource of the Advancing Credentials through Career Pathways project

This Toolkit is a compilation of resources, activities, and strategies from the field to assist you in improving relationships with your local and regional employers.

We’ve organized the Toolkit into five modules. Each one includes:

An Introduction
Self-check
College Activities
Employer Outreach Activities
Strategies from the Field
Resources
Feedback Form

Before diving into one of the modules, we invite you to read the Toolkit’s Introduction. It provides an organizing framework that will help orient you to the modules.

Module Topics:

“Knowing Your Audience” provides resources to identify and engage employers who may not be currently connected to your college.
“Developing Your Program” provides activities and resources related to curriculum development using a focused approach for employer input.
“Mining for Deeper Engagement” guides you through activities to ensure that you are mutually meeting your employer’s and the college’s needs.
“Generating Support” suggests ways in which to work with employers to meet the college’s goals.
“Joining Voices” gives insight on ways to engage employers to be advocates for your college.

Although you may initially be drawn to a particular topic, we encourage you to explore all of the modules. And, check back often as new Resources are added.

Because this is the Pilot version of the Toolkit, we encourage your feedback. Please use the Feedback Form in each module to communicate with us about what you liked, what you would change, and additional content or resources you would like to see.

Using This Toolkit
Advancing Credentials Home

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Knowing Your Audience
Self-Check

Using This Toolkit

Knowing Your Audience

Introduction
Self-Check
College Activities
Employer Outreach Activities
Strategies from the Field
Resources

Developing Your Program

Introduction
Self-Check
College Activities
Employer Outreach Activities
Strategies from the Field
Strengthening Industry Commitment
Resources

Mining for Deeper Engagement

Introduction
Self-Check
College Activities
Employer Outreach Activities
Strategies from the Field
Resources

Generating Support

Introduction
Self-Check
College Activities
Employer Outreach Activities
Strategies from the Field
Resources

Introduction
Self-Check
College Activities
Employer Outreach Activities
Strategies from the Field
Resources

Knowing Your Audience

College Self-Check

This self-check is for your information only. It should be completed by staff members representing multiple levels within the college and followed by a discussion of options for gathering information.

Gathering Input

1. Does your college conduct an employer satisfaction survey?
  Yes No Don't know
2. If yes, how often is it administered?
  Annually Every 2 years Every 3 years Intermittently Don't know
1. Do you know how the results are used and/or distributed?
  Yes No
2. Does your college use the survey responses to make improvements?
  Yes No Don't know

Does your college hold roundtable discussions with business leaders about changes in industry?
Yes No Don't know
Does your college have representation on any of the following? (Mark all that apply.)
1. Industry associations
  Yes No Don't know
2. Workforce development boards
  Yes No Don't know
3. Economic development boards
  Yes No Don't know
4. Chambers of commerce
  Yes No Don't know
5. If yes, do you know how information related to employer needs is shared and used at the college?
  Yes No

Employability

5. Does your college track the employment rate of your graduates/completers?
Yes No Don't know

If yes, do you know how that information is shared at your college?
Yes No
Do you know the employment rate of your students, graduates, and completers for each program your college offers?
Yes No
Do you know the percentage of your graduates/completers who are working in the areas they trained for?
Yes No
Do you know which employers hire your students, graduates, or completers year after year?
Yes No
Do you know which employers/organizations don’t hire your students, graduates, or completers?
Yes No
Do you know the reason(s) why?
Yes No
If yes, do you know how your college uses this information?
Yes No
Does your college have disaggregated data on program graduates and completers in terms of their employment and employers hiring?
Yes No Don't know

Outreach Activities

6. Do you know who at your college provides outreach to employers?
Yes No

Do you know how information from employer outreach is gathered and shared?
Yes No
Do your continuing education and academic divisions share information on employers?
Yes No
If so, do you know how that is accomplished?
Yes No

7. Does your college foundation share information on their employer engagement?
Yes No Don't know

8. Does your college career center share information on their employer engagement?
Yes No Don't know

For the items you marked “Don’t know,” use the Discussion Planner to learn more about your college’s practices.

Introduction Knowing Your Audience Developing Your Program Mining for Deeper Engagement Generating Support Joining Voices

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