“Bridging the Skills Gap”

It Takes a Village!

About Us

The Sparrow Group

Proven Student Engagement Success

The sparrow is known for being nimble, quick, loyal, and attentive to details, and for unusual vision which

enables them to see opportunity from a great distance.

2 © Copyright 2012 The Sparrow Group. www.sparrowgroup.biz

Introduction

What You’ll Learn Today:

• The Skills Gap relationship to market conditions

• The factors, causes, and effects of the skills gap on your institution

• The five key areas of focus for solving the skills gap

• Tactical, practical tools to engage the entire institution in employment outcomes

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Why is this topic important to you?

4

We a

re lo

oking fo

r tact

ic..

We n

eed data

to su

ppor...

Soft-

skill

s is o

ur gre

atest

...

New

ideas!

25% 25%25%25%1. We are looking for tactical tools for campus-wide engagement.

2. We need data to support the importance of soft skills.

3. Soft-skills is our greatest obstacle to graduate employment.

4. New ideas!

Assessing your students’ soft-skills readiness

5 M

ajorit

y are w

ell pre

pared.

Majo

rity ar

e som

ewhat .

..

Majo

rity ar

e ill p

repare

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Majo

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n’t sp

ell so

ft-s..

.

25% 25%25%25%1. Majority are well prepared.

2. Majority are somewhat prepared.

3. Majority are ill prepared.

4. Majority can’t spell soft-skills , let alone practice them!

Defining the “Skills Gap”

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The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) –

ASTD defines a skills gap as a significant gap between an organization’s current capabilities and the skills it needs to

achieve its goals.

Current Market Conditions

• More than half (53 percent) of U.S. companies report a major challenge in

recruiting non-managerial employees with the skills and knowledge needed

• In a recent poll by ASTD taken by 1,179 organizations, 79% report a skills gap

within their organization

• The Most Noticeable Gaps are in:

Leadership & Executive Level Skills

Basic Skills

Emotional Intelligence

Creative/Innovative Skills

Communication/Interpersonal Skills

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1 Bureau of Labor Statistics 2011 2 Bridgeland, J., Milano, J., & Rosenblum, E. (2011). Across the great divide: Perspectives of CEOs and College Presidents on America’s higher education and skills gap.

The Gap

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The Root of the Problem

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In a survey of more than 400 major employers …

• 42% rated the overall preparation of high school grads for entry level jobs as deficient

• 73% rated their leadership skills deficient

• 70% rated graduates deficient in both professionalism (work ethic) and critical thinking (problem solving)

• 54% rated grads creativity/innovation skills deficient McKinsey Global Institute. (June 2011). An

economy that works: Job creation and America’s future. Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey. com/mgi/publications/us_jobs/pdfs/MGI_us_jobs_full_report.pdf

Solving the Problem in Five Areas of Focus

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Skills

Gap

Early Tenure

Personalized Mitigation

Soft-Skill Education

Throughout

Experiential Learning

Employer Partners

At which stages are you purposefully reinforcing soft-skills

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Early

Tenure

Contin

uing st

u...

Pre

-Gra

duation

Exte

rn/In

tern

s...

Alu

mni

All

of the a

bo...

17% 17% 17%17%17%17%

1. Early Tenure

2. Continuing student

3. Pre-Graduation

4. Extern/Internship

5. Alumni

6. All of the above

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Establish a Baseline

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• 5 Assessment Points – Within Month 1 – Early Term – Mid-Term – Late Term – 1 Month prior to Externship/Internship

• 10 Professionalism Criteria

– Reflects behaviors and characteristics deemed critical to

success in today’s workplace

– Reflects attributes, tools, practices and skills equipping a job seeker to compete for desirable positions

Student “Employ-Ability” Scorecard

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Employ-Ability Progress Report

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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Comm Attitude Timely Reliable Organized Image Feedback Team Integrity Application

New Student

Early Tenure

Mid-Tenure

Near Graduation

Graduation

Personalized Mitigation- “AAA”

• Ability

– Tutoring

– Mentoring

– “Buddy System”

• Aptitude

– Experiential Learning (McGraw Hill Learning Solutions)

– Adaptive Learning (McGraw Hill “Connect” or “Aleks”)

• Attitude

– Self Driven Assessment Modules and Reports

– Professionalism Workshops

– Reward & Recognition Programs

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If you polled your staff- who would THEY say is responsible for teaching soft-skills?

17 C

areer S

ervice

...

Educa

tion

Student S

ervic.

..

Exte

rn si

te m

a...

It’s

the st

ude...

No o

ne

Every

one

14% 14% 14% 14%14%14%14%1. Career Services

2. Education

3. Student Services

4. Extern site managers

5. It’s the student’s responsibility

6. No one

7. Everyone

On-Going Soft-Skills Education

It Takes A Village!

• Career messages reinforced in all areas of campus (TOMA) • Professionalism at all times (language is important) • Staff and Faculty participate in campus life • Office hours clearly posted and observed • On-the-spot recognition for desired behaviors

(asking good questions, dressing well, good teamwork, excellent accountability) • Model excellent employment behavior (on time, dress appropriately, deliver grades on

time, etc.) • Every experience reinforces professionalism

– Syllabi – Faculty observations – Faculty feedback reviews – Attendance calls

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Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA)

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Sample Reports-Student Outcomes

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Which of the following topics are you conducting purposeful instruction for?

21 P

rofe

ssio

nalis...

Socia

l-Media

Image

Inte

rvie

win

g

Job Se

arch

Exte

rn/In

tern

s...

All

of the a

bo...

14% 14% 14% 14%14%14%14%1. Professionalism

2. Social-Media

3. Image

4. Interviewing

5. Job Search

6. Extern/Internship Prep

7. All of the above

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Maximizing Social Media to Get A Great Job

Realize Your Career Potential- The Power of Professionalism

Writing a Winning Resume & Cover Letter

Soft-Skills Workshops

Create your Online Brand

Facebook Do’s & Don'ts

Linked In Benefits

Create your LinkedIn Profile

Brainstorm your Connections

Homework-Self Assessment

Identifying Non-Verbal Behaviors

7 Keys to Exhibiting

Professionalism

Importance of staying current in

their industry

Do’s & Don’ts of a Professional

Image Exercise

Homework, Self-Assessment of

Professionalism Skills

Basics of writing a resume and

tailoring it to each desired job

Foundations of a strong cover letter

Practice networking

Lessons about job search readiness

Homework, Create Resume & Cover

Letter

© Copyright 2012 The Sparrow Group. www.sparrowgroup.biz

How to Conduct a Successful Job Search

Interview Strategies for Success

Pinpoint their Desired Job

Create a “You Brand”

5 Essentials of Preparing

Properly

Targeting a Company or

Specific Job

Practice networking

Making a Good First Impression

How to Answer Interview Questions

10 Most Asked Interview Questions

Researching a Company

7 Steps for Preparing

Soft-Skills Workshops-cont.

Preparing for Externship

Preparing for Externship

Making a Good First Impression

Competency Exercise

Do’s & Don’ts During Externship

Confidence Exercise

Making the Most of Externship

Asking for the Job

Preparing for Externship

© Copyright 2012 The Sparrow Group. www.sparrowgroup.biz

Soft Skills Workshops

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Soft-Skills Workshop

1. Maximizing Social Media to Get a Great Job

2. Conducting a Successful Job Search

3. Writing a Winning Resume & Cover Letter

4. Interviewing Strategies for Success

5. Realizing your Career Potential- The Power of Professionalism

6. Intern/Externship Excellence- Your Open Door to a New Career! 27

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The Workshops include the following:

• The facilitator’s guide – everything you need to know to deliver the workshop

successfully

• The student workbook- an interactive workbook for students to utilize for each

workshop with activities, pages for notes and resource pages.

• Workshop Evaluation – This is for your students to complete so you’ll have feedback

about how to improve your presentation next time you deliver it, and you’ll also learn

about the other programs that they want to see

• Presentations – Not all workshops require the use of Power Point. Fundamentally we

believe that unless Power Point adds to the learning, we don’t use them.

Why

Intern/

Externship

Work?

CareerBuilder Stats

Survey Reinforces Importance of Experience

81% 80%

68% 64% 59%

50% 50% 46%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

From the report: “Opportunities in Education: Strategies for Private Sector Colleges 2011,” Presented by CareerBuilder

Experiential Learning Offerings- For All Programs!

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• Student

– Practice what they’ve learned

– Gain practical experience

– Potential hire to full-time work

• College

– Evidence of program excellence for accreditors

– Evidence of program employment outcomes

– Student satisfaction

– Key competitive advantage for recruiting/admissions

Impact of Experiential Learning

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1. 83% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “work/internship experience acquired before, or during graduate school, results in greater employment opportunities upon graduation.”

2. Undergraduates in a business school were more likely to receive job offers if they had completed an internship

3. Intern alumni had higher salaries than non-intern alumni

1) Cassidy, 2010 2) Gault, Leach and Dewey, 2010 3) Gault, Reddington and Schlager, 2000

Employer Partnerships

Businesses are beginning to realize the importance of collaborating with local education institutions, and vice versa.

“Colleges need businesses to serve as working advisors so that curriculum has relevance and value for their organizational goals and employees’ knowledge and skills,”

-Patricia Claghorn, Dean of Continuing Education and Institutional

Advancement for Gloucester County College (GCC) in Sewell, New Jersey.

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Employer Partnership s

• Advisory Board/PAC Committees

• Guest Speaking

• Curriculum Review

• Highlight Business

– Culture

– Benefits

– Uniqueness

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Ann Cross Executive Partner The Sparrow Group across@sparrowgroup.biz www.sparrowgroup.biz http://www.linkedin.com/in/anncross

Martha Lanaghen President The Sparrow Group martha@sparrowgroup.biz www.sparrowgroup.biz http://www.linkedin.com/in/marthalanaghen

Questions??

Thank you! Please feel free to contact us with additional questions.

Resources

• Community college programs help fill skills gap in U.S. (USA Today, 04/09/2012)

• The Skills Gap: A Quick Note (Forbes, 06/08/2012) • Does a Skills Gap Contribute to Unemployment? (New York

Times, 07/09/2012) • The skills gap: Myth or reality? (Star-Tribune, 08/05/2012) • 8 Steps for Closing the Skills Gap (Huffington Post,

08/21/2012) • Solving the Manufacturing Skills Gap (The Atlantic,

09/06/2012) • Skills gap is hampering labor market (The Hill, 09/09/2012)

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