At Golden Path, we’re always looking for ways to help you as an employer build your future workforce. We’ve offered Sponsorships (signed work agreements in exchange for full or partial tuition reimbursement) for some time. Now, we’ve added Placements to the mix, for those students looking for employment right out of high school and for your roles that don’t require postsecondary education. For employers looking to make a bigger commitment to a student, these are fantastic ways to meet your workforce needs.
Finding ways to connect with students
One of the first ways we recommend connecting with students (which can ultimately help lead to a Sponsorship or Placement) is by sharing one or more Career Profiles in Compass. These allow you to describe your available careers, work culture, high school experiences that help prepare for those careers, and what skills are needed to be successful in those roles. Beyond the Career Profile, we encourage employers to provide experiences to students while they are in high school. This allows you to share information about a career, whether it be through connecting with students at a career fair or a job shadow, or something more involved like a cooperative work experience or internship (also called work-based learning).
Making the commitment
In addition to helping drive awareness of your company and careers, we can help you establish a Sponsorship for a student after they graduate. There are many success stories across a variety of industries where employers and students partner together through postsecondary programs. The partnerships enable students to graduate with less debt and a promised job, while also securing a skilled team member for the employer. When you factor in the benefits of a Sponsorship with the increased productivity of your future team member and the reduced risk of attrition, offering Sponsorships can actually provide a better return on investment (ROI) than traditional recruiting. We’d love to share more if you’re considering Sponsorships for students.
Having said that, not all careers require postsecondary degrees and not all students are interested in further education. In fact, about half of students intend to enter the workforce right away. Whether they want to work for a while and then pursue school or do an apprenticeship where education is part of the work experience, more students are showing interest in working immediately after graduation. At Golden Path, we want to help students find those opportunities, just like we do for Sponsorships. That’s why we’re now offering Sponsorships and Placements.
With Sponsorships and Placements, we work directly with employers to set up the terms of the work commitment and, if applicable, the tuition reimbursement. We also help students understand that Career Profiles in Compass specify if Sponsorships or Placements are available for those careers. (Career Profiles will either indicate Sponsorship or Available Now.) We work directly with students who are good candidates for your careers by introducing them to you after we get their or their guardian’s consent. Then, we help them through the application and interview process, as well as facilitate the agreement signing. Finally, we stay connected with the student for the first six months of either their postsecondary education program or their work with you. We provide them with soft-skill training, answer questions, and ultimately help them through their first months after high school graduation.
Offering a Sponsorship or Placement
To take advantage of Sponsorships and Placements, just reach out to us. We can help with the following:
- Determine what roles you want to get in front of students for Sponsorships or Placements
- Build Career Profiles for those roles and highlight these opportunities
- Find potential resources to help with Sponsorship costs (such as ND Career Builders) or wages (such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act)
- Introduce you to strong student matches
- Facilitate contract signing when you find a student for your company
- Stay connected for the first six months to ensure a successful connection
Visit the Golden Path Solutions website to learn more about Sponsorships and Placements or contact us.