EMPLOYER’S School-to-Career Pocket Guide

Connecticut State Department of Education

CBIAConnecticut

Business&Industry Association

350 Church Street, Hartford, CT 06103-1126

cbia.com

EMPLOYER’SSchool-to-CareerPocket Guide

CBIA represents more than

10,000 businesses and is the

official business partner of

“Connecticut Learns,” the state’s

school-to-career initiative. Our

leadership role connects us with

the National Alliance of Business,

the National Association of

Manufacturers and the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce in support

of school-to-career.

What is school-to-career?School-to-career is an educational approachthat combines rigorous classroom instructionwith work-site experiences that offer practical,hands-on training. It’s based on the provenconcept that education works best and is themost useful for future careers when studentsapply what they learn in school to real-life, real-work situations. This gives students the oppor-tunity to make informed career decisions.Basically, school-to-career prepares people forcareers in the New Economy, focusing on aca-demic and professional success.

Why school-to-career?Nationwide, students are graduating from highschool without the proper skills, training or visionneeded for the workforce or to advance their edu-cation. What’s more, today’s employers can’t findenough skilled and motivated workers to fill goodjobs.

How does school-to-careerwork?School-to-career programs are now availablethroughout many of Connecticut’s schools.Students in school-to-career programs learnabout and explore myriad career opportunitiesin eight industry clusters that have been identi-fied by employers like you, working with CBIAand educators.

The eight industry clusters are:

• Arts and Media

• Business and Finance

• Construction Technologies and Design

• Environmental, Natural Resources andAgriculture

• Government, Education and Human Services

• Health and Biosciences

• Retail, Tourism, Recreation and Entrepreneurial

• Technologies: Manufacturing, Communicationsand Information Technologies

CBIA has outlined the jobs that will be in demandby employers in these clusters and the skills stan-dards students will have to meet in order to gainentry-level employment, either with a high schooldiploma or a degree from a higher-education

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institution. These skills standards are available fordownload from the CBIA Web site (cbia.com) orby viewing the CBIA “Career Exploration VideoSeries.” (See inside back cover for a completelisting of CBIA school-to-career resources.)

School-to-career emphasizes:High academic achievementSchool-to-career is intended to ensure that par-ticipating students meet challenging academicstandards and that they master the tools they’llneed to enter employment and/or succeed in aprogram of higher education.

ResponsibilityJust as they are held to high academic stan-dards, students are required to honor work-siterules and fulfill their obligations to employer-hosts in a mature and responsible fashion.

Students are expected to stay in school, take acore academic curriculum, demonstrate com-petencies in the Connecticut career clusters,maintain their grades and make measurableprogress toward completing a diploma.

Employer involvementEmployers play a very important role in school-to-career. First, they help schools understandwhat today’s workplace is like and exactly whatkinds of knowledge and skills they need fromjob applicants. Then, they provide the opportu-nities for students to work with them — andultimately earn a Connecticut Career Certificate.The certificate is a designation officially recog-nizing the academic, technical and employabili-ty skills students have attained.

Local participationParticipating employers become part of aschool-to-career network of partnerships with

School-to-Career is:

• Education with a strofocus on the future

• Classroom learning supplemented with wbased experiences

• Practical preparationthe workplace or foradvanced learning

local educators, government, and ultimately,parents and students.

Close tiesClassroom instruction and work-based learningexperiences are closely coordinated to enhancethe value of each. For example, work-site learn-ing often involves the practical application ofmathematics, science, reading, writing, socialstudies and computer skills. At the work site,employees also help students develop skills inproblem solving, teamwork, time managementand communication. School-to-career pro-grams are proven to help students stay moti-vated, stay in school and then move on to gain-ful employment or higher-education programs.

SupportCBIA provides outreach and support toemployers and educators who participate in

school-to-career. We have developed materialsand tools to help establish effective school-to-career partnerships. These materials are avail-able to download from cbia.com (select“Education & Training,” then “School-to-Career”). “Students in the Workplace: AConnecticut Employer’s Guide to School-to-Career” is especially important because it pro-vides employers with the basic informationthey need to get started on a school-to-careerinitiative.

We believe that by working together, we canexpand opportunities for all Connecticut stu-dents and increase the supply of skilled work-ers for employers. We can also connect you tothe right people to work with in your localschools. Here’s how to get started.

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School-to-Career is:

• Education with a strongfocus on the future

• Classroom learning supplemented with work-based experiences

• Practical preparation forthe workplace or foradvanced learning

▼Career ExplorationProvide speakers to local schools, and partici-pate in career/job fairs, to talk about yourindustry and the career opportunities it offers.Time investment: 1-3 hours*

▼Field Trips/Company ToursInvite students and teachers into your work-place so they can experience firsthand yourbusiness world and meet your employees.Time investment: 1-3 hours

▼Job ShadowingAllow a student to spend time in your companyand “shadow” one of your employees during atypical day at work.Time investment: 4-8 hours

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School-to-Career act

Career ExplorationEmployers can help students explore careers in all of the above activities.

* all times are approximate

▼Internships Provide a paid work-site opportunity in which astudent can develop skills through hands-onlearning and instruction in your company.Create opportunities for the student to beexposed to all aspects of your industry. Thiswill be closely tied to classroom instruction.Time investment: 3-18 weeks

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ivities for employers

Mentoring Employers can develop formal relationships between individual students and employees, providingthem with encouragement, support, instruction and guidance in their career-decision process.

▼Pre-apprenticeshipsHelp launch a student on a career path with astructured, on-the-job training and instructionprogram — based on a written agreement —which will lead to a certification as a qualifiedworker. Use the same conditions as you wouldfor someone registering for a full-time apprenticeship.Time investment: 3-12 months

▼Externships for EducatorsOpen your doors for an educator (teacher,guidance counselor or administrator) toobserve and participate in your workplace.Externships help reinforce and update theteaching that takes place in the classroom.Time investment: 1 day - 6 weeks.

What to do: Create an easy and enjoyablelearning experience that can informally intro-duce students and teachers to your companyand industry. For example, send one of youremployees to speak to a group of students at alocal school and demonstrate your products.Or, participate in a local job or career fair, inwhich you can meet students informally andgive them information about your company. Inany case, let students mix with your employees— that’s when the learning begins.

Duration: Individual events and presentationscan be brief, but you can participate in any ofthese types of activities many times over manyyears.

Students’ grade level: Appropriate for any agegroup when tailored to their interests and abili-ties.

Career Explorations

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Benefits of Career Explorations

Students will:

• Learn about different jobs and careers atyour company.

• Identify their personal interests, skills andabilities.

• Understand the variety of academic, workand communication skills that you require.

• Challenge their views of different jobs andcareers.

• Understand the connection between school,work, and setting and achieving goals.

Keys for Employers

• Make sure you review and confirm eventdetails with the school, including theirexpectations for your presentation.

• Identify employees who are comfortable andcan communicate easily with young people.

• Ask your employee(s) to talk about today’sjobs, other career opportunities in yourbusiness or industry, the types of educationand skills needed to succeed, typical workschedules, and salaries.

• If you bring students to your workplace,make sure you:- Make the school aware of any special

requirements, dress code or safety gear;and

- Provide directions, travel time and parking information.

• Relax and have fun!

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What to do: Open your doors to a visit from agroup of students and teachers from an areaschool and “show off” your company andproducts. Conduct a guided tour of your facili-ties and allow your visitors to meet youremployees. Provide a picture of what yourcompany does, how it conducts business andhow it competes in today’s marketplace.

Duration: Approximately 1-3 hours.

Grade level: Appropriate for any age group iftailored to their needs and abilities.

Benefits of Field Trips/Company Tours

Students will:

• Gain broader exposure to the world of work,especially at your company.

• Learn how a business operates and how itfits into the state and national economies.

Field Trips/Company Tours

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• Learn about the work your employees do andthe skills they have.

• Increase their understanding about careeropportunities available to them.

You will:

• Meet some prospective job applicants.

• Create positive public relations in your commu-nity.

Keys for Employers:

• Plan the day’s activities well in advance so thatstudents have the best possible experience.

• Determine the age group of your visitors andadjust your message accordingly.

• Prepare your employees to be gracious hosts,and encourage them to take and answer ques-tions.

• Mix talking with showing, so that you illus-trate different aspects of your company.

• Encourage students to ask questions.

• Make this part of your company’s community-relations outreach.

What to do: Match one of your employees witha student visitor who will spend a good part ofa typical workday at your company “shadow-ing” your employee. Encourage the employeeto talk with the student about what he or shedoes, what kinds of skills and instruction arenecessary for the job, how the job fits in withthe rest of the company, and what it’s like towork there.

Duration: Approximately 4-8 hours.

Grade level: Most appropriate for students inthe seventh grade through high school.

Benefits of Job Shadowing:

Students will:

• Begin to identify career interests — influ-enced by what they see at your company.

Job Shadowing

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• Get a realistic view of the daily routines ofadult workers.

• Gain an awareness of the academic, techni-cal and personal skills required by certainjobs.

• Develop and apply communication skills byinteracting with workers.

• Realize that different jobs are characterizedby different work cultures and environ-ments.

You will:

• Get the chance to more fully introduce yourcompany to an interested student.

• Deepen your school-to-career relationshipswith area schools.

Keys for Host Employees:

• Go about your normal job routine so that yourstudent “shadow” can observe you at work.

• Plan to allow the student to do some limit-ed, hands-on tasks (make sure you closelysupervise).

• Explain the important aspects of your workand how they relate to other jobs in thecompany.

• Talk about how the work of your companyaffects the local or regional community.

• Be patient — it’s hard to do your work,answer questions and be a good host at thesame time!

• If yours is a union environment, seek itsinvolvement in your planning.

• Use a check-off sheet to see if you’ve cov-ered everything.

CBIA helps employ-

ers participate in the

annual Groundhog

Job Shadow Day, a

national initiative to

engage students in

the world of work.

What to do: An internship is a more in-depthschool-to-career experience in which a studentspends an extended period of time at yourcompany completing:

• A planned series of activities or learningobjectives, or

• A project designed to provide a broadunderstanding of your business or industry.

By integrating classroom learning with real-lifeworkplace experiences, an internship helps astudent simultaneously develop academic andvocational skills.

Pay: If a student is doing work that you wouldtypically pay an employee to do, you must thenpay the student. For college or other postsec-ondary interns, class credit may also beoffered.Internships

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• Develop the teaching and mentoring abilitiesof your employees.

Keys for Employers:

• Help design a student project or planned setof workplace activities.

• Help write and co-sign a learning agree-ment.

• Teach, supervise and encourage your intern.

• Integrate the student into your workplaceand expose him or her to as many aspectsof your business as possible.

• Evaluate your intern’s academic, technicaland employability skills (required for stu-dents in Connecticut Career Certificate pro-gram).

Duration: Usually 3-18 weeks; hours variable.

Grade level: Grades 11-12 (high school junior andsenior years)

Benefits of Internships

Students will:

• Develop transferable academic, technical andemployability skills.

• Apply basic skills and knowledge to your real-world work setting.

• Focus their career interests by experiencing ajob and career in your company, in depth.

• Understand the culture of your workplace.

• Begin to assume real responsibilities in anadult work setting.

You will:

• Cultivate a potential addition to your workforce.

What to do: The pre-apprenticeship program isan extensive work-site arrangement in which astudent progresses through a plannedsequence of increasingly demanding activitiesthat’s integrated with classroom instruction.Students will:

• Learn entry-level job skills, and

• Earn skill certification.

Duration: The duration of a pre-apprenticeshipmust not exceed 2,000 hours or 24 months.Work hours the pre-apprentice accumulatesafter school, on weekends and in the summerare credited toward the completion of anapprenticeship should the student choose topursue that field after graduation from highschool.

Terms: Students must be at least 16 years ofage and have parental consent. Just as with

Pre-Apprenticeships

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any other kind of apprentice, you will sign anagreement formally outlining work conditionsand the training, instruction and pay the stu-dent will receive. You need to determine thequalifications for admission into the program,within the limits of state and federal law. It’sunderstood that completion of the program willlead to the student’s certification as a qualifiedworker.

Keys for Employers:

• Set pre-apprenticeship training standards.

• Train and supervise the student, evaluate hisor her work, and help develop industry-rec-ognized skills.

• Develop a work schedule detailing the skills,operations and processes to be taught.

• Establish realistic time periods for the stu-

dent to achieve proficiency.

• Comply with all pertinent workplace laws.

• Maintain the required ratio of apprentices tojourneypersons.

What to do: Establish a long-term relationshipthat will provide a student with ongoing careersupport and encouragement within your com-pany. Over time, a mentor will help a studentbecome accustomed to the rules, norms andexpectations of the workplace. He or she willalso provide career insight and guidance basedon personal experience. A mentor may engagein a wide range of involvement, from simplyproviding the student with a “buddy” to offer-ing intensive, structured work experiences.

Duration: Depends on individual needs.

Grade level: Most appropriate for high school-through college-age students.

Purpose:

• Provides a learning/support activity, not anactual job.

Mentoring16

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• Provides a youth with an adult who willserve as an adviser and coach.

• Offers career insights and imparts howbasic skills relate to success.

Keys for Employers:

• Be aware of your legal responsibilities inserving as a mentor to youth — the sameguidelines as those for your employees.

• Seek guidance from your school liaison inhow to communicate and work with youngpeople. Be aware that young people oftenhave unrealistic expectations and attitudesabout the workplace.

• Try to offer activities that will help your stu-dent develop workplace skills and careerinsights.

• Be direct with your school liaison about any

concerns or questions you may have.

• Stay flexible and open to change.

What to do: Invite teachers and other schoolofficials into your company for their ownschool-to-career experiences, without students.Educators can learn a great deal about today’sworkplace — and better communicate it totheir students — through externships at yourcompany. Simply, an externship allows an edu-cator to spend time observing and/or partici-pating in the workplace, gaining valuableinsights about how academic, technical andemployability skills all come together.

Duration: An externship can be as short asseveral days or as long as a summer vacation;it may even extend to a full year.

Teaching level: Any educator can benefit, butteachers of grades 7 through 12 may benefitthe most in applying their workplace experi-ences to their academic curricula.

Externships for

Educators18

• Identify an employee who will serve as amentor or supervisor to the extern.

• Show the extern current business practices,such as what you are doing in total qualitymanagement and continuous improvement.

• Expose the educator to your profession andwhat role it has in today’s economy.

• Work with the educator on how to apply thework-site experience to the classroom.

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Benefits of Externships

Teachers will:

• See and experience for themselves thedynamics of your company and what ittakes to work there.

• Expand their horizons of career possibilities.

• Better equip themselves to teach a work-based school-to-career curriculum.

You will:

• Gain from having educators teach about theworkplace from positive, meaningful experi-ences at your company.

Keys for Employers:

• Meet with the visiting educator(s) prior tothe externship to outline expectations andestablish guidelines.

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Plus new IT industry video!

CBIA’s acclaimed series of Career Exploration videos and CDs feature real people describing real jobsin today’s working world. Taped exclusively in Connecticut companies, the programs cover each ofeight industry clusters, and the CD set includes most of the videos plus other online resources. Andnow, there’s a new video on careers in Information Technology.

CBIA’s Career Exploration Video & CD Series

Career Exploration Videos:• Arts and Media • Business and Finance • Construction Technologies and Design• Environmental, Natural Resources and Agriculture • Government, Education and Human Services • Health and Biosciences • Retail, Tourism, Recreation and Entrepreneurial • Technologies: Manufacturing, Communications and Information Technologies

To order Career ExplorationVideos, companion 2-CDsets and new InformationTechnology industry videos,call CBIA at 860-244-1900.

CBIA School-to-Career Resourcesfor EmployersCBIA offers Connecticut employers help indeveloping a skilled workforce. You can get, orlearn about, many of these resources atcbia.com:

Career Exploration Video Series, CD-ROM and Web SiteA great way to introduce your industry andsome entry-level jobs is CBIA’s new “CareerExploration Video Series.” The series of eightindustry-specific videos and one overviewvideo is especially geared to students.

Students in the Workplace: ConnecticutEmployer’s Guide to School-to-Career Everything you and your company need toknow about school-to-career — we wrote thebook on it!

Industry-Skill Requirements: Academic, Technical and EmployabilityBusiness and industry representatives fromeight industry clusters told us what basicskills would be needed to obtain entry-leveljobs in a wide range of occupations. Now,these standards are published in a series ofeight booklets.

Information Technology (IT) Video andConnecticut IT Skill RequirementsThe fastest-growing job sector in Connecticutis in information technology (IT), and thesenew CBIA materials provide the perfect intro-duction. Contemporary and informative, thevideo illustrates the world of opportunity in IT.And the requirements outline the path to getthere.

Business Training Resources for EmployersYou can learn about many other resources nowavailable to help your company develop askilled workforce.

For more information about all of these resources, visit cbia.com (Select “Education & Training.”)

School-to-Career: Educating Students for a New EconomyPlease contact my company to discuss how we can get involved in school-to-career.

We are interested in these activities/products:

❑ Career explorations ❑ Field trips/company tours ❑ Career Exploration Videos

❑ Job shadowing ❑ Internships for students ❑ New IT Video

❑ Pre-apprenticeships ❑ Externships for educators ❑ Career Exploration CD set

Name _____________________________________________________ Title _________________________________________________

Contact person [if other than above] ___________________________________________________________________________________

Company ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Address _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

City/State/ZIP _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Telephone _______________________________________________ E-mail _________________________________________________

For more information about school-to-career, visit cbia.com (select “Education & Training,” then “School-to-Career”). Or call CBIA’s Education Foundation at 860-244-1900.

Mail this form to:

CBIA Education Foundation

350 Church Street

Hartford, CT 06103-1126