We can’t believe summer is already wrapping up and it’s almost time for school to begin. This is a great time of year for updating Compass, adding new opportunities, and getting excited about new connections between schools and employers.
Golden Path celebrated that new-school-year energy by presenting at the North Dakota Career and Technical Education Professional Development Conference Aug. 5-7 in Bismarck. We networked with several of our employer partners and hosted three breakout sessions on Compass Career Profiles and hot jobs, work-based learning, and using Compass for the Four-Year Rolling Plan. We also congratulated two of our partners and champions of students: Haley Jeanotte from Williston High School who was named Counseling and Career Development Professional of the Year and Lyle Kreuger from the Central Regional Area Career and Technical Center (CRACTC) in Bismarck who won ND CTE Administrator of the Year. Both are so deserving of recognition!
New Partnership Package underway
TrueNorth Steel of Fargo, ND, and Cargill of Wahpeton, ND, are our first clients with our new Partnership Package. We’re thrilled to partner with these outstanding employers to better develop their strategy for connecting with students and schools. Our new Partnership Package offering pairs our industry experiences with employers’ unique goals to help them better build their future workforce.
Our partnership begins with a strategy session to explore the employer’s unique needs, what hasn’t worked in the past, and what they’re willing to try now. Our team then develops a yearlong plan for school and student engagement, conducts regular check-ins throughout the year, and provides regular recommended connection opportunities. We also continue to support the employer with work-based learning opportunities and Career Profiles in Compass. Contact us today to learn more.
Placements now available for students after graduation
Recognizing that some students aren’t interested in attending college, Golden Path is expanding our services to alsomatch students with employers for jobs following graduation.This new option, called Placements, is similar to our Sponsorship service, but does not include the post-secondary component. Instead, we’re matching students with jobs they can begin immediately after high school graduation. We help throughout the interview and hiring phase, as well as follow up with the student and employer during the first six months to ensure it’s a good fit for everyone.
For more information about Placements or to get started, contact info@goldenpath.net.
Prepare for the new school year
As we mentioned, August is a great time for employers to gear up for the school year. By updating your employer profile, WBL opportunities, and Career Profiles, you’ll be looking your best when school professionals and students log back into Compass this fall.
Here’s what we recommended:
- Update your employer contact information, including your primary contact.
- Extend WBL opportunities if they are expired.
- Add new WBL opportunities. Think about new ways you can introduce students to your company.
- Accept or reject any outstanding applications.
- Renew existing Career Profiles.
- Add new Career Profiles. Contact us for help!
College pilot program connects programs to employers
We’ve started to launch our Compass college pilot program, featuring several regional schools, their programs and degrees, and how they partner with area employers. This new feature in Compass enables colleges to highlight up to five of their programs and link them to related employers and careers. It provides students with more guidance in their career exploration, enables employers and schools to reference each other in their profiles, and helps employers highlight schools with the training that best works for their employees. It also offers another way for schools to promote their programs.
“Working with Patrick and his team has been great,” says Brian Huschle, vice president for Academic Affairs at Mayville (ND) State University, one of the participating schools. “GPS is invested in supporting our young people in choosing the best careers to fit who they are and who they aspire to be, while also demonstrating the opportunities to reach these goals right here in our region.”
New functionality added in Compass
We’re adding new features all the time in Compass. The most recent updates include making high school course lists available to school professionals. This is in preparation for Compass to be used for North Dakota’s Four-Year Rolling Plan. Students and school professionals will be able to track and coordinate students’ progress toward graduation, all within Compass.
A time-tracking feature for WBL opportunities is also now available in Compass. Students can now clock in and out of their WBL experiences (such as internships and job shadows), providing a clear count of hours as they pertain to their academic requirements. This will be available on the mobile app and to schools outside North Dakota first as we work on RUReady.ND.gov integration.
We’re making events free so employers and organizations can share events with students. We will also email these events to our network of teachers, counselors, and work-based learning coordinators. We hope this provides yet another way to share amazing opportunities with students.
Finally, we’re still working with North Dakota transition specialists to determine ways Compass can support students with unique needs as they prepare for their lives after high school. We are looking into ways we can help employers provide opportunities and reach these students who are interested in their company and careers.
Share your events with us
We’re building a new events calendar to share with all of you. From school career fairs to conferences, workshops, and expos, these events build connections between schools and employers – and now they’ll be easy for you to find and attend. Please submit your events to events@goldenpath.net. Watch future communications for when and where the events calendar will be available.
