Report on College Career Development Programs and Placement Success

This report analyzes the career development activities conducted at a college, focusing on how planning and evaluation of these activities contribute to student career building. It details the author's personal experiences, including observations from college placements and activities. The report covers skill tests, personality development programs, and placement drives organized by the college to recruit students. It also explores the importance of training and development programs, career development centers, performance management, and diversity management in enhancing student performance and preparing them for future careers. The report highlights the benefits of these programs, such as increased student confidence, improved communication skills, and better preparation for interviews and job placements. The report also includes a diary of activities with observations from the placement process.

Introduction
The report basically talks about the events and the activities conducted on the college premises
and how that planning and the evaluation of the activities helps in building the career of the
students. The career development of the college students is very important. This report is related
to my personal experience in the college and the diary includes all the activities of my college
placements and the observations I have made through these activities are also mentioned in the
table. The whole task is based on the selection and recruitment of the students in the college.
The observations made from the number of the tasks and the activities are related to the skills
that the students possess. The report also focused on the plan lessons and the evaluation of the
activities to learn about the best outcomes of all the plans. The best part of the college activities
are the staff efforts to give the guidance and the lectures to the students for their career and to tell
them about the number of alternatives available for the students after the completion of their
graduation or the post-graduation (Dundalk Institute of Technology, 2013).
The selection and recruitment are not only done through the colleges, but the direct hiring of the
organizations is also an opportunity for the students. The organization also follows the same
rules of providing the career development program as well as to give the training to the
employees to tell them their roles and responsibilities. The companies also focus on the retaining
of the employees in the organization to avoid the selection and recruitment of the new employees
as it involves the huge expenses.
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Diary of activities
My diary of activities includes all the tasks with date and time and with the observation notes.
The time to start the procedure of the recruitment and the selection in the college was the 5th May
2016 and it took around ten days to complete the tasks. The whole procedure started with the
introduction of the students with their ambition to identify their seriousness about the career. The
aim of the students in their life depicts the personality of the students. Then, after this, the
college tried to adopt a strategy to organize a test to check the level of the skills they have and
what are the areas they need to improve. The class consisted of 30 students and it was divided
into 3 groups for taking their skill tests. The skill tests help to identify their level as it contains
the reasoning ability test, numeric ability and the general knowledge etc. The college then,
organize the personality development programs to improve their skills and the career
development program to guide them about their future growth. The college took a responsibility
to call the big companies into the college for the recruitment of the skilled and well
knowledgeable students (Thompson, 2015). The shortlisted candidates were those who scored
good marks in the aptitude tests were now eligible to appear in the interviews. The companies
already discussed about their terms and conditions with regard to the training and the salary at
the time of the recruitment. All these activities involve huge expenditure of the colleges as well
as the time. The college builds its reputation by conducting these drives and by establishing a
training and placement cell in the college or university building.
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A diary template
Week 1 Class Activities Observation notes
5th May 2016
Time 10:00
am
Task –
introduction
6th May 2016
Time
11:00am
Task- Skill
test
MBA, 4th
Sem
30 students
in total
Group of 10
students
A Simple interview
session, with the
students regarding
the Introduction of
the students and
their aim in life and
how they will
achieve it?
To conduct the skill
test of the students
by dividing the 30
students into 3
groups and the skill
test will include all
the reasoning,
numerical and
general knowledge
questions
By simple interviewing the students
will help to know their enthusiasm
and the zeal and how serious they
are towards the goal and the
objectives
The level of the knowledge and the
skills the students possess will get to
know by these tests. The results of
the skill test of the students will help
shortlist the candidates on the basis
of their skills.
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7th May 2016
Time 11:00
Task- skill
test 2
8th May 2016
Time – 11:00
Skill test 3
10th May
2017
Time -12:00
Task-
declaration
of the result
11th May
2016
Time- 10:00
Next group
Last group
Whole class
College
activity
This test is for the
second group of
people
The last 10 students
also gone through
these tests
The shortlisted
candidates who
cleared the skill test
and scored good
marks in the test
are announced.
The college took a
responsibility to
call the big
companies to
The test is helpful to know the level
of the students’ skills and abilities.
The Last group test is also taken to
find out the best students among the
30 students.
The comparison among the students
observed because of the result of the
test. The students’ knowledge and
the skills are observed from the
results of these tests.
I have noticed that college was
conducting these placement drives to
build its image in front of the people
and to attract the more students for
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Task- To
organize the
placement
drives
12th May
2016
Time – 10:30
Task-
personality
development
classes
Class
conduct the
placement drives
for the recruitment
of the capable
students in their
companies.
The personality
development
classes organized
by the college
administrators to
improve the
personality of the
students. In these
classes the college
faculty gave lecture
to the students and
guidance for the
interview like how
to behave, speak,
and answer at the
the coming years by showing them
the ratio of the placements in the
college. The colleges are also
worried about the future of the
students so that’s why the college
took a responsibility and worked
seriously on the placements.
I have observed that these
personality development classes
beneficial in the development of the
students’ mind and attitudes. These
classes helps to learn about the
practical knowledge rather than the
theoretical knowledge.
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13th May
2016
Time 9:30
Task-
application
form filled
by the
students for
the job.
14th May
2016
Time – 11:00
Task-
Interview
15th May
2016
Time 12:00
Task-
Shortlisted
candidates
Shortlisted
candidates
Selected
candidates
time of interview
The next task was
to send the
application form
for the placement in
the companies
called by the
college.
The Interview was
taken by the
companies in the
selection and the
recruitment of the
students
The students
selected and
recruited by the
companies are
It was a written formality for the
official records.
My observation was that the
communication skills are really
important at the time of the
interview. Your attitude, behavior
and the thoughts are observed in the
interview.
The recruitment and selection of the
college students is very challenging
task for the college and also
important for the bright future of the
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selection and
recruitment
announced and give
them the
appointment letters
and remuneration
were discussed with
the selected
candidates.
students.
Learning Activities
The training and development programs are conducted by the colleges for the students to
enhance the performance of its students. These plans help the colleges to address the weakness of
specific students. As a result of this, students overcome their weaknesses, and a uniform standard
of work is maintained. The procedures of the specific tasks become well understood by the
students, with training programs that are conducted by the college. This results in enhancing the
level of confidence of students as they become more aware of their roles and responsibilities.
The satisfaction of students towards their work increases significantly, thereby improving the
performance of the college (Matheson, 2012).
The efficiency of students increases, which helps them to acquire new techniques to face the
typical challenges in their work. The quality of services given by the students of a college is also
maintained as they learn new concepts, which are involved in the betterment of their
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performance. The time required for the students to learn the fine concepts of work also reduces
which helps them to become self- sufficient and thus reduces the additional supervision by the
top faculty members. As a result of this, a level of understanding is maintained between top
level supervisors and their respective students, and this helps in the maintenance of a healthy
work culture in the college (Council, 2008).
Career Development Programs establish effective communication between students and their
colleges supervisors. A career development center helps the managers and students of the college
to maintain effective communication with each other, thereby creating a better work culture in
the college. The skills of students can be utilized at the right place in a group, once the college
detects the specific strengths and weakness of its students. The development of carrier programs
helps the college to maintain their reputation in the marketplace. The students of the college,
acquire necessary assistance regarding their career decisions that help them to shape their career
in a specific direction. The students can get regular feedbacks by their performance that can
assist them in improving their skills.
The managerial skills of the top level managers in a college are also improved significantly with
the help of the career development programs and help them to navigate their business in the
desired direction (Conroy, 2010). The managers can also explore the hidden talents of the
students by these programs. For instance, ‘Network Insights’ a software company in Chicago is
actively involved in conducting several career development programs for their students in the
colleges. Eventbrite, General Assembly, and eMarketer are some of the examples of the
companies that are running career development centers for their students to get the maximum
productivity.
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The process of career development is also associated with the Performance management process.
Performance management is the process in which performance of every student of the college is
evaluated by set of standard values for that concerned college. This process incorporates in the
identification of the best talents in the college that serves as the most valuable assets for the
college. The results evaluated by the process of performance management are undertaken to
provide appraisals and rewards to each student associated with the college and hence this process
is expensive in nature. The process of performance management incorporates setting of a goal at
the initial level. The students have to accomplish the goal by the performance development plan
that is developed by the top level managers of a college. This process is made more transparent
and evident by the involvement of human resource department, as the strengths and weakness of
all students are known to them. The top level manager has the authority to put a question on the
results evaluated by the human resource department of the company (AICTE, 2011).
Diversity management allows the productivity of the entities associated with a college. Talents
and abilities of people from different work culture are combined to maximize the advantages of
the diversity and to minimize the disadvantage of the diversity. The diversity management helps
the college to become more flexible by meeting the new demands of the students and their
parents. A heterogeneous college is more creative in the context of providing valuable solutions
to the complex problems. A diverse base of a customer is established by the college that involves
diversity management and this result in building a strong reputation of the college in the
marketplace that helps it in making a strong base for the competition in the market (Oaklands
College, 2016)
The colleges have to suffer a loss of time, money and efficiency when they do not undertake the
effective management of diversity management. This includes in building unhealthy relations
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among people who are working for the same college, and it also tends to increase in complaints,
legal actions, thereby wasting a lot of time and money of the company and demolishing the work
culture of the college. Google Inc., Genentech, Cisco Systems, Starbucks are some of the global
companies that can be quoted as the best examples in maintaining and promoting the diversity
management in the work culture (CAEP Commission, 2012).
The process that is involved in reducing the dissatisfaction that arises from the repetitive tasks
done by the students in the college is explained by the process of job design. The functions,
duties and responsibilities of the students in a company are organized to achieve certain aims and
objectives of that college. This process also helps in attracting the suitable candidates for the
specific role by defining the roles and responsibilities in the context of the college. Several
problems in a college setup can be addressed with the help of a specific job design. This process
can be facilitated by determining the exact work load on every concerned student
The tasks that are assigned to the students of the college are non-repetitive in nature to ensure
that no student is isolated with work. This process is also followed by clearly defining the work
hours and the significant work process to every student. An effective job design also incorporates
work as well as rest schedules for the student have associated with the college. This kind of job
design helps in increasing the flexibility of the college and it hence serves as a motivational
factor to the students of the college (More, 2013).
Lesson Plan
Background information
Class/group: MBA 4th Sem.
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Date: 5th May 2016 to 15th May 2017
Subject: Selection and Recruitment of the college students
Aims/Learning outcomes
The aim of this plan is to prepare the students for the job placements by the collegial
efforts. There are numbers of the activities performed by the students as well as the college
staff to organize a successful event for the selection and recruitment of the students.
Lesson structure
Time Teacher activity Student activity
Resources
1 week Guidance to the students To attend the personality development classes
2nd week Organize the skill test programs To study and improve their skills
3rd week Organize career development program To appear in the interviews
Evaluation
What went well and why?
The best program that is going very well in the colleges was its personality development
program and the career development program. Every student need some guidance with
regard to their future career and they require to improve their personality according to the
requirements of the big companies and these types of programs conducted in the colleges
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are beneficial for the bright future of the students. The choice of the field for the career is a
very challenging questions for the students and they need the guidance of their experts.
What would you improve next time and why?
The improvements that are required for the next time is that the college should make it
compulsory to attend the classes and allowed all the students to appear in the interview.
The reason behind this is that there are many students who are not good in the written tests,
but they have very good communication skills and the ideas. The colleges should not give
that placement opportunity for the shortlisted candidates. It should be for all the students.
The classes and the career development program should focus on all the class groups not
only for the final year students.
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