How St. Cloud State University Connects Students With Local Employers

St. Cloud State is working to engage students in activities to help with retention. To talk about this topic, I was joined by Greater St. Cloud Talent and Community Impact Director, Gail Cruikshank, Greater St. Cloud Community Impact Intern, Jordyn Patrick and St. Cloud State University Associate Director for Employer Relations, Shantelle Kane.

Partnership

Cruikshank says Greater St. Cloud is partnering with St. Cloud State and partners of SCSU to help improve retention of students by giving them opportunities to learn interviewing skills and about local businesses during various events. Kane says her responsibility at SCSU is to build relationships with students and employers to learn what employers in the area are looking for and to help students prepare for these meetings.

Jordyn Patrick, Gail Cruikshank and Shantelle Kane (photo - Jay Caldwell)

Walk In Wednesdays

Kane says these meetings between employers and students allow students to learn what each employer is all about that may not be visible on the job description. Events that SCSU offers students include "Walk In Wednesdays" (10am-1pm) where 2 to 4 employers give of their time to meet with interested students. Examples of businesses that participated in Walk In Wednesdays include CentraCare, Micro Biologics and the Granite City Lumberjacks. Kane says this is a great way for employers to build their employer brand while helping students. She says Walk In Wednesdays is for coaching purposes.

Soft Skills

Kane believes a person's resume gets job candidates an interview but their soft skills gets them the job. Examples of good soft skills include; eye contact, making conversation and asking good questions.

Connecting Students with Employers

Jordyn is a St. Cloud State graduate who is now pursuing her masters. She says her role with Greater St. Cloud is to help make the bridge between students and employers as successful as it can be. Patrick says everyone involved in this process from SCSU faculty to local employers are more than willing to work together to help make this process a success for students.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Gail, Shantelle and Jordyn, click below.