CAREER FOCUS: A STUDENT AND BUSINESS LEARNING EXPERIENCE Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 25, 1998 CAREER FOCUS: A STUDENT AND BUSINESS LEARNING EXPERIENCE Arthur K. Fischer, Pittsburg State University June M. Freund, Pittsburg State University Jennifer J. Mies, Pittsburg State University Thomas J. Payne, Students in Free Enterprise ABSTRACT This paper demonstrates how Career Focus is used to provide a valuable learning experience for both university students and high school students in a community. It also demonstrates how educational institutions can interface with businesses and their communities in developing the next generation of workers. Career Focus is a program of the university’s Students in Free Enterprise chapter which brings together students and businesses in a way that both solves an important business problem and provides hands- on learning for students. The activities of Career Focus involve university students and local business leaders in creating programs to encourage high school students, who are not planning to go on with higher education, to prepare themselves for the work place. The program entails working with high school students to develop their job seeking skills. The greatest learning experience comes to the SIFE students who plan the programs and work with business leaders. They live the role of managers and human resource developers. INTRODUCTION There are many ways for teachers to provide experiential exercises as students progress through their academic careers. In the future, learning about businesses must go beyond just telling students what they need to know. Students need to become part of an experience in order to learn at a level where growth becomes meaningful. This paper reports on how the university’s Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter, working in coordination with area businesses and high schools, developed activities which turned workplaces into extended classrooms where future workers learned to succeed. CAREER FOCUS Career Focus is a program designed by SIFE students which encourages area high schools to identify seniors and juniors who will not be going on with higher education. Classes are then presented by SIFE students, faculty and local business leaders which help the students to gain and practice job skills. The high school students have a chance to explore the benefits of starting to work immediately after high school or going on to college. Part of this entails learning about the economy and what options are available. The rest of the time is spent learning about various job search methods, how to apply for a job and evaluate a job offer, and what to expect in the early stages of a career. SIFE LEARNING EXPERIENCES Although this program provides important learning experiences for high school students and valuable input and outreach mechanisms for area businesses, the major benefit is for the SIFE students. Students In Free Enterprise is a national, not-for-profit organization, supported primarily by business corporations, whose mission is to develop collegiate SIFE teams who benefit students and their local communities. As practiced at our university, SIFE provides activities whereby SIFE students plan, develop, implement and evaluate a variety of work and educational programs. In doing this, they have to go out into the community to meet with business 271 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 25, 1998 and educational leaders, give presentations to civic organizations and sell their ideas. As a result, they go far beyond traditional learning modalities. Rather than just preparing a classroom project which will receive a grade (which has little “real world” meaning), these students learn the importance of planning for all variables (to include funding, time constraints, and so forth) and the necessity of selling one’s ideas in the marketplace. They receive feedback more valuable than any letter grade. CAREER FOCUS AS A STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE Career Focus is a program which allows SIFE students to experience a number of real-world situations. At the beginning of each year they must determine the scope of that year’s projects and what they hope to accomplish. Then they go out in ones or twos to contact and survey local businesses in order to determine what staffing problems they can help the businesses resolve. In the case reported here (from the 1996-1997 school year), the SIFE students found that local businesses were having problems with high school students not being prepared to enter the workplace. In order to help with this problem, the SIFE students developed a program where they and their business counterparts would visit local high schools to talk with students who were not planning to go on to college. The experience gained encompasses far more than just a classroom project. The students must plan for an ongoing program, exhibit a high level of communication skills in meeting with business leaders and school authorities, work through problem-solving skills in helping businesses identify problems and acceptable solutions, and coordinate two or three month’s worth of classroom visits by a variety of instructors. This is valuable experience which amplifies their coursework, but which isn’t available in a typical management classroom. THE INTERACTIVE SESSION Members of the panel included two faculty who have guided this project from its inception, the student leader responsible for carrying out the program, and the Vice President of Students In Free Enterprise who has provided strong support for such programs. They talked about the process of recruiting student volunteers and determining which businesses to survey, how feedback from local business leaders is turned into programs to solve their various problems, and what learning objectives were satisfied as the SIFE students faced a number of different situations. They also discussed the methods of evaluating student learning and how businesses were helped by these programs. SUMMARY The ideas and processes taught in our classrooms gain meaning only as students actually experience success or failure in putting them into practice. Career Focus is a program which can be implemented at any university which is committed to students learning beyond the classroom. It is particularly important where the goal is to provide interface between student learning and integration with on-going business activities. 272 Table of Contents Volume 25, 1998 Marketing Goes to the Movies Bringing Experiential Learning to a Principles of Marketing Course Investment Analysis Application Using In-house Spreadsheet Models SugarCoated Statistics: An Exercise for the First Day of Class Improving Undergraduate Student Involvement in Management Science and Business Writing Courses Using the Seven Principles in Action Establishment and Funding for Interuniversity / Multidisciplinary Student experiences The Prospects of Creative Teaching: A Discussion with Patricia Sanders The Simulation and Classroom Assessment Techniques Developments of Management Skill Assessment Games as Instruments of Assessment: A Framework for Evaluation The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Business Curricula Threshold Solo Competitor: A Management Simulation (V1.0) a Windows-Based. Play Alone, Total Enterprise Simulation and Assessment Instrument Toward An Understanding of One's self-concept Total Enterprise Simulations and the Internet: Improving Student Perceptions and Simplifying Administrative Workloads The Expatriate an Assignment Orientation Game An Expatriate's Nightmare: An Experiential Exercise in Coping with Overseas Assignments Analyzing Experiential Exercise: Using the Scientific Method for Problem Solving The Second Component to Experiential Learning: A Look Back at How ABSEL has handled the Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Learning Predictive Models of Learning: Participant Satisfaction of Experiential Exercises in Business Education Accelerating Moral Development through Use of Experiential Ethical Dilemmas Ethical Dilemmas to use with Business Simulations to Teach Ethics The Class Approach in Behavioral Simulation in a Business Policy/Strategic Management course: A Progression toward Greater Realism An Exploration of the Emergence of Process Prototypes in a Management Course Utilizing a Total Enterprise Simulation How Organizations Are Improving Their Performance Utilizing Electronic Commerce: Examples From The Internet The Market Access Planning System (Maps): A Computer-Based Decision Support System For Facilitating Experiential Learning In International Business An Excel Workbook For Student Planning And Interface With A Simulation Game Design Of Multi-Media Based Pedagogy For Leadership Training Panel Discussion On Using The Internet For Courses Valuing And Enhancing Teaching: Sharing Tips Via The Web The Buddy Project: A Semester Long Project Aimed At Developing An Appreciation For Diversity Enhancing The Excitement And Learning Retention In The Classroom: The Power Of Magic The Supervised Management Internship: A Job Or Learning Experience Team Ware™ An Online Moderated Class Discussion Facility And Beyond A Neophyte Distance Educator's Experience Learning Management By Practicing Management: A Report Of Significant Student Service In 1997 Integration Of Academic And Service Learning: Students' Perceptions About Its Effects And Outcomes The Value Of Incorporating A Service Learning Component Into Course Content: A Presentation And Roundtable Discussion Business Games Teach: Thoughts on the Sources of Conflicting Conclusions on their Effectiveness Antecedents Of Learning In The Simulation: A Replication Using Student Journals To Enhance Learning From Simulations Technological Change And Intertemporal Movements In Consumer Preferences In The Design Of Computerized Business Simulations With Market Segmentation Integrating The Marketing Curriculum Using Collaborative Learning Teaching Time Management In A Sales Program: The Application Of A Computer Simulation Game Adapting Interactive Computer Simulations For Content Based Esl Instruction Multimedia And Student Expectations Synthesizing Data For Media Simulations Composing A Team Health Promoting Behaviors-A Decision Making Exercise Does it really Work? An Application of the Group Interaction Framework Administering the MIT Beer Game: Lessons Learned A Paperless Economy? Instructing Students on the Aspects of Successful Electronic Commerce Maximizing Learning Gains in Simulations: Lessons from the Training Literature Observing General Ability in a Total Enterprise Gaming Simulation FReach Teach: A Computer-Based System for Teaching Advertising Media Planning An Integrated Business Instruction System An Experiential Exercise you can Tinker With Experiential Exercises or Computer Simulations? Cash Flow Statements: Are They Important in Business Simulations? Holistic Cognitive Strategy in a Computer-Based Marketing Simulation Game: An Investigation of Attitudes Towards the Decision-Making Process Barnga: A Game on Cultural Clashes The Many Faces of Culture: Understanding Country and Corporate Culture Students' View of the Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Assessing General Management Interest What is the Future of Business Gaming? Starting a Small Music Trivia Business Exercise and Other Innovative Icebreakers An Integrated Approach to Behavioral Skill Development Career Focus: A Student and Business Learning Experience The Use of Concept Mapping in Teaching Strategic Management An Experiential Approach to Developing Mission Statements Business Games in Brazil-Learning or Satisfaction A Simulation within a Simulation: Job Layoff's and Emotional Reactions