I’ve had two interesting conversations about students this week. The first was with an educator who is frustrated by the lack of jobs for new grads. She felt that most educators don’t take that final step to help their grads get placed in jobs. Her take was that managers need to hear from educators about the best students and that it’s important we help students see there is career potential in the profession.
The second conversation was with someone who is graduating later this year. They’d gone their entire respiratory education without ever hearing about the AARC. They’d been in the hospital, seen a copy of Respiratory Care journal and thought they’d find out how much a subscription would cost! Needless to say, they were shocked to find out that students get Respiratory Care and so much more for just $50 and that we gave our student members a graduation gift of $40 off their first year of Active membership; and of course the free web student program.
So when does an educator’s job end? Are they responsible for teaching their students about the different organizations in their profession (AARC, NBRC, their licensure board)? Are they supposed to help new grads network with managers to get jobs? Should they be nurturing the new grads as they transition into the workforce or does an educator’s job end when their grads pass their last final exam? Where do the Program Directors fit into this picture? How proactive should managers be, and what part can state societies play? In both of my conversations, these are the questions that came up. What do you think?