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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRedefining Career Services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Kenzie Academy has long offered career services to its students through its Placement and Outreach Team which sets it apart from the common \u201csink-or-swim\u201d approach traditionally seen in universities. From the moment a learner begins a program with Kenzie Academy, the Placement and Outreach Team is part of their career development journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Placement Team helps students get ready and get the skills and resources they need to find jobs upon graduation, and sometimes even before they graduate. That includes everything from our career curriculum that starts at the beginning of the program, to getting them assigned an adviser who works with them one-on-one and in small groups. We also help them get them ready for the interview process and help with resumes,\u201d said Andrea VanderStelt, Associate VP of Placement and Partner Engagement at Kenzie Academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe also have our Outreach Team, who are actively looking for and talking to companies every day that are looking for junior tech talent. We\u2019re always doing that matchmaking process between our employer partners and our learners,\u201d Andrea added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Career Services is no longer just for graduates or graduating learners. Kenzie Academy has redefined it as part of its learners’ entire stay at Kenzie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kenzie Academy Job Placement Support: What Can You Expect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Kenzie Academy Placement and Outreach Team<\/a> supports graduates with both their readiness and job search by providing the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Placement and Outreach Team has several roles, all of which aim to help a graduate get hired after graduation. Some of the roles include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from the roles above, the team also includes Career Advisers. \u201cThe main difference is that our Career Advisers handle a higher volume of learners. They’re really there to bring them in, get them going, get their career artifacts ready. They work with the learners the entire time, from the time they come to them, to the time they get placed,\u201d Andrea explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlacement Advisers are who we consider as subject matter experts in certain areas. They have deep experience in recruiting, particularly technical recruiting. They\u2019re the ones that provide in-depth interview prep when it’s needed. They also help with offer negotiations because they’re the ones who’ve sat at the other side of the table with hiring managers. They know exactly what hiring managers are looking for, how they think, and how they tick, so to speak,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaving that core recruiting experience and being able to deal with a high volume of learners – this is what our advisers are very good at. While managing that heavy caseload, they also have recruiting experience which is critical in truly helping our learners get placed. It\u2019s an area we focus very hard on, having people on our team with that type of experience,\u201d Andrea said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another highlight of the Placement Services at Kenzie Academy is the Kenzie Profile Database. Employer partners are given access to this database where all learners have a page featuring relevant information\u2014photo, name, a short introduction blurb, resume, LinkedIn profile, Github link, and more. Everything a potential employer needs to know about an applicant can be found in this database. Employer partners can take a look at the profiles to see if they are interested in any of the learners and graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenzie Academy also has a system where students can record all the positions they\u2019ve applied to. For every position applied to, Kenzie Academy will send a message to that company and do a \u201csoft introduction\u201d of the applicant and the school itself. This creates brand awareness for both the learner and Kenzie Academy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way that Kenzie supports its learners in their job search is by matching them directly to employer partners. Twice a week, advisers meet with account managers to discuss open positions and learners who would be a good match for these positions. This works especially well when the learner has spent a lot of time with their adviser, giving them a deep understanding of the skills, interests, and goals of the learner. Kenzie will then make a direct recommendation to the employer and send them the profiles of learners who they think would make a good fit for the position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All these tools and techniques take a lot of effort on Kenzie Academy\u2019s part but according to the team, the results are well worth the effort. \u201cWe want to do anything and everything we can to help the Kenzie learner stand out,\u201d Andrea explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenzie Academy also views its Placement Services as being more than just Career Services and looks at it as a \u201crecruiting agency but in reverse.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrea further explained, \u201cOne of the things we work on and are continuing to work on is the feedback loop. When an employer partner is reviewing our students’ resumes and says, \u2018I really like this\u2019 or \u2018I’ve looked at a few of your portfolios and they are missing X, Y, and Z\u2019, we listen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are working to create a feedback loop that takes that information back to the academy side, to the instructors, to the people developing the curriculum and say, \u2018Hey, here we see a pattern, how are we going to make some adjustments to what we teach? That\u2019s how our team works with the instructors,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By doing this, the feedback from employer partners has a direct impact on the curriculum of the school. This allows Kenzie Academy to adjust its programs based on what real-world employers are looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many learners, the opportunity to land a job at a major tech company is one of the main reasons for reskilling or upskilling. Kenzie Academy partners with a number of employers to help its graduates get a headstart in the tech industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of its main employer partners is Amazon through its online Software Engineering Program with backend Java Specialization. \u201cWe have a partnership with Amazon\u2014they have a program called Amazon Tech Academy. We use their curriculum to train people who are outside of Amazon and bring them into Amazon as Java developers. We are helping them build that pipeline by finding that talent, training them, then handing them over to Amazon,\u201d Andrea shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another partner that the school works closely with is Wunderkind.<\/a> Here\u2019s what Wunderkind has to say about Kenzie Academy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Wunderkind initially decided to work with Kenzie because we had several engineering and product testing roles available, and we wanted to partner with a local Indianapolis organization to source excellent talent for those roles. Kenzie was recommended to me by someone in my network and after looking through the website’s overview of the Engineering and UX\/UI programs, I was blown away by how comprehensive they are!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce I began speaking to Kenzie students and graduates, I was even more impressed. They not only possessed the technical skillset we were seeking, but also the intangibles – great communication, enthusiasm, insightful questions, etc. My Kenzie contact would send us recommended candidates and profile overviews to best match their students with Wunderkind’s openings. It has been a joy working with Kenzie Academy staff and students, and we’re elated to have welcomed several Kenzie grads to our organization over the last couple of months.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employer partnerships are another important tool that helps Kenzie Academy graduates land jobs that fit their skills and interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with the Placement and Outreach Team constantly working to support learners, the school is clear that ultimately, finding a job still lies in the hands of the students, not on the school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are here to provide our learners with the resources, the skills, and the support that they need to go and find a job. The analogy I\u2019ve given is that the learner is the one that’s driving the car. The Placement team is removing the orange cones on the road. We are the GPS that talks to you when you go off course, gets you back on course, and tells you what to do. But if you never get in the car and start the car, it doesn\u2019t matter what the Placement Team does, you’re not going to get a job,\u201d Andrea said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAdditional Career Development Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Feedback Loop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Employer Partnerships<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
But What If I Don\u2019t Get a Job After Kenzie Academy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n