Employment Day: forty years of transitioning high school seniors into the workforce.

School counselors and career counselors have always viewed the transition of high school students into the workforce as a responsibility of high importance (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2003; Campbell & Dahir, 1997; Gibson & Mitchell, 2006; Myrick, 2003; Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2005; Thompson, 2002). The teenager is on the verge of entering the adult world of work, and current decision making has an important impact on future career directions (Andersen & Vandehey, 2006). One third of the framework contained in the National Standards for School Counseling Programs of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2000) consists of career development. State-level comprehensive developmental counseling program models should contain significant emphasis on the preparation of high school students for post-high school decision making. (Gysbers & Henderson, 2002). The New York State Comprehensive Model (New York State School Counselor Association, 2004), for example, follows the ASCA (2003) National Model closely and also folds into New York State's learning standards, especially the career development and occupational studies standards.

Embedded in this focus on career development is the structure to accommodate both "college-bound" and "work-bound" (Herr, 1995, p. 25) students. Anecdotally, school counselors have long since been accused of spending disproportionate amounts of time on the former students, to the detriment of the latter. Ideally, school counselors provide extensive career information opportunities for all students to learn what they need to know as they transition from high school. As Powell and Luzzo (1998) have noted, "counselors might want to consider the integration of career exploration and planning activities into courses required of all students for graduation" (p. 156). In a more strongly worded admonition, Mau, Hitchcock, and Calvert (1998) asserted, "Students who choose vocational tracks over college preparatory tracks should be assured that they are not inferior to college-bound students, and counselors should devote equivalent time and resources to college-bound and work-bound students" (p. 164).

The purpose of this article is to describe Employment Day, an annual career development event organized by a committee of the Western Suffolk Counselors' Association (WSCA), located in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. This is a unique career development activity whose sole purpose has been to help graduating work-bound seniors to enter the workforce. Employment Day is in no sense a career fair, at which practitioners describe or explain their work to an audience, and it is much more than a job fair, at which random job seekers vie to be hired. Employment Day's uniqueness consists, first, in the careful preidentification of the student attendees; next, in the attention given to their preparation, from resume writing to interview techniques; then, in detailed coaching about their dress, appearance, and attitude; and, finally, in their familiarization with the employers whom they are to meet. Employment Day is a culminating career development experience for these seniors, leading to their gaining full-time employment upon, or shortly after, graduation.

Employment Day has endured for nearly 40 years. It seemed timely to explain it to a larger audience, with the hope that other professional counseling associations would replicate it as a best practice.

Background

Employment Day was created in the mid-1960s. Guidance and counseling services were expanding rapidly, along with the entire educational establishment on Long Island, New York. Spurred by a strong economy and a surge in population growth from the inner cities to the suburbs, school buildings were being constructed apace, and the need for teachers and counselors soared.

High school counselors' tasks then, as today, centered on scheduling students for classes, grade level by grade level, and assisting students in post-high school planning--specifically admission to college. A significant proportion of students were considered college bound; however, many students at the time were called work bound, that is, planning to enter the workforce right after high school.

The local counseling associations--WSCA and the neighboring Nassau Counselors' Association--were proactive in establishing support programs for college-bound students. They established a program of college fairs to provide information for students and parents about postsecondary educational opportunities. Two large fairs were offered in the fall and in the spring by each association, to which hundreds of local and nonlocal colleges were invited. Repeatedly, on a regular basis, representatives of about 300 institutions attended each fair. In addition, consortia of local high schools throughout the region organized smaller, in-school events, again for students and their parents, that coincided with the time frame around which the larger fairs were held, to reach individuals who might not be able to attend the larger fairs. No such events were developed to assist the vocational, or other work-bound, students.

In about 1966 or 1967, a small group of school counselors and work experience coordinators--business education teachers in high school who provide work experience for juniors and seniors, with credit earned toward a high school diploma--decided to develop an event that would help work-bound students. They concluded that such an event would be most powerful as students prepared for graduation from high school. Thus, Employment Day was born.

Development

Structure

WSCA constituents are 35 school districts within its geographical territory, all of which are automatically eligible to participate. In addition, selected school districts contiguous to WSCA's territory may be invited to participate. The Employment Day committee's leader is called the executive chairperson and is a member of WSCA's Executive Council. Several subcommittees carry out the actual work of arranging Employment Day: Business and Industry, Schools, Trade Schools and Military, Special Education, Publications, and Administrative Assistants.

The Business and Industry subcommittee recruits employers--the lifeblood of Employment Day. It works from a database of several hundred employers located in the Greater Long Island region and reaches out to new possible employer participants. The Schools subcommittee contacts the local high school counseling departments, registers them to participate each year, and assists districts in finding eligible seniors. The Trade Schools and Military subcommittee recruits participants from those specialties, given that some students may find these post-high school opportunities an avenue to employment. The Special Education subcommittee encourages high schools to send their eligible classified students and works with the Business and Industry subcommittee to find suitable employers. The Publications subcommittee produces the various informational materials that are distributed to schools, especially the all-important employer participant brochure, which briefly profiles each employer, the field of work in which the employer is engaged, and the job openings by title. Last, but by no means least, the Administrative Assistants subcommittee would, in other organizations, be titled the Hospitality subcommittee. The Administrative Assistants are the representatives of the host site who arrange for the use of the facility, including meeting spaces, breakfasts, lunch for the employers and counselors, public relations, advertising, and all the logistical details that go into making the event a success.

The committee meets monthly from October until Employment Day, usually held the last Wednesday in May of the school year. Specific tasks are scheduled to be accomplished during selected months. In January, invitations are sent to school districts; in February, invitational letters are mailed to businesses, trade schools, and the military; in March, public relations notices are sent to newspapers and other media, and print publications go to press; in April, recruitment begins and informational materials are distributed to schools, and then to teachers and students; and in May, employer participant brochures are distributed to counselors and students, and Employment Day takes place at the host facility.

The current Employment Day committee is composed of 28 members: 13 school counselors, 5 work experience coordinators, 6 representatives of the host site, an employer, a Department of Labor representative, a college representative, and a special education teacher.

Participants

Employment Day is a collaboration of players. Participants include school counselors; work experience coordinators; representatives of a host site; prospective employers; and, of course, students.