Student Employees: From Fresh Faces to Department

Experts

Mark ZocherStudent Technology Services

ManagerUniversity of San Diego

August 13, 2013

A Little about USD

• Private Catholic university in San Diego, CA – founded 1949

• 8,000+ undergrad/grad and law students

• ~1,500 faculty/staff• Focus on business/arts• Top 10 “beautiful

campuses” in USA• #1 for participation in

Study Abroad

Our ITS Help Desk

• Employs 20-45 student employees• Responsible for student support via

phone, web, and in person• Tradition of “White Glove” style of

supportSTSM (Full time staff)

Lead: Customer

Experience

Cust Experience

Team

Lead: Marketing

Marketing Team

Lead: Technical

Senior Student Techs

Lead: Administrati

ve

Admin Team

Lead: Training

Training Team

HD Manager (Full Time

Staff)

Phone Analysts (x3)

Survey of 200+ IT Alumni

• Alumni from public, private, and community colleges

• Included alumni in careers as IT, education, public health, banking, engineering, hospitality, marketing, and law

• Worked in areas similar those of my students•80% - Computer Repair (Software)•73% - Phone-based Technical Support•64% - Computer Repair (Hardware)•53% - Computer Lab Supervision•44% - Managing Employees

First: Some Clarification

• “Department Experts”? Really Mark?

• Schools picking smarter and smarter students each yr

• All “Digital Natives”• Need for internships and

real life experience• How many times have

managers of graduating seniors thought, “Will we ever have another Jim or Sue?”

Big Differences Between Managing Students & Staff

• Millenial generation• A group of “Eager

Beginners”• Guaranteed Turnover – can

try different things• ~3 year shelf life

Image: Ken Blanchard, Situational Leadership

Why You Want Student Employees

• Affordability*(remember to factor in training)

• Participate in the education of students

• Fresh ideas• Relates to customers• Guaranteed Turnover

– can try different things

Why Student Employees Want You

• Competitive job market = need for experience

• 83% said the skills they learned as a student employee helped them get a full time job

• Mentorship – 74% of those with mentors said their mentorship contributed to them getting a full time job

Hiring

• Make sure it meets your dept needs

• Don’t limit recruiting to certain majors

• Group interviews, multiple chances to prove themselves

• Focus on customer service skills

Onboarding / Day 1

• Make sure the culture and goals of the department are clear

• Don’t gloss over policies thinking they know them already

• Involve others from IT -“It takes a village”

Onboarding Training: What I Did

Wednesday:• BBQ/Scavenger Hunt:

meet new coworkers and ITS team

• Name Game (45 min)• FISH! Customer Service

video/discussionThursday:• How training works• Policies/Procedures• Icebreakers: team juggle

(multitasking) and telephone

• Intro to Networking (w/ tangerines)

• Tech Rotations•Torero ready Setups•Windows Support•Mac OS X Support•Mobile devices/Gaming

Friday:• MORE rotations

•Obstacle Course•Residence Hall Etiquette

sketches•Tech Tools•Art of Tempura

• One Red Paperclip

Ongoing Training/EDP

• Make sure everyone has a base knowledge

• If possible, encourage cross training with other areas

• Decide: Structured assignments (EDP) or semi-directed learning (Achievements)

• Help people play to their strengths!

Evaluations

• Meet 2x / semester

• Clear expectations, no surprises

• Include feedback from leads and peers

• Have leads run evaluations?

Evaluations - Rubric

Keep It Memorable

Ask yourself:• What would I or my

staff appreciate as recognition?

• What are the positive things about work I share with my family/friends at the end of the day?

Keep It Memorable

Shadowing New Techs

• Save you the trouble of retraining every year – have them do it!

• Great use for your leads

• Encourage cross training, require prospective leads clock shadowing hours

Alumni Power

• Share job listings & news – encourage others to do the same!

• Find ways to keep your alumni connected(LinkedIn, Facebook Group, etc)

Where Do You Get Started?

• Identify tasks or projects• Don’t ask “What work

can a student do?” – instead ask “What work needs to be done?”

• Keep from limiting you (or your student’s) imagination

• Keep from losing knowledge when students graduate – make documentation and shadowing a part of the culture (or at least the job requirements)

Remember What Skills Alumni Want

When alumni were polled about what skills they *wished* they had received as student employees, the answers were predominately soft skills

Project Management

Managing Employees

Leading or developing training courses

Computer Repairs (Software)

Computer Repairs (Hardware)

Phone-based Technical Support

Chat/Email-based Technical Support

Other (Please Specify)

Student/Financial Application Management

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Thank you!

Resources and copy of slides(to be posted later today):

http://mark.zocher.us/projects/studenttechs

Reading Material:• Made To Stick• The Power of

Habit