Career Centers: How to Motivate Passive Students with Active Peers for the Job Hunt

by Raquel Gonzalez on December 17, 2010

Most students who are unmotivated to learn are usually the same students who don’t take the initiative to become an active job seeker. And the job hunt becomes much like in-class participation.

Like their active peers, passive students probably have a great GPA and instructor references, but they aren’t going to land that great first job without a bit of oomph. You have to be motivated, determined to put your question on the line and full of desire. Those skills, usually honed throughout a student’s lifetime, can easily be passed from active student to passive student.

First, you need to identify the characteristics of passive and active students in order to effectively assist each student. According to Helium.com, here are your students, in a nut shell:

Characteristics of an active student: Willing to participate in all classroom activities and seeks attention from teachers and peers. This student wants to perform well and be appreciated. This student also participates in competitions, discussions and other co-curricular activities. Active students are alert, quick, competitive, energetic, passionate, a leader, creative and a performer.

Characteristics of a passive student: Self-focused, doesn’t want talk much or participate in the day-to-day activities. This student is not very social, hesitates to express a point-of-view in front of peers and wants to take the backseat in any discussion or activity. Passive students can be very dull and unwilling to learn.

Then, you can apply those characteristics to pairing your students for a successful job search!

So, how can you motivate passive students with their active peers?

Peer Pressure: Special on-campus job fairs for passive students

While most active students will push through a crowd for a flyer, a passive student may need more individual attention. To combat these instances, be sure to designate an active and a passive student to facilitate each booth the next time you have a career or student organization fair.

The active student will reel in the interested, active students, but the passive student will learn a few natural selling techniques that they can apply to fellow passive students. Continuous exposure to this type of activity will teach passive students valuable interview and pitching techniques.

Paired Networking Events: Create jobs through conversations

After you ignite a peer-to-peer (passive and active student) relationship (based on the students department, major, minor or classification) among your student body, set them free to local networking events.

Establishing a buddy program at the beginning of each semester will allow an active student, who wants to meet new people within their field, and a passive student, who may be too socially conscious) to bounce off of one another during networking events.

These situations will provide the passive student with a comfortable platform to network without any anxiety. And by meeting new people (professionals) within their industry, it will broaden their job horizon.

What can you do at your career center, without peer-to-peer training?

According to Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education, University of Illinois (MSTE), using teaching strategies beyond the classroom is an effective way to motivate passive students for the job search.

And with several recommendations for stimulating passive students’ interests, MSTE provides tips from Winners without Losers: Structures and Strategies for Increasing Student Motivation to Learn by James P. Raffini:

a. Take an Interest: Assess students’ interests, hobbies, and extra-curricular activities to relate content objectives to student experiences

b. Inform the Student: Occasionally present information and argue positions contrary to student assumptions

c. Personalize Instructions: Support instruction with humor, personal experience, incidental information, and anecdotes that represent human characteristics of the content

d. Exercise the Mind: Use divergent questions and brainstorming activities to stimulate creative thinking and risk taking

e. Mix it Up: Vary instructional patterns and activities

f. On-the-Spot: Support spontaneity when it reinforces student academic interest

Remember to use all of your sources when trying to reach your student body, including current students. And teach your students to continue to learn, because even after graduation, those skills are applicable to the job search. Let us know how you incorporate your student body into college recruiting