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The Nebraska Department of Education’s Workplace Continuum identifies two main types of experiences: Learning ABOUT work and learning THROUGH work.
Source: https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/WBL-Quickstart_2023web.pdf
Awareness Strategies focus on identifying career readiness skills; build basic awareness of career options; provide a means to explore careers; and take place within the traditional classroom setting.
Exploration Strategies build on the knowledge gained through the Awareness Strategies through activities conducted outside of the classroom learning environment and focus on developing career readiness skills; enhance awareness of career options; provide a means to connect to local and area businesses; help prepare students for careers through practical hands-on experiences; and can take place during the school day or through summer experiences.
Work-Based Learning Strategies help connect student learners with employers and where the student learner develops technical, academic, and career readiness skills while participating in meaningful engagement with employers. Work-Based Learning helps student learners strengthen academic, technical, and career readiness (employability) skills; explore career options; and develop an awareness of the requirements of careers so they can effectively plan postsecondary and career pursuits.
Using CareerPathway.com is a great example of an Awareness Strategy that can often lead to Exploration and Work-Based Learning experiences.
Work-based Learning Experiences:
When designing your work-based learning experiences, such as an internship, consider these top best practices:
1. Offer competitive compensation and benefits such as a flexible or hybrid work schedule, tuition reimbursement, housing assistance, or transportation expense reimbursement.
2. Create guidance for new interns to help orient them to your organization, your organization’s culture and values, and your organizations’ expectations.
3. Assign meaningful and challenging projects to interns.
4. Facilitate networking inside your organization.
5. Designate a professional mentor for each intern.
6. Help interns engage in the community and find peer support opportunities by participating in community immersion programs, such as MyTern (or collaborate with community leaders and other employers to host community engagement opportunities and create peer support opportunities).
7. Stay connected with your interns after they return to school.
Check out the comprehensive guide provided by InternNE to learn more about these best practices.
Interships:
InternNE Guidebook:
• Why Offer an Internship Program?• Designing Your Internship Program
• Recruiting and Hiring Your Intern
• Making the Most of the Internship Program
• Full Guide: Guidebook to Developing a Successful Internship Program
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Internship Best Practices – Internship Toolkit for Employers
• National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) – Provides resources for employers, colleges and students regarding a variety of career development and talent acquisition topics.
• Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development’s MyTern – A Community Immersion Experience for Interns in Lincoln
Registered Apprenticeships:
• Nebraska Department of Labor – Registered Apprenticeship Programs
• Nebraska Department of Education – Youth Registered Apprenticeships
• Southeast Community College – Apprenticeships
Funding:
• Intern Nebraska (InternNE) provides grants to businesses seeking to create internships, as well as a job board to post available opportunities. InternNE.org | Nebraska Department of Economic Development
• Nebraska Engineering, Science and Technology Internship Program (NESTIP) – Offers cost-sharing for project-based paid internships in STEM.
• The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) offers youth, adult and dislocated worker programs that could potentially fund youth and young adult on-the-job training such as internships and apprenticeships.
• Nebraska Department of Labor’s Worker Training Grants fund programs that will train, retain or upgrade work skills of existing and newly recruited Nebraska workers including registered apprenticeships.