Industry Partner
The Industry Partner — or partners, if more than one company is involved — represents a high-growth industry and brings their insight into the skills and qualities they seek in prospective employees and makes a commitment to foster those skills and qualities in students. Looking ahead to their areas of need and job growth, the Industry Partner describes the job skills and training well-qualified employees should have.
How it works
Using this information, the Industry Partner, Community College and High School partners choose the associate degrees that provide the best foundation for students to begin careers. The Industry Partner also contributes to student learning through mentoring, curriculum development, site visits, internships and other workplace learning experiences.
While active engagement in a P-TECH school often comes through the leadership of corporate citizenship professionals, it also requires Industry Partners to utilize the full force of their company. This includes human resources staff, front-line managers, technical experts, in-house trainers, marketing staff, and in-house professional development staff.
In some areas, given the profile of local businesses, it may be necessary to identify a fairly large cohort of Industry Partners to provide adequate support, including mentors and internship opportunities. In these cases, a local industry association, chamber of commerce, workforce investment board or other local business group with experience in workforce development and community partnerships can be a very helpful intermediary to represent the Industry Partners in the planning phases and to limit the principal's time recruiting individual businesses.
What our partners are saying about P-TECH
We know that many technology jobs today don’t necessarily need full university degrees. If we can focus and support these students, we can get them the education and skills to compete for these jobs; which is what P-TECH does. This is something that is good for all of us and is a great opportunity for American Airlines as a citizen in the community.”
Ana Torres, Director, Technology & Transformation, American Airlines
Students and graduates in Czech Republic have a high level of theoretical knowledge but not practical experiences. P-TECH will help us bridge this gap. We were honored to become the first P-TECH industry partner for IBM in Czech Republic.”
Pavel Krsička, Head of Personnel Department, Bosch Diesel s.r.o
Global Foundries is proud to be an industry partner to four P-TECHs in the Hudson Valley and Greater Capital District regions, providing an important opportunity to talk to students about professional skills and participate in panel discussions about the advanced manufacturing field. The students that complete P-TECH programs are a critical part of the next generation of technicians, future engineers and leaders.”
Tara McCaughey, Lead, Education and Workforce Development, Global Foundries
We needed to invest in the talent, invest in the community because number one, it’s the right thing to do, but number two, there are not a lot of students that we were recruiting from these institutions that knew what Thompson-Reuters was. We had the opportunity to mold and shape them, for possibly four years of their high school career, to where they would know us better than any other student that we would pick from any other institution.”
Gabe Madison, Director of Community Relations, Thompson Reuters
We understand that valuing education is the only way to face challenges and promote positive social and economic impacts. We are taking another step in the evolution of our digital education methodology so that the next generation of professionals has the promising future they deserve.”
Jefferson Romon, Deputy Director of Fundação Bradesco
Learn more about P-TECH Industry Coalition and explore different ways you can get involved.
Successful Industry Partners
- Assign an Industry liaison, an employee at the school full time to implement commitments
- Utilize a Skills Map that details entry-level job needs
- Get involved in work experiences that include mentoring, site visits, speakers, project days, paid internships
- Commit to put graduates "first in line" for jobs
- Collaborate with High School and Community College partners to ensure that work experiences are integrated with high school and college coursework
The connection between coursework and careers
P-TECH schools help students expand their understanding of potential careers and enable them to acquire the exact skills and experiences they will need to thrive once hired. Industry Partners are integral to the development of P-TECH schools. Their involvement helps students understand the connection between their coursework, field experiences, and the "real world" expectations of the workplace. These connections serve as a motivator and support mechanism that lead to greater student success.
As one of the early steps in developing a P-TECH school, Industry Partners lead a Skills Mapping process that begins with identifying the specific technical, academic and professional skills that entry-level jobs require. Once identified, the key skills needed for success in these jobs are then detailed and backward-mapped to available college degree pathways and, ultimately, a six-year curriculum for students. The skills map helps ensure that students have sufficient skills and experiences to earn a position that will lead to an increasingly challenging and rewarding career.
The integration of Industry Partners also gives students a promise to be first in line for jobs, another unique aspect of the P-TECH Model. While not a guarantee of employment, this promise signals to students that if they graduate with the AAS in six years, they will receive an opportunity to interview for open positions aligned to their skills and experience.