Employer Visits To Service Provider Location
Approaches Service Providers use to coordinate employer visits to their facilities.
Business Career Services Illinois
- Quarterly workshops for employers are held at the BCS facility, covering topics like employment law updates and hiring strategies.
- Employers can also use the organization’s facilities for hiring events or skills assessments.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Deb Lawrence in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Cara Collective
- Employers are welcomed into Cara’s programs to meet job seekers, learn about the training process, and see firsthand the preparation candidates receive.
- “Motivations” sessions are central to Cara’s employer visits. These visits are structured to create experiential connections, such as sitting in on a class or engaging directly with job seekers. Employers witness participants celebrating achievements (e.g., job placements, anniversaries) and hear success stories.
- While prospective employers are often introduced to “Motivations” sessions early in their engagement, active partners are encouraged to attend at least once a year to strengthen their connection to Cara’s mission and participants.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Tim Loeffler in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
- The Partnership arranges visits between job seekers (students) and employers. Below is a list of questions that are provided to help employers prepare for the visit.
Employer Prep Questions
In order for the student to understand your job and the workplace skills you use to perform your job, it is important that you think about your job and how a person can obtain this type of position. You will have to communicate many of these concepts to your student shadow.
Here are some questions to help you organize your thoughts:
- What is your job title?
- What are your responsibilities?
- What are the goals of your workplace, and how does your job help meet those goals?
- What is a typical day like for you?
- What do you like the most about your job? Why?
- What do you like the least about your job? Why?
- Why did you select this type of work?
- How much education do you need for this job?
- Did you need more job training after you completed your education?
- How do you use reading on the job?
- How do you use writing skills on the job?
- Is math important to your job?
- Why is it important to have good listening skills?
- When do you need to use good speaking skills?
- Do you work on a team on your job?
- What kind of problems do you solve on your job?
- What skills do you need to solve those problems?
- What did you learn in school that helps you most on the job?
- What do you wish you had studied more of when you were in school?
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Claudia Cattouse and Tonya Cody-Robinson in 2024. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
City Colleges of Chicago
- Employers are invited to visit Olive-Harvey to tour the recently built facility. Because of the abundance of training resources and equipment, students can acquire significant hands-on experience. Site visits typically occur during the initial discovery meeting or shortly thereafter.
- In the CDL training program, employers are invited to give a presentation about their organization to current students. Presentations generally provide information about the organization, position requirements and benefits, and an opportunity for the employer to market themselves to students.
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Joachim Borha in 2024 and 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Harper College
- Employers visit Harper College for industry panels, partnership discussions, and customized workforce events.
- Training-related meetings, apprenticeship discussions, and networking events provide opportunities for employers to engage with Harper College’s workforce programs.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Besa Sadiku in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Illinois Division of Rehabilitative Services
- Employer visits to field offices are uncommon due to the nature of DRS’s work. Instead, the work is conducted through external visits, meetings at employer workplaces, and virtual or off-site interactions.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Biswa Phuyal in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities
- Employers are invited to visit the Career Center of MOPD to better understand services, resources, and job seekers’ qualifications
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Lauren Hooberman in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
National Able Network
- Employers are encouraged to participate in on-site events at service provider locations, including meeting with frontline and Business Services team members.
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Matt Weiss in 2024 and 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Northern Illinois University Workforce Policy Lab
- The organization has hosted roundtable events where employers discuss apprenticeship experiences.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Jennifer Foil in 2025. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Per Scholas
- Employers are invited to participate as speakers or volunteers at training sessions, allowing them to observe candidates’ skills and interact with potential hires in an informal, low-pressure setting.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelsey Briggs-Dineen in 2025. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Pyramid Partnership Inc
- Employers are invited to visit training facilities during open house events to observe programs in action.
- These visits are used to demonstrate the quality of training and preparedness of job seekers.
- Employers are given the opportunity to interact with program participants and trainers during their visit.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Brown in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Points of alignment
This section provides an overview of practices that are similar across organizations.
Point #1
Employers are typically invited to participate in visits to a Service Provider’s location.
Point #2
Some organizations provide workshops and other on-site professional development opportunities for employers, while others make their facilities available for hiring events or skills assessments.
Point #3
Employers are often invited to a provider’s location to interact with job seekers by sitting in on a class or conducting a presentation.
Point #4
Several organizations host employers at their sites to provide a tour of the facility and, in some cases, to provide access to resources and equipment.
