MANSFIELD – At high school graduations, high-achieving, often college-bound graduates wear honor cords with their gowns to show what they’ve accomplished. But there’s rarely any distinction for students who plan to accept in-demand trade jobs.

Spherion Mid-Ohio recently responded by partnering with Mansfield Senior High School’s Sparc career coaches to create the Employment Ready Program, where students receive cords for graduation and letters of acceptance for post-graduation employment at Jay Industries or Newman Technologies.  

“They might not have the honors cords, but this (the cords) gives the kids something more to wear that day,” said Jessica Hiser, creative communications director at Spherion. “On graduation, they’ll have something that not only shows what they’ve accomplished, but what they are doing next.”

On Wednesday, Spherion met with interested high school seniors through two 90-minute sessions. The presentation introduced students to the program, provided interview tips and reviewed the importance of soft skills.

Interviews follow Thursday at the high school, where students can speak with Jay Industries or Newman Technologies. Both companies have on-site Spherion staff.

“The students can pick a career path that they are most interested in, and they get a cord for graduation,” Hiser said.

Spherion has ordered 50 sets of cords and expects to distribute all of them.

After the interview process, students are encouraged to focus on their schoolwork until graduation on May 19. The week after, students will go through the same process as other Spherion job seekers and begin their jobs.

“Upon completing a successful time of employment, they’d be hired on full-time,” Hiser said.

The Mansfield program is a pilot. Previously, Spherion has worked with local schools to place students in jobs, but this is the first program to offer graduation cords.

Hiser said, parents of the students were informed of the opportunity via a letter, but the decision to participate is made by the student.

Next year, Spherion hopes to expand a similar program countywide.