Essential Tools for Job Search

Lesson 04: Preparing for the Hunt Objectives: Directions: Complete the following activities on one word document. Save this document to your computer. Please label the activity and task clearly. Use the Browse or Find function to attach and then click on Submit to upload your document for grading. Introduction No matter what the age or position the steps to look for a job are the same. The following activities present several articles that provide solid advice instructing what a person should do to look for and land the job they desire. Start by reading the article”7 Essential Tools for Job Search” found at

http://careersherpa.net/7-essential-tools-for-job-… .

As you work through the following activities keep the purpose of these seven tools in mind and why they are important to have them prepared before your job search.

Activity #1: Networking Business Card – As a high school student you probably already have some great experiences that you can list think about academic skills involvement in volunteer experiences and clubs or sports activities.

1. Read both articles. “Why Teens Should Start Networking in High School” by Elisa Sheftic at

http://www.careerealism.com/networking-high-school… .

“Business Cards: A Job Search Tool” LiveCareer.com Advice or U.S. News Business Cards

2. Create a business card front and back on a word document

3 Follow the tips and techniques the articles suggests to create a professional business card that promotes your experiences and skills.

Activity #2: Resume

4. To get a good understanding and foundation for building your resume read the Mayors Youth council of Boston “Teen Resume Guide”. As you read through this document you will quickly see that it guides you through the whole resume writing process.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/Teen_….

5. Visit this link and use the activities to create your own resume.

https://www.vawizard.org/wizard/careersPractice

Activity #3: Cover Letter – a letter of introduction.

6. For the purpose of this activity find a job you are interested in applying. Post the position copy and paste to a word document. Below the posted position begin the cover letter.

7. Open the Career One Stop website

http://www.careeronestop.org/JobSearch/Resumes/cover-letters.aspx

8. Thoroughly read the cover letter web page pay special attention to the subtitle “Types of cover letters” the first bullet point Invited cover letter is the style of cover letter that you will be writing for this activity.

9. Click on cover letter template use the layout and format suggestions to create your cover letter. Activity #4: The Interview

10. In this activity you will prepare for the job interview [the same job from the last activity where you wrote a cover letter] by responding to the following questions and statements. For this activity continue to use the same word document as you did in the previous “cover letter” activity. 11. Visit the link below. Read the Teen Force Interview Tips for Teens tip sheet-

https://ogburn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Teen…

(a) What is the job description? What skills do you have for this position?

(b) What will make you stand out from the other applicants applying for this job?

(c) Provide three examples of success at your current job school or clubs/activities.

(d) Explain how you will dress and groom for the interview. Explain why this is important.

(e) Research the company you will interview. Explain at least five things you discovered about the company.

(f) Prepare five questions to ask the interviewer.

(g) Explain what you should do after the interview.

Activity #5: Thank you Letter – Sending a thank you letter or note after the job interview is highly recommended. 12. Read the article “Sending your thank you letter after the job interview”.

http://www.job-hunt.org/job_interviews/job-intervi…

13. Write a thank you letter to the company in which you are applying. For the sake of this activity you may have to create a fictitious name for the interviewer.

14. Teen Force interview tips for teens provides a format for an email thank you note.

http://www.teenforce.org/uploads/interview_tips.pd…

Read through the tip sheet use the format provided to create an email thank you note. [also place the email thank you letter on the word document]

Activity #6: Reflection – As you worked through each of this modules activities many thoughts may have crossed your mind. Review each of these activities and reflect on your job preparation plan of action.

1. Identify the steps you need to take to prepare yourself for the job interviewing process.

2. Explain in detail why these steps are necessary.

3. You just finished reading through various sites about how to prepare yourself for an interview. Identify and describe at least three (3) points that this lesson did not address but you think are important for creating a personal job plan. Use the Browse or Find function to attach and then click on Submit to upload your document for grading.

Lesson 05: Workplace Expectations Objective: Directions: Complete the following activities on one word document. Save this document to your computer. Please label the activity and task clearly. Use the Browse or Find function to attach and then click on Submit to upload your document for grading. Introduction While there is a huge range of soft skills this activity will focus on the six soft skills that the U.S. Department of Labor has identified as the most important contributors to becoming successful in the workforce.

They are as follows: #1 Communication #2 Enthusiasm & Attitude #3 Teamwork #4 Networking #5 Problem Solving & Critical Thinking #6 Professionalism Activity #1: Soft Skills Checklist https://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Good-Employee Open a word document type the six soft skills in a column in the left margin [communication enthusiasm and attitude teamwork networking problem solving and critical thinking and professionalism] Use the Activity Model below as a guide. Activity #2: On Your Own Use the Soft Skills checklist you created to evaluate your workplace skills. Create a daily or weekly Workplace Journal to record your thoughts and opinions from the days events and the answers to the questions you created. Use it to evaluate your skills; keep the positives job attributes and improve upon the negatives. As you analyze your journal writings you will find patterns and trends forming. These essential features will help you understand your needs and assist you in aligning yourself to find a future career that you are truly interested in pursuing. ACTIVITY MODEL – Soft Skills Checklist #1 – COMMUNICATION #2 – ENTHUSIASM & ATTITUDE #3 – TEAMWORK #4 – NETWORKING #5 – PROBLEM SOLVING AND CRITICAL THINKING #6 – PROFESSIONALISM (examples below) 1. Behave professionally – know when to stop joking wasting time fooling around Activity #3: Reflection – Follow the prompts below to complete this activity. How will I practice my soft skills? Create and explain a plan of action that you will take to practice each of the learned soft skills. Lesson 06: Tesst Preparation Objective: Research identify and participate in planning and practice for postsecondary assessments Tasks: Visit these links to identify which tesst preparation is good for you! All of these sites provide free tesst information and preparation. Take the online practice tests to determine your strongest and weakest areas. Information and practice provided from the official SsAT site. There are many free options and a few low cost ones.

https://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/

Information and practice provided from the official ACT site. There are many free options and a few low cost ones.

http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/

Spark Notes contains a lot of information and practice as well as links to other sites.

https://www.sparknotes.com/blog/five-tips-for-acing-your-sats/

An SAT program from the Ck12 Foundation. You must register to access the materials but there is no cost to you.

http://ineedapencil.ck12.org/ Tips for SAT/ACT

Registration Some tips for registration:

Our school code or CEEB number is 100576. Please use this number so that your scores will be sent directly to us. Activity

#1: Analyze Practice Results Directions: Answer each of the following questions. 1. Submit a list of your weakest areas and strongest areas.

2. Which of the tests will best highlight your strongest areas. Explain. I will like to talk on skype or any safe audio chat

Requirements: normal | .doc file

Understand the importance of a job search business card Understand the elements that make-up a complete resume Understand the elements of a writing cover letter and thank you notes to prospective employers Use various networking sites like LinkedIn Facebook etc. Remain motivated to find a job Understanding the importance of employing Soft skills as workforce traits. Visit the link below to learn about using Soft Skills to improve your employability skills. Categorize each of the points from the article to the list of six soft skills. Some of these points will fit under more than one soft skill category. Add your own important point/s from your own experiences. Create a question that pertains to your interest within each skill. You will use the important points and questions to evaluate your job performance. If you are joking or not it is important not to roll your eyes or show your co-workers and boss any negative body language. How do I show professionalism to my supervisor co-workers and customers? To register for the test go directly to the site.

https://sat.collegeboard.org/home

or

http://act.org/

Be prepared to spend some time on the first application as there are questions to complete with the registration. Have a credit card handy to pay for the test. Print your receipt and any other information that you might need for reference. Visit the link below to learn about using Soft Skills to improve your employability skills. Categorize each of the points from the article to the list of six soft skills. Some of these points will fit under more than one soft skill category.Add your own important point/s from your own experiences.Create a question that pertains to your interest within each skill. You will use the important points and questions to evaluate your job performance.