Winning Futures – Inspiring and preparing youth to succeed through mentoring.

Mentees rotate to different career coaches to be critiqued on their networking pitch.

Often we are afraid to tell teens the truth about the skills they need to improve when preparing for their job search because we do not want to hurt their feelings. When you have mentors or business coaches working with them, there are a few simple things you can do to have this be a powerful process.

1-start by having students create a 20 second networking pitch that incorporates their skills, talents, and career interest.
2-have them practice the pitch with multiple mentors or business coaches
3-create a critique sheet for the adults to use where they check the areas the students are strong in and where they need to improve. For example:

• Smiled
• Good eye contact
• Good voice tone/speed of speech
• Good posture
• Enthusiastic attitude
• Used examples to back up strengths
• Stood to greet interviewer
• Used proper handshake
• Thanked interviewer
• Avoided Negative Comments
• Hat/hoodie Off Head
• Appropriate wardrobe
• Used Winning Futures in Pitch
• Used interviewer Name or Company Name

Then, give that form to the students and coach them on how they can improve.