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

Posts Tagged ‘teen job readiness’

To help students realize the importance of continuing education, try providing them with the information below.

Studies indicate that the more education one has the larger the paycheck. So!  “the more you learn the more you earn”. Listed below, are the average salaries American workers earn based on an education they have attained:

If you work for forty years, additional earnings can really add- up, just by staying in school and graduating high school.   Individual workers earn an average of $6,000 more per year or $240,000 more in their lifetimes. That is a quarter-million dollars just by finishing high school.

Add a two-year Associate Degree and the lifetime earnings jump to $480,000. Think about it… that’s a cool half-million dollars…just for finishing high school and going to college for two years.  As you can see, it is more than a high school dropout can earn in a lifetime.

“PLAY IT SMART”!   Do what you need to do to finish high school … dropping out is NOTan option. Then think about going to college.

**Source:
www.educationplanner.org

Winning Futures didn’t just change my life, it saved it. I went from the brink of dropping out to being all year Honor Roll my senior year.  After high school I used the tools and techniques that I was given by the program to not just secure employment, but to thrive in my position. Now I work in New Business Development for an international industrial supplier with strong viable aspirations for the future. I would not have been to get this far in life had it not been for the support of Winning Futures!

 Joe Owens – Winning Futures Alumni

A great way to support students in career exploration is to show an interest!  A resourse used at Winning Futures to help students compare and learn more about their career interests is The Occupational Outlook Handbook website – http://www.bls.gov/oco/.

By providing information on careers, students will be better prepared to set their education goals!

Ways to use the Occupational Outlook Handbook site—

~To find out about a specific occupation or topic, use the Search
box that is on every page…you enter your search term in the box.
~To find out about the many occupations, browse through listings using the Occupation
link that is on the left side of each page.
~For a listing of all occupations in alphabetical order, go to the A-Z Index and select a letter.

Not only did my Winning Futures mentor teach me numerous skills for my future and how to efficiently function in the workplace, he also taught me the most important life lesson; you’re only as happy in life as you allow yourself to be.

-2011 Cousino High School Graduate

Before students can start working on a plan for their futures, they first need to evaluate where they are today.  All of us have both positive and negative assets.  To help improve the negative assets, it is important to first recognize what they are.  This can be done through a self-assessment.  Some example questions students can answer during a self-assessment are:

~What are some things I want to improve about myself
~My biggest challenges or things I worry about are
~I am most grateful for
~Things I like to do
~My friends would describe me as
~I would describe myself as
~The most positive people in my life are
~The most negative situations in my life are

Winning Futures mentors help students students evaluate these types of questions along with guiding them in setting new/realistic goals in the areas in which they wish to improve on.

In the world of work, we are often called upon to give a “30-second elevator pitch”.  This can be a pretty intimidating and uncomfortable for an adult, let alone a teen.  Few people enjoy selling themselves in this way, but it is an important skill/tool to have!  Winning Futures mentors work with students to help them perfect a 30-second interview pitch.  

To help students in writing a script for a 30-second interview pitch, consider having them answer the following questions:
1. My name is (state both first and last name):
2.  I am interested in finding a job/career/internship in:
3. I graduated from:
4. During high school, I was involved in:
5. In this activity I learned/accomplished:
6. I will be of value to your company because:

After students write their scripts, mentors work with each student to practice their elevator pitch.  With the help of the mentor’s positive reinforcement and coaching, students gain confidence and enthusiasm.   This learn-by-doing session helps students practice their speaking skills and perfect their interview pitch in a friendly, nurturing atmosphere.  They will gain a tool they will be able to use as they begin to enter the workforce.

With the help of mentors, Winning Futures talks to students about the importance of community service and how it helps others as well as the benefits for the individual providing the service (college admittance, resume building, leadership skills, etc.). Teams are required to complete a community service project to benefit a group in society.

Educational Benefits
By doing things that interest them, teens often gain new skills and find new career opportunities that they hadn’t thought of before. Students working with animal organizations may discover they would like to become a veterinarian. Those helping disabled individuals may find opportunities in health care or social services. In addition, the experiences gained in volunteer settings can provide teens with skills in leadership and decision-making, and also look attractive on college and scholarship applications.

Personal Benefits
Teens are exposed to people and circumstances they have not encountered in their life. Volunteers learn about respect and kindness through working with the homeless, serving the elderly at a retirement home, or helping disabled children create art. Teens develop better appreciation for the little things in life and also receive a personal satisfaction of knowing they have made a difference in someone’s life.

Employment Benefits
Besides finding new career opportunities, volunteering also provides teens with other skills necessary in the job market. Teens have a chance to learn important communication and interpersonal skills. The same leadership skills that help with their education will also help in the business world. Volunteering also provides teens a chance to increase their knowledge in certain areas. Those activities could add experience to a resume.

To find a place in your area to volunteer go to http://www.volunteermatch.org/.

A great way to engage students in the world of work is to take them on hands-on company tours. This allows students to see firsthand how a company is run, each person’s responsibility and role within a company, and how those jobs work together to form the whole.

Winning Futures students traveled to Fitzpatrick Manufacturing, a CNC machine shop and custom manufacturer. This annual tour gave the students an eyewitness account of some of the most innovative processes and operations that the manufacturing industry has to offer.

The tour was sponsored by Mike Fitzpatrick, President and Owner of Fitzpatrick Manufacturing in Sterling Heights. The goal of the tour was to educate students about the manufacturing industry and to expose them to the variety of jobs within manufacturing. Students were debriefed and given demonstrations on all the various jobs within an industrial workplace from the front desk to shipping and receiving. Students also learned how each department works together in overall company operations.

Teaching students to go into an interview informed can set them above the competition. Winning Futures has a great track-record for preparing students to succeed.  When talking to students about going on interviews, it is helpful to lett them know about the five mistakes that inexperienced interviewees commonly make without realizing how devastating they can be to their chances of landing the job

1. Show up late … translation: “I’m irresponsible”.
2. Come to the interview knowing nothing about the company … translation : “I don’t care”.
3. Yawn during the interview … translation: “I’m bored”.
4. Avoid eye contact … translation: “I don’t mean what I say”.
5. Try to lie about something on your resume … translation: “I’m dishonest”.

Students need to know that this list does not include the most obvious “don’ts” like … bringing in a resume with errors, dressing inappropriately, being rude, swearing, and/or making racist/sexist/crude comments, etc.

Teens ofter question what is appropriate to wear to a job interview without feeling too dressed up or too underdressed.  At Winning Futures students are taught that when interviewing for a teen non-professional job, dress is a little different from applying for a full-time professional position. Dress should be, at the least, neat and tidy. Business casual is usually appropriate.

Examples would inclued:
~khakis and a neat tucked in polo shirt
~shoes should be moderate
~avoid extreme hairstyles or colors.
~keep makeup and perfume to a minimum
~no jeans or shorts, no tank tops, crop tops, or anything especially low cut (shirt or pants) or too short (skirt or blouse) – keeping everything professional is a must

The best tip – always ask the person who is making your appointment for the interview, “What do you suggest I wear to the interview?”