Category: Careers

Tutoring you in Career Choices

Introduction to Goal Setting

Introduction to Goal Setting

Learning Objective

To help students begin to understand the importance of setting goals to reach their dreams.

Vocabulary

road map, motivational

Competencies

Basic Skills: Listening; Writing

Information: Interprets and communicates information

Instructions for Conducting the Activity

Brainstorm with students the different words we use to talk about what we want to do in the future such as:

• dreams

• hopes

• wishes

• wants

• goals

• aspirations

Provide students with copies of the handout: “Student Goal Scenarios”.  Choose some scenarios to read aloud in class while students read along. Have students look at the goal scenarios, individually or in pairs, and answer this question about each scenario: “what are the writer’s goals for this year?”

Students can break out each of the goals and record them on a worksheet.  Then ask students to write down short answers to the following questions:

• What were some dreams or hopes that I had for my life when I was a child?

• What hopes or dreams did I have about my career when I was younger?

• What hopes or dreams do I have for my life now?

• What hopes or dreams do I have for my career now?

• What do I need to do to reach my dreams?

• Where do I see myself in five years?

Students can share their answers in pairs or in a large group.

Then, as a class, brainstorm reasons why it is important to have goals. Some answers might include:

• something to work toward

• need a road map

• motivational

• need something concrete

Explain that when we can see clearly what our goals are, then it is more likely that we will achieve them. You need to start with a goal in mind. Having a plan helps you to get to where you want to go. It is important to remember that goals are not set in stone. Goals may change over time as we change.

Extension Activity

Have students practice writing goals through journals or prompts. Use a selection of those goals to illustrate the process of setting realistic goals and to inspire other students to write their own goals.

Student Goal Scenarios

1. Farouk moved here from Pakistan two years ago. His English is so-so. He has a good job and he saved some money. He doesn’t want to live in an apartment anymore. He is thinking about buying a house but he doesn’t understand the financial systems in the United States very well.  He also doesn’t understand the culture of Americans, so he doesn’t have many friends. What are his goals for this year?

2. Min Wei is from China. She is at school to learn English. She is 65 years old and she went to the doctor. She is not healthy right now. She smokes because she is very stressed about her new life in the United States. She is also very lonely in the United States. She needs to meet friends and find a place to go for recreation. Her friend goes to the library, but Min doesn’t have a library card. She knows some people go to community events, but she is shy and afraid.  What are her goals this year?

3. Luis moved here from the Dominican Republic five years ago. He speaks English but wants to learn more. He works now, but he doesn’t make much money. He needs to find a new job. He knows he could get a better job if he used computers, but he doesn’t know about computers.  Luis knows that he can be a citizen of the United States now because he has lived here for five years. What are his goals this year?

4. Blanca is from Ecuador. She moved here a year ago. She is studying English. She has two kids, and they are in elementary school. They need help with homework, but she isn’t sure she is smart enough to help them. She didn’t finish high school, so she doesn’t have a diploma or GED. She wants to get her GED. She is also tired of taking the bus to pick up her children and she has a car but not a license. What are her goals for this year?

5. Nubar has many goals for the future. Some of his goals will take a long time, even if he works hard. He will study every day to get his GED. In about three years, he wants to start college to become a computer technician someday. He and his girlfriend want to get married and have children sometime in the future. He will need a good job so he can help his family. What are his goals for this year?

Adapted and used with permission from the Lawrence Public Schools Adult Learning Center

Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom

The Career Planning Process

The Career Planning Process

Learning Objective

To understand what the career planning process is and that it can facilitate the attainment of educational and career goals

Vocabulary

laid-off, job security, career, job

Competencies

Basic Skills: Listening; Speaking

Thinking: Seeing things in the mind’s eye

Brainstorm the answers to the following questions:

How many times will most people (in the US) change jobs in their lifetime?

  • 25 times

Can workers in the U.S. today get laid-off through no fault of their own?

  • Yes

Is there job security today?

  • Not necessarily, but there are steps you can take that lead to more job security, like continuing to learn new skills.

What do employers look at when deciding to hire new employees?

  • Skills and experience

Because of all these factors, career planning is an important life skill and it helps students identify the education needed to reach their career goals.

To help students understand the difference between a job and a career, brainstorm what they think is meant by both.

Record answers on the board. Summarize the definitions as:

Job = the work position that you have at any point in time

Career = the path of your jobs over time

Point out that the goal is to think about your career and not just the next job. Students can do this by creating a map of where they are going.

Some examples of careers are:

  1. Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) – Surgical Technologist – Nurse

The career path is in the health care field.

  1. Secretary – Administrative Assistant – Manager

This career path could be within many different fields.

  1. Teacher – Social Worker – Consultant

This career path focuses on jobs that use similar skills but in different fields.

Next ask students to brainstorm what they think is meant by career planning. Write these on the board. Then, using students’ ideas, summarize with the following points:

What is career planning?

  • Identifying what you are good at
  • H ow your skills, talents, values, and interests translate into work
  • Matching your skills, etc., to existing jobs
  • Matching your career goal to your financial needs
  • It is a process
  • Need it to make good decisions
  • By doing career planning you can find good answers that meet your needs on your schedule

Career planning is an iterative process and is lifelong.

Depending on the needs and interest of the class, you can further break down the sections of the process and ask students to decide which parts of the career planning process they are most interested in learning about. This can guide you in how best to engage students with the curriculum.

Career Planning Model

Cultural Context: Self-Exploration Process

Cultural Context: Occupational Exploration

Cultural Context: Career Planning Skills

Self-exploration looks at:

  • Skills • Interests
  • Education • Values
  • Experience

Occupational Exploration looks at:

  • Occupational/job profiles
  • Informational interviews
  • Career/job fairs
  • Labor market information

Educational and Career Planning looks at:

  • Decision making
  • Goal setting
  • Problem Solving
  • Action Planning

You can also post the three categories on big sheets of paper and give students index cards with the bullet points and have students put index cards under the correct heading. Leave these big sheets up in the classroom and when the other lessons in the curriculum are presented, refer to them and identify the part of career planning that the lesson addresses.

Extension Activity

For students with previous work experience, ask them to make a list of the jobs they have had and two jobs they would like to have. Then have students pair up and share the lists. Have students talk about any similarities in the jobs they have held and those they would like to have.

For students with limited or no previous work experience, ask them to make a list of at least three jobs they would be interested in having. Pair up students to share the lists. Ask them to talk about any similarities among the jobs they have chosen. Are there any jobs that they might need to have first to gain the experience for those jobs?

 

 

Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom | Section II, Lesson 1: The Career Planning Process

 

Build Your Successful Career with these 36 Habits

Anyone who wants to succeed in their job, whether it’s a summer or after-school job or a step up in their career, needs to have good work habits. They help you build stronger relationships with your boss and coworkers, which in turn improves your productivity and job satisfaction. Here are 36 of the best habits to cultivate to help you build a successful career.

The best fonts for your resume ranked

Your resume is the most important part of the job application process, because without a well-written one, hiring managers will not consider you. Not only does well-written mean that it is properly structured, contains all the right information, and is grammatically correct, but you should also write your resume in the right font.

 

The best fonts for your resume, ranked

By:  Julia Gaynor, Monster staff

Top 5 Things You Can Be Happy About at Work

If you’re ready to make those hours count and find happiness and fulfillment in the office, then read on to find out how to be happy at work and find fulfillment in your career:

1. Discover the Root(s) of the Problem

For this first step, we’ll need to think back to 8th-grade physics (humor me). We all know Newton’s 3rd law, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” When you think about it, the same can be said outside of physics, and we see this law play out in our daily lives, day after day.

Simply put, all the issues we deal with in the office (and life in general) affect us in a noticeable way.

If you’re appreciated at work, like the work you do and receive frequent praise, promotions, or raises, then this will probably have an altogether positive effect on your life in the office.

But what if we reverse this? What if you feel under appreciated, get passed up for promotions, or get denied raises? This is sure to affect the way you feel at work on a negative level.

So, before you can implement the steps of feeling happy and fulfilled at work, we first have to discover the reasons why you don’t feel that way already.

Think about it, write a list, or make a mental note. Run through all the reasons you’re dissatisfied in the office, and don’t hold back. Knowing the exact obstacles you’re facing will make overcoming them that much easier.

2. Practice Gratitude for an Instant Uplift

Did you know the simple act of feeling grateful can increase your happiness and make you more fulfilled at work?[1]

Well, it’s true, and it’s scientifically proven.

Dr. Lisa Firestone notes that practicing gratitude “reminds us of what we lacked in the past.” Meaning, it serves as both a boost to happiness and a bit of a wake-up call that things have been or could be, much worse.

Trying to conjure up feelings of gratitude can seem almost impossible when your work situation seems bleak but hear me out: There are incredibly easy ways to get started and it doesn’t involve trying to “force” yourself to feel grateful about things that stress you out.

For an instant pick-me-up, try this:

Find a loose piece of paper, a blank sticky note, or anything you can write on, be it physical or digital. List just three things that you are absolutely without-a-doubt thankful for in your life.

Now here’s the trick: Don’t just list what you’re grateful for, you have to list why you’re grateful for them, too.

For example, simply saying “I’m grateful for my kids” will probably make you feel good, sure, but what if we could amplify the warm, fuzzy feeling into real, lasting motivation?

Instead, write the reason you’re so thankful for your children. Is it because they make you laugh and forget about other stressors? Or maybe they help to remind you of why you go to work every day in the first place?

Whatever your reasons may be, jot them down and keep your list somewhere you can see it while you work. A quick glance at your gratitude list throughout the day can provide powerful, positive motivation to keep going.

Bonus:

If you can find just three things to be thankful for that specifically relate to your job, and list why those things make you grateful, your list can also help you find fulfillment in your work itself which can give you an even bigger boost of positivity throughout the day.

3. Take Meaningful Time for Yourself

We all know creating a strong work-life balance can be crucial to feeling satisfied in our jobs, but rarely do we ever address how we’re spending our time outside of work.

Many of us survive a 9-hour work day and commute home only to find ourselves busy with our personal to-do lists, running a household, and taking care of a child (or 2 or 3, and so on).

If you spend all your time working, whether in the office or within your household, you’re going to feel drained at some point. This is why setting meaningful time for yourself every day is highly important.

Look, I get it: I don’t know anyone in the working world who can shun all responsibility for a 3-movie marathon or happy hour with friends whenever they feel like it. But finding time for yourself, be it just 30 minutes to an hour, can really make a difference in how you feel at work.

This works because you’ll have time to actually relax and let the day’s stress melt away while you enjoy something just for you. The to-do lists and stressors will still be there after you’re refreshed and ready to tackle them.

No time for me-time? Try this:

If you have a busy household, you’ll need to capitalize on a block of time you know will be completely uninterrupted. The easiest way to do this: try waking up 30 minutes to an hour earlier than usual (or push bedtime back an hour if you’re a night owl, like me) and take time to do something you enjoy.

This could be reading with a cup of tea, catching up on Facebook, spending time on a passion project—anything! As long as it’s meaningful to you, it works!

Bonus:

Starting your day with meaningful time for yourself can set you up to have a positive mood that lasts well into office hours, and having your me-time in the evening can give you something positive to look forward to during the day.

4. Get Productive and Feel Accomplished

Don’t you just love the feeling of checking the last item off of a hefty to-do list? That’s because self-motivation can be a huge driver of positivity and success.

When we accomplish something, no matter how small, it makes us feel good, plain and simple. Applying this tactic to your daily work can be the motivator you need to find fulfillment during the daily office grind.

While there are tons of steps to get more done at work, I’ll share my personal favorite: Prioritizing.

Now, many people handle prioritizing differently. Some like to tackle the little tasks first so they can spend focused time on the big to-dos. Others like to knock out the big items first and get to the smaller ones when they can.

No matter which camp you’re in, you may be missing one crucial step: Time management.

So how’s this work? When you factor in the amount of time your priorities will take, it can transform your productivity ten-fold.

Say you have three top priorities for the day. You might jump into the smaller ones or the bigger ones depending on your preferred method, and then find yourself out of time and bringing work home with you at the end of the day.

This is prevented when you factor in time. Knowing how long each item will take, or deliberately setting specific blocks of time for your priorities can help you accomplish more in the same 8-9 (or 12) hours that you typically spend at work.

Try this:

Take a look at your priorities and consider how long they should take. Pop into your Google calendar (or Filofax, whatever works for you) and schedule time to work on your priority items around any important meetings or events of the day.

The most important thing to remember is to stick to your dedicated time.

Often, when we know exactly how long we have to work on something (and honor this time limit), we’re motivated to get more done on time to avoid taking work home at the end of the day.

The Bottom Line

There’s no need to waste 1/3 of our lives feeling unsatisfied at work. Luckily, you now have the tools to get started, take back your time, and become happy and fulfilled at work again.

Source: lifehack.org

9 Things to Remove from your Resume

You have to reconcile the fact that, in today’s competitive job market, employers receive approximately 250 job applications for every open position. Ninety-five percent of organizations (large and small) use software known as an applicant tracking system – ATS – to screen applications and eliminate the least qualified applicants.

If your resume is among the lucky 25 percent of applications that make it past the dreaded bots, it still must pass muster with the recruiter or hiring manager. With so many applications flooding their inboxes, it’s no wonder that the average recruiter skims a resume for only six seconds before deciding if the applicant belongs in the “no” pile.

To give yourself a fighting chance to make it to the “yes” pile, follow these simple rules and get rid of the deadwood.