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Work the Change: Work Readiness Training
WORK THE CHANGE: WORK READINESS TRAINING
Post-pandemic, the jobs market has become harder for young people to navigate: PCI’s  tailored work readiness programme supports Year 10 students, or teachers, to train Years 8 and 9 students to understand what employers are looking for in new employees, to gain the skills and confidence they need, and to write up an impressive CV + Personal Statement to help them succeed in the jobs market.
Welcome to the Work the Change
Employability Skills Day
What we do:
The aim of the Work the Change Work Readiness Programme is:
  1. To get the students to identify the skills they already have;
  2. To help students identify what excites and interests them and how to communicate their skills;
  3. To develop new skills and experiences through non-school activities that will help them build their CV and make them more employable both now and in future ever-changing job markets;

The programme can be delivered in 2 ways
 
 
ONE: The Peer-to-Peer Ambassador programme: Building on methodologies developed for our Be the Change Challenge! and Create the Change peer-to-peer training programmes, the Ambassador programme trains up 16 -17 year olds (Years 10 & 11) to run Work Readiness workshops for younger students (Years 8 & 9.) The programme provides the resources you need to train the Ambassadors.
 
 
TWO:  Teacher-delivered sessions: Though PCI would always encourage the peer-to-peer method because of the benefits that accrue to the peer teachers, many teachers have used our Delivery Day materials to give the training themselves to their 15-16 year old students. Both delivery methods use the same Assembly Introduction PowerPoint, followed by the same 3 x consecutive sessions:
 
  1. Identify your passions;
  2. Harness your Skills;  
  3. Write up your CV and Personal Statement
   
         

THE PEER-TO-PEER AMBASSADOR TRAINING - A STEP BY STEP GUIDE
ONE – Find and Recruit the Ambassadors:  
 
  • Lead an assembly or create flyers to recruit Ambassadors who should, ideally, be Years 10-11 students aged 16-17.
  • You will need 3 Ambassadors for each class you are training.  
  • In your recruitment materials and presentations, emphasise the benefits that the opportunity will give to the Ambassadors: if they have ever thought of becoming a teacher, this is the chance for them to try out if they would be any good at it and/or enjoy it?  

Even if they do not, learning how to train others, and present a training, is a skill that is useful in almost any career field. AND – it will look great on
their CV.
TWO – Prepare the Training Day Logistics:
The Ambassadors need a full day’s training, with the following facilities:
 
  • Orientation and Group Training (2 hours) – single classroom or hall needed with PowerPoint projection facility;
  • Practice Delivery of the 3 x Sessions (3 hours) – the groups of 3 x Ambassadors need 3 x classrooms or one large hall where the three groups can work in different areas;
  • Final Orientation + Q & A (1 hour) – final group pep talk and chance to raise any concerns or questions that the Ambassadors may have;


   
   
         

THREE – Run the Ambassador Training Day:
Start the Orientation and Group Training by going through the 61 x slides of the Ambassador Training PowerPoint. This takes them through an Introduction to Peace Child International, to the Goals of the day and the TOP TEN things that Employers look for in new employees:



It takes them, step-by-step, through everything they have to teach to the younger pupils on the Delivery Day.  Make sure that they understand each section fully before they go off to practice in small groups:
  1. Assembly Presentation: What Employers Want;
  2. Session ONE:  Pursue your Passion
  3. Session TWO:  Harness your Existing Skills and develop new ones
  4. Session THREE:  Write up your CV and Personal Statement

FOUR – Practice what you’ve Learned:
 
Break out into small rooms:
  • Having learned all together, each Ambassador takes a set of Session Outlines and Top Tips along with the PowerPoint link and encouraged to practice on their own.

  • They  work in pairs or threesomes, so they need to sort out who is going to lead on each activity and mark it down. ~

  • Get them to be confident enough to stand up and lead a session from the front.

  • At the end of the afternoon, bring them all back together, and give each Ambassador the chance of running one of the sessions, or part of a session, in front of the others so they can learn from each other.
WORK THE CHANGE WORK READINESS TRAINING - A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO THE DELIVERY DAY
Assembly Presentation:
Welcome everyone and explain a little about how Peace Child International has spent the last 44 years “empowering young people” - and what exactly is going to happen today.  Use the 11 x Delivery Day Assembly Presentation slides to introduce what the Day is all about:


Then introduce our well-researched statistics on what employers look for in potential employees at interview. Some students will find this surprising. So, leave time for questions at the end.



Explain that the rest of the day is about the three stages in pursuing what some call the “School-to-Work Transition.”  We call it “Work Readiness” because – whether you choose to go on to further education at University or Vocational College – it is never to early to start thinking about what you would like to do with your work life – and take the steps necessary to achieve your dream job.  

Session 1: Pursuing Your Passion
 
Show slides 1 to 8 of the Sessions 1-3 PowerPoint. Hand out the Passion Bingo Cards to every student.  In groups of 3 to 5, ask them to record their passions by putting their names to things they are passionate about:







Then watch the Video and ask what they thought of the celebrities’ statements?  Ask them questions like: “What do these celebrities have in common?”  “What has been important to them in making their career?” “What, apart from passion, do they focus upon?” “Which of their answers make most sense to you?” Gather their answers and discuss them – seeing where there is agreement amongst the students.  



The heart of this Section is a Discussion of the VENN Diagram, above, where each student seeks to define what is, for them, the WIN in the middle and what, therefore, might be the milestones along the road to each individual student’s Dream Job.





Session 2: Harnessing Your Skills


Show slides 9 to 19 of the Sessions 1-3 PowerPoint. It starts with the 10 x Skill Cards:  you can either hand each group a pack of the cards, or make it a Skills Hunt: place the cards around the room – pinning them to boards, laying them on tables, sticking them in bookshelves and ask the students to hunt for the full sent. They then discuss them and note down which applies to them. Each student should end up with 3-5 skills that they think they possess.


Skills Cards - Read Both Sides

Then watch the Fall Forward Commencement Speech by Denzel Washington. If you can find 20-minutes – do watch the whole speech, as it is very funny, very personal and very compelling. But the famous bit about falling forward starts at 7 minutes, 20 seconds. Discuss what it means to “Fall Forward”?


Then Consider the Life Timeline of Marcus Rashford – how did he Harness his skills?



Distribute the “Employability Skills” Workbooks to each student. Discuss each section in pairs before filling out the “I AM – I CAN – I BELIEVE” page, then the Career Venn – and finally “My Life Timeline…”



At the end of the session, leave time for discussion with Ambassadors about difference between personal answers to difficult questions: personal answers are easy because they reflect what you feel – not what you think. Understanding that difference helps young facilitators conduct these discussions.
STEP FOUR
Session 3: Writing Your CV

Show slides 20 to 39 of the Sessions 1-3 PowerPoint. Start with the questions about what a “CV” - and a “Personal Statement” actually is. Make sure that every student knows what these are.



Put the different personal statements + the “Good” and “Bad” CVs in different parts of the room  and encourage students to move around and note on their score cards what they think of them.


Ask the students to share their assessments of each CV and each Personal Statement and see where consensus lies. Ask the students to make notes about what they think might – or should – be in their own Personal Statements and CVs for use later.


Brainstorm what they think. What makes a good and bad CV? Stress importance of researching what the job is and what the company does. Then, in their CV and Personal Statement, and at the interview if they get one, make sure that students show that they have the qualities, skills and the interest to fit that particular job and company.  They need to know that they must re-write their CV and Personal Statement for each job they apply for, showing how their experience, passion and skills fit that job.


CONCLUSION: what have you Learned?
 
At the end of the session, discuss and confirm what they have learned. Go through the different points that students have picked up from each session, hopefully picking up different messages and learnings – so that a variety of take-aways will be reflected by the class. If you have the print outs, distribute the Personal Summary Notes and Certificates – and give all participants a round of applause. THANK YOU!


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