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Hey, Get a Job! A Teen Guide for Getting and Keeping a Job

Author: Jennie Withers
Lesson Plan:

Helping Teens Find, Get and Keep Jobs 

 

 
The lesson objective is help students not only prepare for entering the workforce, but also the life skills required to keep a job.
 
Subjects covered: labor laws, finding openings, etiquette for picking up applications, do’s and don’ts for filling out applications, resume writing, interviewing, hire packets including defining harassment, what employers expect from their employees (otherwise known as how not to get fired), and managing money and time.
 
Grade Levels: 8-12
 
Time To Complete: 5-11 days, fifty minute class periods
 
Objectives:
  • Students will know the labor laws for their age group.
  • Students will know resources for them to use when looking for job openings, and they will know how to pick up applications.
  • Students will know how to properly fill out a job application.
  • Students will know to complete a resume and cover letter.
  • Students will know how to interview effectively.
  • Students will be aware of what a hiring packet is and what one will contain.
  • Students will know what workplace requirements are so that they will be competent employees.
  • Students will learn how to manage money, time and know when they are being taken advantage of by employers.
 
Materials needed:
  • Hey, Get a Job! A Teen Guide for Getting and Keeping a Job - Teacher's Edition available at http://www.heygetajob.com   
  • Computer projector (optional)
  • Student computers for generating resumes and cover letters
  • Optional: various applications from businesses that hire teens, various hiring packets from businesses that hire teens, your local Job Service information on what services they provide for teens, various assignments located in the Supplements folder on this CD
 
Plans:
  • Day 1 - Hey, Get a Job! Section 1
    • Survey the class to see who has or had a job and who has gone through the application and interview process Assure those that have been through the application and interview process that they will still learn something and that you may call on their expertise.
    • With students generate a list of where they might look for job openings. Eliminate those that don’t really work for teens (i.e. newspaper) add web sites like snagajob.com and others you find for your area. Find information for your local Job Service.
    • Discuss picking up applications – appearance, alone, and that they may have to stay and fill out an application on computer. SeeSection 1
    • Show example applications from various businesses
    • Hand out a copy of the Child Labor Laws ( Department of Labor link by state is in Section 1, more specific information can be requested through a state's Department of Labor or on the Department's web site) 
            *Optional - create a worksheet for your state's labor laws        (example for Idaho in the Supplements folder)
            *Optional - ask students a few of the questions they may see with                 an application (copy in the Supplements folder
 
  • Day 2 - Hey, Get a Job! Section 2
    • Handout a blank application to students. 
    • Section 2 goes step by step through filling out an application. 
            *Optional - project the section located on the CD
                                    or
            * Copy the examples onto a transparency 
    • Their completed application turned in for credit
            *Optional - make them the employers and they decide if they            would interview their peer according to the application
 
  • Day 3-5 - Hey, Get a Job! Section 3
    • Discuss a resume's purpose and basic rules for resume writing
    • Have students create a basic resume using worksheets in the book or going to http://www.heygetajob.com and clicking on 'resume'
    • Demonstrate available resume templates (Microsoft office online or Microsoft Word)
            *Optional - have students input the information on the basic             resume into a template to jazz it up
    • A completed resume turned in for credit
    • Discuss and assign the cover letter (there are also templates for business letters)
    • A completed cover letter turned in for credit
 
  • Day 6 - Hey, Get a Job! Section 4
    • Give the Interviewing Tips handout (located in the Supplements folder) 
    • Role play interviews – ask a student a question and then discuss the good and the bad of their answer with the class
 
  • Day 7-9 - Hey, Get a Job! Sections 5 & 6
    • Discuss filling out a W-4 form
            *Optional - have students fill out a W-4 from the worksheet in            Hey, Get a Job!
    • Discuss reading a paycheck, paying taxes
            *Optional - paycheck worksheet (located in the Supplements            folder)
 
            * Optional - have students fill out an EZ income tax form                       using fabricated information (the 1040EZ form, and the                        1040EZ key are pdf files, the fabricated information is a                Word file which includes a link to the IRS 1040EZ                               instructions- all are located in the Supplements folder) If                   you would like an example of a W-2, it can be a printed                     from: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw2.pdf . 
 
 
    • Workplace Expectations ppt. presentation (on the teacher's edition CD) covers technical skills, communication skills, work ethic, dependability, responsibility, honesty, flexibility, respect, attitude and the definition of harassment. 
            *Optional - students take notes on the presentation for a pop quiz                  (located in the Supplements folder). The quiz can be open or               closed note. Use the PowerPoint slides for the quiz key.
 
 
  • Day 10 - Hey, Get a Job! Section 7
    • Brief discussion of handling money, not letting employers take advantage of teens.
    • Provide a newspaper classified section or online help wanted site to each student. Assignment: List 30 job requirements, and 30 adjectives describing the type of person for which employers are looking.
    • Exit card – list three things you learned about getting and keeping a job, and one question you still have.
 
  • Day 11 - Wrap up
o   Answer exit card questions
o   Hand back and discuss graded assignments
 
Extension: Choosing a career and applying to colleges or trade schools. 
Assessment: Various assignments including a completed application, completed resume and cover letter, workplace expectations quiz and the exit card. And, of course, students who land their first jobs.
 
Teaching Standards: Meets standards in Career Education and Vocational Technical curriculums as well as Language Arts-Technical Reading and Writing curriculum.