Teaching the LDS Career Workshop May 2014

I've been trying to collect some photos of the classes I teach.  I wanted to show some of the techniques I use in teaching the Career Workshop.  Some of the items in the workshop include:

• Writing a "Me in 30 seconds" , a way of explaining your talents , experience and what kind of job you are wanting in a short amount of time.
• Creating a network and how to network with your friends and acquaintances and their friends and acquaintances.
• Writing a CV (resume)
• Making phone calls in search of work
• Having interviews
• Doing Follow-ups
• How to negotiate salary, benefits, etc.
• How to avoid problems in your new job.

Here are some photos I took during various workshops:

This is the way the classroom is normally set up.  This was for a specialist training (Normally we provide a pitcher of water and glasses in lieu of bottles of water.  But the same U shape is used for the workshops.  I have added the small table as I have some mobility problems and can't stand throughout the whole class.  Off to the left is a moveable whiteboard and behind where I sit is the screen where the slides or videos are projected. In the back you can see the two cabinet doors that are open.  That is where the computer and DVD player are located.  Very handy when I want to link to LDSjobs.org and show them how that website works.  The projector is attached to the ceiling.

The first day I allow the participants to sit where they wish.  Each has his own name plaque.  On the second day I rearrange the names and there is a seating chart.  I try to put those with more experience or with stronger personalities with those who lack experience or are shy.  On the third day I have rearranged the seating chart again.  All this moving around means that by the end of the workshop everyone has gotten a chance to know everyone else, thereby giving them more people in their immediate network of resources.

Practicing phone calls soliciting work.

When we practice phone calls I have half the class sit on the inside of the U.  This puts them directly across from another person.  I explain the roll play and sometimes participants decide hold their cell phones to create more of the illusion of actually making a call.  We do a call to a friend or acquaintance and then I have those in the middle of the U rotate to a new partner.  Then we do a call with a referral.  For the third call, we rotate again and do a cold call.  This allows them to work with different partners and experience each kind of call. They may choose to use the scripts in their workbooks or not.

I rearrange the room for practicing interviews. Tables are separated as far apart as possible to represent different offices. Name plaques are stacked just before we start the interviews one on top of the other (2) and then reversed when we switch roles.

Initially as in the phone interviews half the class sit on the wall side of the desks.  They are the interviewers (owners, managers,supervisors) The remainder of the class are the job applicants.  They will go to the middle of the room and begin a series of interviews done in the following way to simulate as much as possible a real interview:

• Knock on the table and wait to be invited in.
• Identify yourself with first and last name and state the position you are seeking.
• The interviewer will then begin a brief interview using 5 of the interview questions from the workbook.
• At the end of the interview the interviewer will make a comment about other candidates needing interviews or when a decision may be made.
• The job applicant will thank the interviewer, repeat his/her interest in the position and make any other appropriate closing remarks
• Handshake and the applicant will leave and go to another office. 

Interview session between Joel and Juan

 I make sure that there is always one more office than job applicants.  In an even group I am the other office.  In an uneven group I am the extra office when the larger half of the class are job applicants.  In this way we don't get stalled when there is no empty chair...there is almost always an empty chair and if not...well they have to wait, just like in the real world!

Each applicant must do 3 interviews with separate interviewers.  When all of the first group have finished their interviews we reverse rolls allowing the interviewers to become job applicants and do their 3 interviews. 

One of the things that I really like about setting up the job interview this way is that the flow of people moving from one to another is easy and obvious.  I also really like the fact that it gives everyone the opportunity to think like an interviewer!  Often being able to think like an interviewer improves your abilities as a job applicant.