Careers

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I talk about careers a lot in my classes. This is the all-encompassing detail of it all.  I’ve also always appreciated teachers who have “tasted life” before becoming a teacher – they actually have valid experience to offer.

MAKE YOURSELF EMPLOYABLE

[Good-Worker]  [Training]  [Résumés]  [Looking-For-Work]  [Interviews]  [On-The-Job]

Years from now, you will see how the choices you made brought you to where you are.

Right now you are too young to see that far into the future – today you might be able to imagine or plan about a month or two into the future.

I’m old; I plan 20+ years into the future. I could not do that in my teens – it was pretty “gray/cloudy” beyond the 3-month mark

Now I’m just pretty gray/cloudy (tee hee)

Some of you already have jobs.  You probably also have co-workers who are complete wingnuts.  Train yourself to be a good worker, not a wingnut.  Employers are not interested in hiring wingnuts.

What is a Good Worker?

This is all WORK HABITS. Hopefully your parents taught this and modeled this to you. I certainly emphasize it in my classes:

      • Show up early
      • Stay late
      • Follow instruction*
      • Retain information*
        • *rapidly deteriorating today
      • Work hard
      • Do the job, do it all, do it quick, do it right
      • Ask for help
      • Work safe
      • Be respectful
      • Be resourceful*
        • *Never before have we had such access to information, and never before have we been so incapable of accessing it
      • Look for ways to improve your skill
      • Look for ways to improve business efficiency
      • Look for opportunities to learn
      • Think
      • …and more

The work habits you are fostering RIGHT NOW will be yours for life – choose wisely!

What is a Bad Worker?

I wanted to do a list here, but I know about a third of my students will argue that THIS list is what they thought I wanted in a worker – I don’t understand how that can even happen.  Then again, I guess this list gets populated from somewhere, and they might be the ones who populate it.  So…. I’m not going to detail this.

Training

MOST jobs require some sort of formal education. A “High School Diploma” will not cut it to make a financially decent living today.  You might be able to live at minimum wage, but you WILL NOT “get ahead.”  Whether you are ok with that or not really depends on you. More money is always good, BUT more money does not equal more happiness.

High School has become so meaningless and rigor-less, that if you can fog a mirror, you can graduate. “The system” drags you kicking and screaming through the goal posts of High School.  If you cannot graduate High School, you are TRYING to not graduate from High School.

As such – a High School diploma is no longer enough!  And hasn’t been since the 1970’s.  You are going to need some kind of formal training. There are various College Programs that can be a couple of months to a couple of years in length.  University is usually at least four years.

CAUTION: MOST University-bound students end up owing tens of thousands on a degree that got them nowhere – a “Bachelor of Denny’s”

Opportunities will come your way.  If you are one to fixate on a goal (as I do), you can sometimes miss opportunities that could lead you down an excellent adventure in experiences, ALL OF WHICH will shape you into who you are as a person and an employee.  Not all those experiences will be fun, but they will shape you.

QUALITY IS IMPORTANT….

As a Public School Employee, I’ve had many Administrators suggest that we should be “process” oriented, not “product” oriented.  For the first half of my career I believed that, but no longer. Here is why (and it’s all about employment):

If your Résumé is not a quality PRODUCT, you will not get an Interview

If your Interview is not a quality PRODUCT, you will not get the job

If you do not PRODUCE on the job, you do not stay EMPLOYED

MY JOB is to help you with the PROCESS so you can have a quality PRODUCT

NO Employer is interested in paying you for PROCESS if your process doesn’t PRODUCE

 

IF YOUR EMPLOYER GIVES YOU AN OPPORTUNITY….

Say “yes.”

They might be pushing you down that path because they believe you can do it; they see value in you.  They are INVESTING in you – make that investment WORTH SOMETHING!

Learn it. That might mean you need to do some research, or ask questions. The only stupid question is the one not asked.

As a teacher, I’d rather have a hundred “stupid questions” than have someone destroy something because they “didn’t ask”

All of your Employment Experiences make you EMPLOYABLE

A WILLINGNESS TO TRY/LEARN makes you EMPLOYABLE

Résumés

You are selling a product here – YOU!

Play to Your Strengths!

Maximize your strengths.  Play to your strengths.

You may not know what your strengths are.  You may think you have strengths that you don’t actually have.  You might want to ask your friends and family (people who know you) what they see as your strengths.  Most High School students do not know themselves at all. Or adults, for that matter.

Delegate Your Weaknesses!

An interview question you may get is “what is your weakness” – figure out your answer for that, but to try spin it as “an opportunity to grow,” or an area you are looking to improve on. DO NOT neglect your strengths to try and develop your weaknesses – your unique STRENGTHS are what make you IMPORTANT and VALUED and NEEDED.

I am at times socially awkward – at least I can recognize it and try to make pains to limit its negative impact. I will never “master” it.

I am VERY particular and VERY fussy – that is both a strength AND a weakness.

We all have weaknesses (you already know the weaknesses of someone who “excels at everything” – we usually want to punch them in the larynx). You cannot get away from weaknesses.  Try to be in a place where you can recognize your weaknesses, and work around them.

Use Cover Letter!

I recommend a cover letter. A cover letter introduces yourself in a brief, short, paragraph. Be efficient in your choice of wording – nobody wants to read a novel. Give them enough to get to know you and what you are about in a nutshell – give them a reason to look at the next page: your qualifications!

Employment History, Education, and Skills!

List these in the order that the Potential Job would deem important

LIST your EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Newest-to-Oldest. Remember how earlier I said your WORK HABITS are important? When your potential employer is checking up on you, they are looking for WORK HABITS. Your grades are NOT as important as CAN YOU DO THE JOB? List the Business Name, the date range you worked there (or volunteered there, if that is the case), and the BASIC description of what you did.

          • When I fill out a referral for a student to get into a program, I comment on WORK ETHIC
          • When business have asked me to send them a student for a job, I send the kids with WORK ETHIC
          • When students ask me to be a reference, the potential employer never asks me what their marks were – they ask about their WORK ETHIC
          • Have you ever asked your Doctor if they were in the top 10% of their class? No? Exactly.

McDonald’s Restaurant, Oyama BC 2028-2029 – Grill Chief

Babysitting, Lake Country BC 2025-2028

LIST your EDUCATION

Newest-to-Oldest. List the Institution, the City it was in, and the certifications you received.  I know people who have the EXPERIENCE but did NOT get the job, because they lacked the QUALIFICATIONS.  Some jobs require “Necessary Qualifications.”

George Elliot Secondary School Lake Country BC – 2029 Grade 12 Diploma with Honours

H2O Center, Kelowna BC – 2027 Bronze Cross

Parkinson Recreation Center, Kelowna BC – 2025 Babysitting Certification

LIST your SKILLS

Your potential Employer wants to know what you are bringing to the table – “What can you do?” This can be a challenge to fill out when you are young and have little work experience.  try to find out what the job you are applying for needs, and tailor your résumé to what they want to see.

You have the whole entire freaking Google universe to find out what that job requires! USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!

Hard worker, thorough, detailed, follows instruction, self-learner, motivated, responsible, resourceful, safe worker, safe cracker, trustworthy, respectful, amazing tap-dancer, can read blueprints, can read minds, logical strategist, stunning Elvis impersonator. 

HARVARD has an excellent list of Do’s and Don’ts – CHECK IT OUT!  You HAVE heard of Harvard, haven’t you?

LOOKING FOR WORK

Walk-ins

A “Walk-In” is where you show up at a business with a résumé in hand and apply for a job in person. There might be a posted job, or you are just inquiring.  I prefer this method, because that first impression of you right there tells a lot about you before they even look at your resume.  Are you dressed appropriately? Are you dressed “ready to work?” Do you have an acceptable level of personal hygiene? Do you present well, as if to a customer? Do you make eye contact? Are you shy? Do you come across confident? Do you seem shady and dishonest?  You only get ONE SHOT at a FIRST IMPRESSION.

Not all businesses take “Walk-in” applications; many have gone Online. While I really don’t like that, it is the way the world has gone.  With more and more businesses having AI screening the applications, you may need to think creatively on how to get your application noticed by AI.

If the job description has some keywords and specifics it is looking for, make sure your résumé/cover-letter contain those keywords and specifics.  It is a computer reading it – give teh computer what it wants to read.

I have heard of (but not tested) copying and pasting the entire job description somewhere in your resume in a wee tiny font coloured white so as to be invisible in the printed copy, but “picked up” by AI.  Devious? Maybe – but it’s working within a system that is no longer operated by humans.

Word-of-mouth/Who-You-Know

MANY jobs are gotten by “WHO you know,” not “WHAT you know.” This is where your positive and contributing personality pays off.  Asking around on the Social Media Platform of your choice might find you work.

If you’ve been a bit of a prick to others, this avenue may not work well

You also never know who might be screening your résumé – it might be someone you know!

I am pretty sure the only reason I got one job (beating out over 300 other applicants during a time of very high unemployment), was because one of my references happened to be best friends with the guy who did the hiring

There are stories of people NOT getting jobs (true or not, who knows), because the interviewer was the guy the applicant had cut off in traffic, or had been rude to in the elevator.

Get names/emails/numbers

Get the name of ANY contact you interact with at the business – it might be the manager, the HR person (Human Resources), the owner, whomever. It’s easier to follow up if you have a name! Get a name, an email, a phone number!  This gives you a specific person you can follow up with – you want to establish a bit of a relationship with somebody on the inside, somebody who has seen you, recognizes you, and sees that you are serious and purposeful and intentional.

Follow-up/woo/schmooze

I recommend stopping by once a week to say hello, express that you are still interested in a position, ask if they have a chance to look over your résumé, even bring an updated résumé with you.

Follow up.  Keep going back. Remind them who you are. Remind them that you are interested in working there.

A friend recommended to a student of his to show up Monday morning with work boots on, ready to go, and ask if they have any work for him today.  My friend said they would laugh at him at first (and they did), but to keep going back every day ready to work and asking if they had any work for him. It didn’t take too long and they hired the kid.

When I was going through Teacher Training UBC, we had a course on getting employed. It was strongly suggested to find out who the folks were who did the hiring, and try to “woo” them – take them golfing, invite them to dinner, etc..  I, unfortunately, refuse to do that, and always have.  But you do you.

Interviews

Your Chance to PRESENT

If you are lucky enough to get called in for an interview, this is it – this is your one shot, make it count.

Dress appropriately.

Present WELL.

Be confident in who you are, what your skill set is.  Never answer with just a “yes” or a “no” but ADD to your answer with more information – it helps them get a feel for who you are and how you might be as an employee. If you are confident in who you are, you should also come across as calm and relaxed.  You will perform at your best if you are calm and relaxed.

If a question is unclear, ask for it to be clarified or reworded.  There are questions we get in a Teacher Interviews that have a “correct” answer, and if you do not provide that “correct” answer, you will not get hired – doesn’t matter how good you are.

Ask Questions

Usually at the end of an interview, the interviewer will say something like “Well, that’s it for us – unless you have any questions” at which point I say “as a matter of fact, I do!” and I pull out my list of questions. Their eyes usually get bigger, maybe even a little worried.

DO NOT ask questions about pay, salary, or days off. Do not ask YES or NO questions. Ask questions about the JOB, about STAFF, about MAANAGEMENT that require a descriptive or detailed answer. Questions I have asked:

How would you describe the relationship between management and staff?

How would you describe the relational dynamics between staff?

What opportunities do you provide for further training and advancement?

What is the “turn-over” rate of employees (this tells you if a lot of people quit here)

(One I asked for my first teaching job): How would you describe the transition from the old Industrial Arts model to the current Technology Education model?

Asking questions like this shows you are serious – Since I started asking a series of questions like these I always got a job offer (thank you Mr. Bartman for encouraging me to do this back in my teens):

Word-Smithing

Word Smithing is wording your answer to achieve a specific goal or outcome.  It usually requires a quick wit and a strong command of vocabulary.  Can you quickly spin a negative into something constructive?  Can you downplay your weaknesses and play up your strengths?  How well do you know yourself? How quickly can you think?

During University, I had a job painting houses.  We had to go door-to-door in East Vancouver looking for people to let us paint their house.  One potential customer asked me if I was them would I hire me…  I said “no – because I have a strong attention to detail and I would do too good a job and not make the company any money.”  They laughed.  Looking back – I’m not sure that was a good answer…

On-The-Job

Congratulations – you got hired!

BE EARLY TO WORK

Some trades job sites start at a meeting, where jobs for the day are given out to the workers.  If you are early, you might get the better jobs. If you are late, you get the crappy jobs – or no job at all!  BE EARLY! And I mean ten or fifteen minutes early!

STAY LATE

Make sure you stay to the end of the shift AND put in a little extra.  Make sure your work area is cleaned up.  If you can, have a bit prepped for the next day.  I’m talking ten or fifteen minutes later.

WORK SAFE

Businesses have to pay into Work Safe BC, and the more accidents they have on the job, the higher their premiums are.  It benefits the employer to not get hurt.  Hurt employees, and 0ff-work employees do not make the company money.

WORK HARD

You are being paid money to perform a task or deliver a service.  Do that.

That means doing GOOD QUALITY and doing it QUICKLY.  You may have dragged your butt doing as little as possible in High School – that does not cut it in the real world.  Remember that one kid in your group that really did nothing but got the same credit – that also doesn’t cut it.

One on hand, the trend in Education to have students choose their own adventure, decide what they want to learn, decide how they want to learn it, decide how they want to be assessed, and decide whether they got their or not.  I assure you – even adults will pick the lazy path when given the option of lazy.

On the other hand, in the real world you are hired to do a task or perform a service; it needs to be what the employer or the customer wants, and your “feelings about it” are largely irrelevant. Yes, there are jobs out there that need creative, avant-guard thinkers that come up with unique out-of-the-box solutions, but there are MORE jobs providing a task or service.

I heard a rumour that a University Professor I knew got fired because they did what THEY thought was the best solution, not what the customer wanted.  I cannot confirm.

RELATIONSHIP

You will be working with people.  It might only be your staff, your crew, or the customer, but you WILL be working with people. Try not to destroy people or burn bridges.

You never know where paths may cross again (they might be looking at YOUR future résumé!). “As much as it depends on YOU, live at peace with each other.”  This gets more difficult when you work with wingnuts, or if the customer is a wingnut.  Wingnuts are out there; something you’ll have to find a way to respectfully deal with.

Everybody deserves to be treated with respect – even if they don’t earn it.

Some people do not communicate very well – you need to learn how to confirm that what you heard was what they intended.  This is called “active listening”  …..

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities will come your way.

Opportunities for further training, opportunities for courses and certifications – take those!  That is shaping your future.  Do not say “no.”

Sometimes you get job offers and opportunities from other businesses.  That can change your career path! (Good? Bad? Who knows!)

One of the questions I tell kids to ask adults is “What led you into the career you are in right now” – it is fascinating!  And it is NEVER the thing they thought they would be doing way back in high school.

Sometimes following those opportunities can be so worthwhile!

My father failed first year University and got a job with a highway paving crew.  Through taking all the opportunities that came his way, he had a hand in designing, engineering, paving, and maintaining MANY of the highways here in BC including the Coquihalla, Highway 97 and Highway 33. He retired as a Superintendent.  Not the path he planned, but certainly what happened

“Life happens when you are busy making other plans” – Allen Saunders

 

 

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