In almost eight years as an instructor and mentor, I've observed an ongoing struggle that some youth have with gaining employment as first-timers.
Simple things like going through the process of interviewing, writing thank-you notes by hand and figuring out how to sell themselves as a solution provider for the company are an ongoing challenge for the youth.
Maybe you've already seen the Target video where people show a young man how to tie a tie. There are so many young people who don't know what's the right work attire or what's the right dress attire that interviewers want to see. There are so many who don't know how to do their resume, how to fill out an application, how to interact with people and how to follow up with hiring managers. Mentors need to be as useful to teens as these Target employees were in the video above.
Although there are definitely young people who are successful in their job or career paths, there are still too many who haven't mastered how to use their personality to make a job interviewer take a chance on hiring that job candidate.
Simple things like going through the process of interviewing, writing thank-you notes by hand and figuring out how to sell themselves as a solution provider for the company are an ongoing challenge for the youth.
Maybe you've already seen the Target video where people show a young man how to tie a tie. There are so many young people who don't know what's the right work attire or what's the right dress attire that interviewers want to see. There are so many who don't know how to do their resume, how to fill out an application, how to interact with people and how to follow up with hiring managers. Mentors need to be as useful to teens as these Target employees were in the video above.
Although there are definitely young people who are successful in their job or career paths, there are still too many who haven't mastered how to use their personality to make a job interviewer take a chance on hiring that job candidate.
Ironically there is a massive amount of ways to communicate that young people use on a daily basis: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and texting. Younger people have a habit of texting more than talking directly to each other. If the communication is dependent on e-mailing and texting, that one-on-one dialogue goes out of the window.
That may be hurting young people from building relationships from the ground up.
The great thing about being a mentor is this is an opportunity to help young people communicate better on a larger platform. As a mentor myself, I make a point of answering these questions with students every day: How do I help them build relationships with other people? How do I show them the importance of giving back? What expectations should be set for them to exceed those expectations in their career choices?
Young folks network very well personally because they probably have 500 Twitter followers, or 200 or 300 Facebook friends, and 400 or 500 Instagram followers. Oddly enough, for some youth, those numbers are exceptionally low. Now ask those same social media gurus to be this confident during a job interview when holding a smartphone or iPad is out of the question. It may be surprising to find that you'll see two different people. TIME reported on a study "How Texting and IMing Helps Introverted Teens," but emoticons just don't have the same magic in securing a job.
Whether you're a professional instructor like myself or someone who wants to volunteer your specialty outside of a classroom, it's incredibly important to help youth who may not have that guidance. Check out sites like VolunteerMatch.org to see how you can help the youth today.
That may be hurting young people from building relationships from the ground up.
The great thing about being a mentor is this is an opportunity to help young people communicate better on a larger platform. As a mentor myself, I make a point of answering these questions with students every day: How do I help them build relationships with other people? How do I show them the importance of giving back? What expectations should be set for them to exceed those expectations in their career choices?
Young folks network very well personally because they probably have 500 Twitter followers, or 200 or 300 Facebook friends, and 400 or 500 Instagram followers. Oddly enough, for some youth, those numbers are exceptionally low. Now ask those same social media gurus to be this confident during a job interview when holding a smartphone or iPad is out of the question. It may be surprising to find that you'll see two different people. TIME reported on a study "How Texting and IMing Helps Introverted Teens," but emoticons just don't have the same magic in securing a job.
Whether you're a professional instructor like myself or someone who wants to volunteer your specialty outside of a classroom, it's incredibly important to help youth who may not have that guidance. Check out sites like VolunteerMatch.org to see how you can help the youth today.
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