O4AY Digital Coaches Corner

What is Coaches Corner?

Coaches Corner is an on-the-day, last mile intervention for youth attending an O4AY Hiring Activity for an interview. It is designed to be a youth-friendly space where youth can access coaching, interview preparation and additional resources that allow them to shine when they meet employers to interview.

Our Digital Hiring Activities offer the opportunity to hold Coaches Corner in a virtual setting. Directly before the Hiring Activity is set to begin, candidates can log into the digital Coaches Corner space and receive any last minute one-on-one coaching they need - whether that is interview prep, quashing pre-interview jitters, or getting answers to any remaining questions. Post-interview candidates can jump back in, debrief with a coach on their interview, and confirm next steps.

The virtual format also provides the option for group coaching between candidates. This allows for more youth to be coached at once, and provides a social aspect to the space.

Youth Journey at Digital O4AY Hiring Activity

Log into Coaches CornerReceive coaching to be

interview ready Have your interview Jump back into Coaches Corner for

post-interview support

Plan your next steps

How does it work on the day?

Coaches Corner can be modified to the scale of the Hiring Activity. For events focused on one employer, we recommend at least 1 Coach. For larger scale activities, 1 Coach per employer can ensure there is a specialized coach for youth to access. Typically, coaches are provided by community partners, and may be the Employment Counsellor that youth work directly with.

Prior to the Hiring Activity● Coaches can access the O4AY Member Portal

to download employer specific content to prepare.

● Coaches are welcome to print materials for the day.

● Candidates are sent a calendar invite with joining instructions for the digital Coaches Corner space.

On the Day● Candidates access Coaches Corner via the invite● Coaches will ensure the youth is interview ready● At the designated time, candidates join the digital employer

space for their interview.● Interviewers will conduct interviews and make notes on the

feedback tracker.● Interviewers will let the youth know the outcome and provide

feedback on the tracker, and verbally if they are comfortable.● Candidates can log back into Coaches Corner post-interview

to debrief with a coach and plan next steps.● The feedback tracker is shared by the employer post-

interview with O4AY and the CSP, so candidate outcomes can be confirmed.

Technical Requirements

O4AY is happy to host Coaches Corner on Zoom or alternatively, use the digital platform of your organization.

In the event of using Zoom, O4AY will create a public link that can be accessed by both Coaches and Candidates. Candidates can join by laptop or phone with the ZOOM or dial in.

Learn how to join a Zoom meeting based on your access point here.

Using Zoom

Breakout Rooms

As candidates sign in, the tech host will great them and then send them with a coach to a private breakout room, for one-on-one coaching. We recommend opening up at least 5 rooms and manually place candidates and coaches as needed.

Once the coaching session is done, candidates can return back to the main room with the coach. To do so, hit “Leave Meeting” in the right corner.

Coaches can be moved from room to room as needed as participants join.

We recommended having a technical host, that can set up the Breakout rooms and send participants to the correct spot. For first time users, learn how to enable Zoom break out rooms here.

Zoom Tips and TricksArrive early. You will need 10-15 minutes to make sure everything is running smoothly and you're prepared before your meeting starts.

Find a place where your back is against something pleasant and not distracting. Don't put your back to a window.

Raise your computer. Ideally, the web camera should be slightly above eye level so that it looks like you're directly talking to people.Test your computer audio and video.

Use headphones. Headphones always sound better than your computer's microphone. Avoid feedback and echo. Only one computer in a room can join a meeting and have its mic open. If there is more than one, it will cause feedback. If other people join your meeting in the same room to view the presentation, they need to leave the computer audio off, as muting does not resolve this.

Mute. Know where the mute button is and when to use it. Only unmute yourself when you're ready to talk.

Use Speaker view to automatically have the person speaking on your screen. Use Gallery View to see all participants that have logged in.

Connect your computer to wired internet if possible. If you're using your home WiFi, make sure people in your household are not streaming video (Netflix, Disney+) unless you have a good internet connection. Zoom doesn't require much bandwidth; if your internet connection is poor, Zoom will always prioritize audio over video and people may hear audio quality issues. If you're having internet connection issues check out these steps or contact your internet service provider. To see your connection speed, you can test your internet speed here.

Add pronouns & preferred language to your name. Ask everyone in the meeting to change their name to show their pronouns & preferred languages E.g. Name- ENG she/her.

Coaches Conversation Starters

Pre Interview Conversation Points• How are you feeling? (Try not to open with are you

nervous, instead ask generally how are you feeling or are you excited.)

• Where are you interviewing? Are you prepared to share why you want to work there?

• Try to deepen the conversation point by having themshare what interests them about the place, point outwhen they say something that would sound good forthem to share in an interview.

• Ensure candidates have thought through answers for the common interview questions (highlighted in our Interview Preparation Guide).• Tell us about yourself?• Why do you want to work here?

• Describe a time when you demonstrated (a quality)…

For any candidates not pre-registered or who may not have accessed employment coaching previously, dig into these questions:• Tell me about yourself. Remember they should all

be prepared to describe themselves to someone new.

• Would you like to practice the key interview questions with me? Coach should listen to the answers, providing positive points and suggestions to be more clear in the answers.

As Candidates head to their Interview• Provide a final positive affirmation before they head

to their interview (high five, good luck, be personable with it)

• Let them know you will be in Coaches Corner after they interview.

Coaches Conversation Starters

Post Interview Conversation Points• How do you feel about the interview?

• Further conversation points of what felt good to talk about; what did you feel you could have spoken about better?

• Do you know what the next steps are in the process?• Based on the employer, be able to provide

feedback on their process, if the candidate is unsure.

• Who is your employment counsellor? Agency? They will contact you with some more feedback and provide ongoing support if you would like.

• Ensure they have the contact details for that agency.

For candidates that did not receive a job offer from their interview:• Do you want to look at the feedback from your

interview right now?

• Give youth the option to also get this feedback from their Employment Counsellor at a different time.

• Read through and reframe feedback for the youth• What are your next steps?

• This may be suggestions for further employment support, coming back again, or if there are other employers at the activity, trying another interview. It may also be taking time to decompress from the experience.

• Be able to offer empathy, it's not always easy being told no.