Campus2Careers Lesson Plans and Teacher Guide_Final

Campus2Careers Lessons and Teacher Resource Guide

Campus2Careers

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCE GUIDE

CONTENT DEVELOPED BY SURESCORE CURRICULUM SPECIALISTS. REVIEWED BY OUTSIDE EXPERTS.

This guide provides Lesson Plans and Learning Opportunities for your students, while incorporating Mentorships, Internships, Jobs, Badges, Career Videos, and more from area Employers on a tool your District purchased: Campus2Careers. If you have any questions, contact the SureScore team that manages the Campus2Careers site at [email protected].

Contact Information for Comments/Questions:

This document was created by SureScore, a leader in college and career readiness solutions. If you have any questions, please contact Nelissa Salazar at 888.545.8378 x102 or [email protected].

Copyright 2014, SureScore

Campus2Careers Lessons and Teacher Resource Guide 2

mailto:[email protected]


SureScore IntroductionSureScore is a leader in college and career readiness. We offer schools solutions that:

Increase test scores, skills development and student engagement Help students succeed in the classroom, college, and their career Inspire students to discover their true potential by providing pathways to achieve

their goals.

To learn more about SureScore go to www.SureScore.com.

Campus2Careers OverviewCampus2Careers helps students find their future. Beginning with the Department of Labor’s O*Net Career Interest Inventory, the system matches your students with Occupations, Pathways, and Achieve Texas Career Clusters and provides resources to learn more about themselves. More than just an assessment, however, the site also matches your students with real local and national:

Internships Jobs Mentors Volunteer Opportunities Career Plans

This guide helps you bring these experiences and Opportunities into the classroom, their college and career planning, and skills development/alignment. It’s recommended that you create a student profile for yourself before beginning the activities in the classroom so you can see how the program works. Once completed, close your account on the Settings page so companies do not contact you. You can open your account any time by logging back in.

To watch a brief demo, go to www.c2cvideo.org.


http://www.c2cvideo.org/

http://www.SureScore.com/

Table of Contents

ACTIVITY ONE ...................................................................................................................................... 5

CREATE YOUR PROFILE........................................................................................................................... 5

ACTIVITY TWO ..................................................................................................................................... 7

RESEARCH OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES........................................................................................7

ACTIVITY THREE ................................................................................................................................ 8

BUILD YOUR BRAND................................................................................................................................. 8

ACTIVITY FOUR ................................................................................................................................. 10

KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS...................................................................................................................... 10

ACTIVITY FIVE ................................................................................................................................... 11

CULTURE MATTERS............................................................................................................................... 11

ACTIVITY SIX ...................................................................................................................................... 13

APPLY YOURSELF................................................................................................................................... 13

ACTIVITY SEVEN ............................................................................................................................... 14

GET BADGED........................................................................................................................................... 14

EXPERIENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 15

CLASS PROJECTS, SPEAKERS, INTERNSHIPS, JOBS AND MORE.....................................................15

NEXT STEPS ......................................................................................................................................... 17

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES...................................................................................................................... 17

GLOSSARY: .......................................................................................................................................... 18


Activity OneCreate your Profile

Estimated Time45 minutes

Procedure

During this exercise, students will create their profile, complete an interest and skills inventory, and learn more about themselves.

Instruct students to go to their school’s unique Campus2Careers URL (i.e. www.Lockhartjobs.org) and register in the New to Site section by entering a username, password, e-mail address, and selecting Student. (Note: if the school provided SureScore the student’s email address you may skip this step as the students will be pre-registered). They will then receive an email, which will include a link that will require them to re-enter their password and complete registration. This email will include the student’s login information and a unique verification code, which will not be needed after they login the first time.

When the student logins to Campus2Careers for the first time, they will enter the site on the Settings page.

In the User Info section, students are asked to provide a phone number and update their email address (if appropriate).

In the Reviewer Info section, students must provide contact information for their parent or guardian, who will be copied on all communication with Employers and mentors. This ensures parents are aware of all career related conversations on the site. Either a phone number or email address must be provided. If the student does not know their parent’s email address or phone number (or they do not have one), ask the student to enter their own email address in the field or register their parents for a Gmail address at gmail.com.

In the Interests Section, students should select the options they are interested in (see Glossary in Appendix for more information on the Interest options). When a student selects a section, they will have to complete additional questions and fields on their Profile. For this first Activity we suggest students select Learning About Myself and Occupations only.

In the Account Administration section, students can update their Username and Password.

Once these sections are complete, students should click Add Profile to begin building their Virtual Resume to be matched up with Opportunities.

Students can access the Settings page to update their information or interests by clicking on the link in the top right of any page on the site, next to Journal.


Once on the Profile page, the student will complete the first sections in this exercise: About Me, Interest Inventory, and Skills Inventory (if selected in the Interest Section).

About Me: This section contains personal and academic information, including: Vanity URL – Students can enter a domain/name that will become their

vanity URL and own webpage on the C2C site, allowing them to share it with others more easily.

School Name – Enter/select the school they currently attend. This information may also be pre-populated.

Hometown – Enter the place the student calls home. This could be where the student lives now or where they grew up, and will help Employers and Mentors know more about them.

Links – Students can provide links to other web pages that contain academic and professional information about them. They should be instructed to keep it professional!

GPA –Students are encouraged to enter their GPA if it’s over a 3.0. If not, they should leave this field blank, and no GPA will be displayed. This information may also be pre-populated.

Picture – Students can upload their own self picture or Selfie which will be used internally. Employers and Mentors will only see a district-wide logo for each student’s profile picture.

Interest Inventory: This section contains activities students must categorize as something they would like doing, dislike doing, or feel neutral about. This information will be used to recommend the best Occupations, Pathways, and Career Clusters for the student.1. There are up to 60 activities which relate to Holland’s six Occupational

themes: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (see Glossary for more information).

2. Students should not think about whether they have the skill or training to do the activity, or how much money it pays, simply whether they would enjoy it or not.

Skills Inventory: This section identifies the student’s strengths. While it’s self-reported, it will be used to match the student with the right Occupations and Opportunities.1. Students should choose the top 10 skills they can offer an Employer, focusing

on what they are good at. 2. These skills come from the Department of Labor’s O*Net database 3. Students should add any unlisted skills in the Additional Skills text box.

After completing these sections of the profile, the student can click Match Me at the bottom to see the Occupations that are being recommended for them on the Career Discovery tab. They will return later in the course to complete other sections of the profile as well as research Occupations, Pathways, Companies, Opportunities and Career Clusters.


Activity TwoResearch Occupations and Industries


Procedure

In this exercise, students will research Occupations, Pathways, and Career Clusters and Journal their reaction.

Have students login to their Campus2Careers account at their school’s unique URL (i.e. www.Lockhartjobs.org). Since the student has created their profile, they will be taken to their Dashboard when they login each time. The Dashboard organizes their applications, messages, and navigation through the site.

Once on the Dashboard they should click the Matches tab which will bring up Career Discovery. This page will list the Occupations, Pathways, and industries recommended for each student, based on the Skills and Interests they selected on their Profile.

Ask students to spend 30 minutes learning about their top Occupations, Pathways, and the Achieve Texas Career Clusters recommended for them by watching “Day in the Life” videos and reviewing the information provided. It’s important for them to note the skills, salaries, growth potential, and educational requirements of the Occupation. Ask the students to help refine the recommendations by selecting like or dislike on each Occupation or Pathway. This information will be provided to the District to manage career endorsements and course selection.

After they are done researching, ask students to spend 15 minutes writing down the top 3 Occupations the system is recommending, what is similar and different about each, and why they think they would be a good candidate. The students should do this in their Journal, which can be accessed at the top of the Matches page (or any other page) via a link next to the Settings page. Once the Journal is open, they can log their comments and organize their thoughts, which can be shared with the group and accessed by the teacher.

This exercise can easily be extended beyond one class period by asking students to research additional Occupations, Pathways, and Career Clusters and discuss why they are interested in each.


Activity ThreeBuild your Brand


Procedure

During this exercise students will begin preparing for their job search. They will take a workplace inventory, create their online/professional brand, and build the first draft of their Virtual Resume. This resume includes an e-portfolio which can be maintained an updated until the student graduates from college or enters the workforce.

Have students login to their Campus2Careers account at their school’s unique URL (i.e. www.Lockhartjobs.org). From the Dashboard, the student should select Settings in the top right and check the box Applying for Internship, Job and Volunteer Opportunities (in addition to the Learn More about Myself box). This will add new sections and questions to the Profile page and the Opportunities tab on the Matches page. From the Settings page, ask the student to click the Profile tab and complete the Workplace Inventory section.

Workplace Inventory: This section contains information that will help the system recommend the best volunteer, internship, and job Opportunities in the community for each student based on their skills, interests, and personality fit to the culture of the organization/workplace. Filters – Criteria that will qualify the Opportunities for each student. Here

they can select desired location, job type, start date, and even Career Clusters to help narrow their search. For purposes of this course, they should select Full-Time job and enter their zip code and choose 100 miles.

Preferences – The selection will be used match the student with the right Opportunity.1. Students should answer these 10 questions as a short assessment about

themselves and their desired work preferences/environment. 2. These questions were written by the author of Step III of the MBTI and

tie into profile types. There are no wrong answers and they can be updated anytime.

3. It may be difficult for students to answer these questions because multiple choices may describe them, or they have no context. As part of the exercise, you can share examples from your work experiences to help them understand each option.

Note: Answers are private and cannot be seen by companies.


After completing the Workplace section, the student should begin filling out the Stand-Out Section. Here students can build their brand with their own personal tagline and bio or description. Suggest that students Journal their ideas for each field. They will share them with the class or each other before they get saved in the Profile. Its important students keep these messages professional. Ask the students to attach any class projects, digital artwork, appropriate pictures, reports, or even press they have received to their profile as part of their e-portfolio.

Next, ask students to divide up into teams of two and use their smart phones to take a 2-3 minute video of themselves. You should give each team 20-30 minutes for practice and re-dos. (Note once the video is ready, they need to email it to themselves, download and save it, and then upload it to their profile). The videos need to be under 10MB.

In this video they should answer the following questions:1. Who they are: name, school, hobbies, and goals2. Strengths: Why should a company hire them? What makes them unique?3. Interests: what type of career or company they would be most interested in

Note: remind your students to keep the video professional as it will be shared with Employers, colleges, and their parents when it’s complete.

Students can spend the rest of the hour creating their Virtual Resume or updating and attaching their traditional resume (in the About Me section). They can also find sample resumes on the Resources tab in the top right, next to the Journal link. In the Online Resume section, students can create their first resume including experiences, hobbies, awards, and more. All experiences have learning outcomes that can be a bullet on a resume. Work with the student to identify and capture these experiences on their Profile and complete their Virtual Resume or e-portfolio. The Profile can also become a personalized webpage. Just enter a name into the Vanity URL field at the top of the Profile and then click and copy that as a link to share your website with others.

This exercise can easily be extended beyond two class periods by asking students to continue refining and improving their virtual resume and adding more class projects.


Activity FourKnow your Strengths


Procedure

In this exercise, students will work to identify their strengths and understand the difference between “soft” vs. “hard” skills.

Have students login to their Campus2Careers account at their school’s unique URL (i.e. www.Lockhartjobs.org) and open and review the Skills Inventory section of their Profile. Share with them that the analytical and technical categories are typically considered hard skills, while the organizational and communication categories include soft skills. The creative category, meanwhile, contains both hard and soft skills. One skill is not better than another, and every person has a combination of hard and soft skills. It’s the propensity for each skill that makes you more or less suited for a specific job.

Begin with a definition: Soft skills are harder to train and refer to the cluster of personality traits that make someone a good listener, communicator, organizer, and motivator; people with strong soft skills work well with others in teams, and as managers or leaders. Hard skills are easier to train and refer to the technical or analytical attributes that make someone a good operator, administrator, technician, or programmer; people with strong hard skills work well on tasks and activities.

Next ask students to share or write in their Journal one skill they possess (selected in their Profile) and explain why it is hard or soft. Then ask the students to write down or share some specific jobs that would require this skill and why. Finally, suggest that students write down the skills they originally selected in their Profile and then change them up for fun. If students select all analytical or technical skills, they will get matched with very different jobs than if they choose organizational or communication skills. As a reminder, you can select up to 10 skills in the Skills Inventory section.

This exercise can easily be extended beyond one class period by asking students to change their skills and see how it impacts the recommended Occupations and Opportunities for them. If they see jobs they like after changing their skills, they should determine how to develop the skills required to qualify for these positions.


Activity FiveCulture Matters


Procedure

In this exercise, students will learn more about how their workplace personality relates to the culture of a company.

Have students login to their Campus2Careers account at their school’s unique URL (i.e. www.Lockhartjobs.org) and from the Dashboard select Settings in the top right. Ask the student to check the box Building a Career Plan (in addition to the Learn More about Myself and Applying for Internship, Job and Volunteer Opportunities). This will add the Career Plans tab to their Matches page.

Have students click Profile and expand the Workplace Inventory section. Use Dress Code (question 3) as an example of how to begin researching or understanding a company’s culture. For example, Banks are more likely to require Business Attire (i.e. suite and tie or dress) and be Stable. Compare this to a tech startup where employees can dress Casual and the difference to the company culture or workplace.

Next ask students to share or write in their Journal five characteristics they would like to have in their workplace. This could include a Ping-Pong table, stocked fridge, personal offices, open workspaces, a great view, and more. Once students have identified these characteristics, have them click on the Career Plans tab of the Matches page which includes top Employers and positions the student does not yet qualify for. Ask them to click Clear Filters and search for the below company names. Then ask the students to choose their favorite 5 Employers from below and watch the videos in the Links section of each Company Profile:

1. Aetna – Healthcare2. Boeing – Engineering 3. Bank of America – Financial Services4. EA Games - Gaming5. ExxonMobile – Oil and Gas6. Google – High-tech 7. New York Life – Financial Services8. Pepsi – Food and Beverage9. SureScore – Education (publisher of campus2careers, we just wanted to say hi)10. Walmart – Retail


In less than 30 minutes (each video is 3-5 minutes) students will get a sense for how different each workplace and company is and how this ties to their preferences and interests. Finally, ask students to select their 3 favorite Employers and indicate in their Journal what about the workplace or company culture they like most. Suggest they use words from the Workplace Preferences questions on their Profile.

This exercise can easily be extended beyond one class period by asking students to watch additional company videos or research more about each company’s culture or to continue this research on the Opportunities tab with real, local Employers.


Activity SixApply Yourself


Procedure

In this exercise, students will begin reviewing and applying for real Opportunities in the system. If they are not looking for a job, they can follow the same instructions to research the Opportunities and Employers, draft a cover letter, and just not click Apply.

Have students login to their Campus2Careers account at their school’s unique URL (i.e. www.Lockhartjobs.org) and click Job Matches on the Dashboard. In this exercise, students will use all the learnings from prior Activities to actually apply for a real Internship, Mentorship, or job on their Matches page.

Once on the Matches page, ask students to spend 30 minutes researching the positions being recommended for them on the Opportunities tab. Note these are all local Opportunities specifically for your students (if they have entered their zip code properly). They can easily change the location, job type, and other parameters in the filters section (Note to change a filter permanently they need to make the update on their Profile page).

Once they find an Opportunity they are interested, they should click on the posting and then click Apply, which will bring up a dialogue box where the student can submit a cover letter. They can either write a new cover letter or copy/paste an update to the one from their Journal. Work with your students to customize their cover letter for each position.

This exercise can easily be extended beyond one class period by asking students to research and apply for as many positions as they are interested. Students can also begin contacting Employers about positions they don’t yet qualify for in the Career Plans section of the site.


Activity SevenGet Badged


Procedure

Before the final Activity, log in to your Administrator or Teacher account and issue the students in your class a “merit badge”. Badges are a visual recognition on the student’s profile of an accomplishment. For example, when students complete their profile by adding a resume in Activity Two, they will receive a Profile Completion badge. Some Badges actually have cash or other rewards attached to them. The goal of this exercise is for you (the teacher) to reward students who participated in the Campus2Careers activities during the semester.

To issue a badge, just login to your Administrator account on your school’s unique URL (i.e. www.Lockhartjobs.org) under Already a Member section (Note: if you have not received an Administrator account/login contact [email protected]). When on the Dashboard, click the Students tab and get a list of all students in your class and their profiles. Find the student you want to issue a badge too, click on their Profile link, and then on the Recommend link on the top right of their Profile page. On the Recommend page you can select the appropriate badge(s) and even add a recommendation to their profile. SureScore is adding a rewards program, so the student with the most Badges will be able to earn prizes and other perks as well as showcasing their skills to future Employers.

In the final Activity, ask students who received a badge to share what they learned about themselves and the best career Pathways for them in the process. Suggest that the students share their profile and Badges with parents and friends via the vanity URL. Note: if a badge has a redeemable reward, the student will receive an email with the redemption instructions and a reward badge will be added to their profile.



ExperiencesClass Projects, Speakers, Internships, Jobs and More

Procedure

Campus2Careers is more than just a career research and assessment tool, the goal is to offer real experiences to your students. This can be through speakers, internships, jobs, class projects, and other opportunities SureScore brings to your campus. Since these opportunities will be added to the site throughout the school year, we can’t incorporate them into a specific lesson plan. However, you will receive an email every time there is a new opportunity posted for your students, which your students can view and apply for on the Opportunities tab of the Matches page. Below are specific suggestions for classroom activities for various opportunities.

Internships, Part and Full-time Jobs, Volunteer and Mentoring Opportunities:When a position you think your students would be interested in applying for gets posted in your community, have them log into their accounts to view it. Not all student will be a good match for the position, so you can ask them to research what aspects of the opportunity or organization make them a strong or weak match. You can suggest that those students who are a good match (green fit and/or skills score) and are interested in the opportunity, apply using the cover letter and resume they put together in prior lessons. If your students have not already completed the Apply Yourself activity, you can move this activity up in the lesson plan.

During the semester some of your students will receive interviews for these opportunities. It is suggested you work with them individually to prepare for an interview so it’s specific to the opportunity and employer. However, it’s a worthwhile additional activity to run through specific best practices on how to interview for a job, research a company, and follow-up afterwards. Some good resources can be found below. While many of the articles are written for college students and recent grads, the content applies for high school candidates and opportunities as well.

Job search: http://www.careerealism.com/category/job-search/Interview prep and follow-up: http://www.careerealism.com/category/interview/Networking advice: http://www.careerealism.com/category/networking/

With your help, students will land some of these positions, giving you an opportunity to capture their stories and success. You should specifically ask students how they did, if they interviewed for specific opportunities on the site (or beyond). If they get hired, you can badge them, which will let the system and administrators know about the placement. You can also suggest they share their experience in the interviewing and hiring process and why they think they were selected over other candidates. Students will learn more about themselves and what employers are looking for in general vs. specific industries in the process. While interviews for a part-time job or volunteer opportunity will be different than a long-term career, most employers are looking for similar attributes.


http://www.careerealism.com/category/networking/

http://www.careerealism.com/category/interview/

http://www.careerealism.com/category/job-search/

Speakers and Class Project Opportunities:As the SureScore team finds speakers and class projects they will contact you through the system. Each speaker will be scheduled for a 30 minute presentation with 15 minutes for Q&A. Prior to a speaker session, we suggest you ask students to research the company and/or speaker to learn more about their industry, opportunities, and culture. Ask students to prepare and journal their questions. You can select the top questions from the class and have those students ask them after the presentation, during the Q&A. Upon request, SureScore can send over your student’s virtual resumes to participating companies so they know more about the attendees beforehand.

All class projects will be loaded on the Opportunities section of the site with specific instructions for how your class can be divided up into teams to work on a specific company problem. You can then choose to have your class participate in the project or not. If you want your students to participate, you will be connected directly with the employer who can explain the challenge to the students in person or via a webinar. These projects will take up multiple class periods and will often involve prizes and other rewards from the employer. Some examples could include: Quality Assurance testing for a new website or mobile application, developing marketing material for a grand opening, conducting market or consumer research, designing a new company logo or website, and more. Our goal is find local employers who want to work with you and your students on these projects.


Next StepsAdditional Resources

Procedure

Let students know that even though class is over, the learning and Opportunities will continue. In fact, these students will be able to keep their Campus2Careers account through college and beyond at no additional fee, and they won’t have to do anything to maintain it. As they begin a career search, the students should log back into their account, update the Interest Selections on the Settings page and their Profile and look at the latest list of Opportunities being recommended.


Glossary:

Badges – visual recognition on the student’s profile of an accomplishment. Some Badges have a reward attached to them which can be redeemed for cash or other prizes.

Career Clusters – a grouping of Pathways and Occupations in the same field of work that require similar skills. Students, parents, and educators can use Career Clusters to help focus education plans towards obtaining the necessary knowledge, competencies, and training for success in a particular career. There are 16 Career Clusters.

Career Planning – learn about Opportunities that match your long-term goals and what degrees, classes, grades, scores, and even extracurricular activities you need to accomplish them.

Employer – an Employer is a company or nonprofit that is recruiting students on the site for internships, part-time, or full-time work, projects, and more.

Holland Codes (Six Occupational Themes) - a theory of careers and vocational choice based upon personality types developed by the psychologist John L. Holland. Each letter or code stands for a particular "type": Realistic (Doers), Investigative (Thinkers), Artistic (Creators), Social (Helpers), Enterprising (Persuaders), and Conventional (Organizers).

Internships – an opportunity to learn and earn in the student’s field of interest. An internship is different than a part-time job as it is a learning opportunity for the student.

Journal – an online notepad where students track their thoughts and feedback from their experience on the site. Information collected in the student’s Journal can be accessed by the teacher. This feature can be found via a link in the top right of any page.

Mentoring – get matched with individuals in the community who want to give back, get involved in your education and development, and be your Mentor.

Occupations – a job or a collection of tasks/activities that you are paid to complete. There are hundreds of Occupations within the 16 Career Clusters.

Opportunities – get matched with resume building Opportunities you qualify for today. This includes paid and unpaid internships, part-time and full-time jobs, volunteer Opportunities and more.

Pathways - a cluster of Occupations or careers grouped together because the people in them share similar interests, strengths, and skills. There are over 70 career Pathways within the 16 Career Clusters.


Virtual Resume – an online and visual list of your activities, accomplishments, experiences and more. A Virtual Resume can include videos, an e-portfolio of projects and other work, and links to additional resources and information about you.


Campus2Careers Lesson Plans and Teacher Guide_Final

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