The life skills network has designed and offered a suite of four courses to the Waterloo job shop in 2015, which was a UK Department of Work and Pensions subcontractor. It was on their feedback that the courses have been modified, and uploaded to the cloud.
So far, these courses have been useful for three distinct user groups :
- for parents to have conversations with children about what they do next
- for school and college CEIAG teachers to use as a basis for advice sessions
- for a small group of students to work through and feel more confident, independently
1) Basic internet Savvy – what is the company’s nightmare as it assigns a log-in to the new recruit in the office? What are the mistakes that they are hoping their new recruit will not make?
This is a set of lessons on what not to do on the internet – It also makes sure that there is some awareness of the terminology which is used around the world of the internet, with basic explanations of what the internet landscape looks like.
This is an Awareness level course: its purpose is to make sure that some of the most common mistakes encountered by companies when young people start work (in small companies or larger organisations) are avoided by pupils coming out of your school. This is not for putting straight to students; it has no questions or quizzes to test knowledge.
Course costs £15 each, for a school to download one of these. The class (if it has computer and projection facilities) can see it on screen, and have the teacher selecting the pages which have NOT been covered before.
2.)‘Get your CV in front of a human’ is designed to get it in front of the decision maker, and not be rejected by a bank of algorithms. Think of your CV going on a journey – where does it end up and why?
What happens to the typical CV, once it leaves your desk? I found that young people who were looking for jobs with larger organisations didn’t know the actual selection process, which got the CV in front of the hiring manager.
This unit is not so much about ‘what to put in your CV’ which I think is covered by most good schools already, but more about ‘what happens to it inside an organisation, and so what can I do, to help it stand out, amongst many. There is also guidance on what to take notes on, while the student is on an internship – this extracts the greatest benefit from a volunteering internship, for young people taking that first step into any workplace.
If your school which is already in a good position with connections and placements into local companies, you will be able to usefully extract information to impart to students as they start to apply for internships. This one is again designed without any questions or quizzes embedded in the teaching pages. There is a separate section with a few questions (£15)
3) Every Workplace : Think of your young person at their new workplace: what can they expect? Is it okay to ask questions as they work? What might the rest of the company look like? Where should they go, to find out?
Our course, Every Workplace, is a general guide for giving that talk by teachers, based on hands-on experience of the course maker.
How can Teachers use it?
Here are some of the course topics.
( £10)
4) How the world works – Most young people don’t have a context in which to think of themselves earning a living. This is a course on how different companies make money, so they can start to visualise into what kind of establishment they might comfortably fit.
There are three traditional business models, and three internet business models, with one model which is in transition. Shown in the illustration is one of the internet business models – platforms.
I have included a combination of businesses – some of them will be familiar, (supermarkets, chemists) and some of them won’t – including businesses which sell goods and services to other businesses.
£25
How can I access these courses?
These courses are housed on a secure platform hosted through the course making software company I use.
If you are a school – Just ask – I will talk you through how to upload these courses on the school computer you think will best serve most of your pupils. You can access each course directly by logging in from your computer. The pages will display via your computer to the screen in class.
If you’re a parent or a student – let me know what interests you by email,
What happens next
I will send you an invoice, and after payment is received, I will let you have a log-in permission, and a password for each course you paid for.
You log in and any questions please email me – I would be happy to explain anything else which might occur to you.
For ease of reference, all four courses would cost you £65. If you do buy all four, I will happily accept £55.
Contact me by email for any other enquiries: sreela@lifeskillsnetwork.org.uk
And while you are here, you might like to download a free audio and powerpoint on Being Mindful for a minute – which promotes self regulation and self awareness for teachers and students alike. Go to our resources page to do that.