What are job seeking skills?

Job searching skills are some of the most significant ideas that can be taught to high school students. These abilities are useful for students at any point in their high school careers, whether they are freshmen looking for their first part-time job or seniors getting ready to enter the workforce.

Students who possess this in-demand combination of talents are self-assured about their value and are prepared to search for, apply to, and succeed in landing the job they need. Students who do not have access to it, on the other hand, may find themselves scrambling and unprepared to tackle the current job market. This may result in a wide variety of stressful emotions as well as financial concerns as the students attempt to play catch-up.

Nobody wants to go through that, which is why it is essential for you to establish these values and abilities in your kids from a young age. This will allow them to get some experience before moving more completely into adulthood, which is something nobody wants to do.

In this post, you will learn the ten abilities that every high school student has to master in order to be successful in their job search:

Finding career opportunities

Investigating available career opportunities

Putting together a résumé

The process of writing a cover letter

Putting in a job application

Choosing to participate in an interview

Having success at an interview

Earning a living as a child

Working as an adult

quitting one's job

When you've finished reading this article, not only will you have a better understanding of the current job hunt, but you'll also be more equipped to help your students develop these abilities.

1. Finding Job Openings

Before they can really have a career of their own, your pupils need to acquire the skills necessary to get employment.

In days gone by, the only way to discover work that suited your skills was to either have a personal connection to someone who was hiring or to scour the classified sections of newspapers. Students in today's society have the good fortune to be able to uncover work options with only a fast Google search.

Teaching pupils how to utilize search engines like Google and Indeed may provide them a significant advantage over other individuals who are looking for work, both in the present and in the years to come. After all, the internet isn't going away, and it's quite possible that these tools will become even more essential to the job hunt as more time passes.

The following are some of the most popular job-related search engines that students should be familiar with:

Google

InQuick

Indeed

LinkedIn

Monster

Glassdoor

ZipRecruiter

Simple Employment

Snagajob

You might also talk about how students can benefit from making professional contacts by participating in networking events. This may be applicable to face-to-face contacts, professional groups, online networking (such as LinkedIn), and other forms of networking as well.

Students, when it comes to looking for work, have access to hundreds of different options; all they need to do is be aware of what those resources are.

The following stage, after discovering the search engines or techniques that they like, is to do one's own investigation into available job positions.

2. Investigating Available Job Opportunities

Now that they know how to search employment, your students need to learn how to find jobs that match their interests and qualifications. However, doing research on various job postings requires time, patience, and a certain level of web dexterity. The question now is: where should we begin?

In such case, one method to get started would be to educate pupils about the various job titles and the obligations that go along with them. After example, the use of specialist words and jargon may provide significant barriers to comprehension when reading a job description. Students have a clear direction and are able to concentrate their efforts when they are aware of the sort of job title for which they are seeking.

Keeping this in mind, you may guarantee that students understand what an opportunity genuinely includes by providing definitions for a few of the popular phrases used in job titles in today's society.

Manager

A manager is someone who makes choices for a group of individuals with comparable skill sets, such as salesmen, web designers, financiers, and a wide variety of other professions.

It all depends on the size of the company: a manager may or may not be expected to carry out any of the responsibilities that are connected to the employees they supervise. It is sometimes their responsibility to instead concentrate on bringing out the best in the members of their team or department.

In most cases, the tasks of a manager include a combination of understanding ideas provided by firm leaders, determining how those ideas can be made to function, and developing related objectives for the team that the manager is responsible for.

Assistant

An assistant is often someone who is responsible for carrying out the non-specialized responsibilities associated with a certain profession.

An architect who is the only licensed person at her business may, for instance, need the assistance of an assistant in order to manage the scheduling of meetings, the screening of phone calls, or the performance of a range of other activities for the office.

In contrast to how they are presented in movies and television shows, assistants really have important tasks that constitute the foundation of a business. They are responsible for the day-to-day activities that ensure the smooth operation of the business, such as getting coffee on the way to the office or placing an order for lunch before to a significant client meeting.

Intern

A student or trainee who works for free inside a business in order to obtain experience in their desired line of employment and advance in their education is known as an intern.

Internships may either be paid or unpaid; however, when it comes to highly skilled employment, paid internships are becoming more popular. Internships can be found in a variety of fields.

An internship may be a good learning experience since students have the opportunity to develop networking contacts, question folks about their professions, and learn more about what they want from a career path. Internships are a lot like apprenticeships in the sense that they urge students to get their hands dirty while also providing them with the opportunity to learn something new via hands-on experience.

In point of fact, learners who participate in internships and apprenticeships are part of the expanding population of American students who are interested in experiential forms of education.

Interns often end up working under the supervision of many individuals within an organization. This is done with the intention of "showing their value" in the hopes of being offered a paid position within the organization after their internship has been completed.

Analyst

Analysts are those who have a great deal of knowledge about a certain subject, collect data related to that subject, and then make predictions based on that data.

For instance, a financial analyst at a firm would examine the ratio of the entire amount of costs paid by the company over the course of a year to the whole amount of gross revenue received by the company.

If the final figure of that comparison comes out to be positive, then the analyst will be able to state that the firm is making progress in the desired direction in their report.

If the final figure turns out to be negative, the analyst will need to consider making some adjustments for the next year.

Analysts often have years of expertise in a certain profession, to the point where they most likely have a reputation for the job that they do in that industry. They could even be regarded as experts in their community.

In bigger businesses, it is common practice for analysts to report to managers. In more compact and locally focused companies, they could report directly to a higher-up executive.

Remote

Employees who work remotely are individuals that carry out their responsibilities for the business from a place that is not the same as the firm's main office.

This might imply that people are employed by a firm that is located one or two towns distant from where they live. On other occasions, it may indicate that a person in New York is employed by a corporation located in California. In any case, employees for these kinds of employment need to be able to access to the Internet and have a reasonable level of familiarity with contemporary technology.

Having said that, students may find that working from home in a remote role is an ideal opportunity to get their foot in the door with a firm or to obtain experience working in general. In addition, it is conceivable that the trend toward working remotely will continue for the foreseeable future.

It's possible that a company's remote workers are independent contractors rather than employees, yet they might also be regarded employees. It is essential for a remote employee to understand the variations between those many sorts of work in order to successfully carry out their responsibilities.

These are only five of the words that are common in today's job postings and descriptions. However, a student will need to have a resume in their possession in order to be considered for one of these positions.

That indicates that they need to compose one first!

3. Putting Together a Resume

It is difficult to emphasize the significance of a well-written résumé. To put it another way, this should be a standard component in every curriculum that even remotely addresses the topic of job exploration.

A CV is a presentation of everything your students have done, including relevant academics, extracurricular activities, volunteer roles they've had, and more. Your students should highlight all of their accomplishments on their resumes. Despite the fact that these may not really have anything to do with a job that they desire, they are exceptional signals of work ethic, drive, and attitude, which are three attributes that are in high demand in today's workforce.

Some students choose to add include a goal statement, which is just a concise line describing the outcomes they are hoping to achieve with their resume. It is up to you, as the teacher, to decide whether or not you will promote this in the classroom. Some owners of businesses have indicated that they like objective remarks, while others have stated that they do not lay any significance on such comments.

Regardless, students may build their first resumes by using this outline as a broad template:

Initials at the very top

Below it, there is an address, a phone number, and an email address.

A declaration of the purpose

Recent employment history together with its respective title and employing company

Work experience that is the least recent with the title and the employing company

Extracurricular organizations

Various Honors and Awards

Students may not need a resume for their very first employment experience. It's possible the only thing required of them is to fill out an application. But even if that's the case, everyone need to be familiar with how to construct a strong résumé. You are assisting your pupils in taking a significant step ahead in their professional growth by teaching them this, so thank you for that.

If a student is going to take the time to learn how to write a resume, they may as well take the time to learn how to write another essential component of the job search: the cover letter.

4. The Process of Writing a Cover Letter

When applying for nearly any employment, you are expected to provide a cover letter as part of the application process. If an applicant doesn't include a cover letter with their job application, many employers won't even look at their resume or consider them for the position. Therefore, what exactly is a cover letter? What are the steps involved in writing one?

A cover letter is a one-page summary of who the student is, the job they are applying for, and the reasons why they believe they are qualified for the post. Students have the opportunity to emphasize their particular talents and explain how those abilities might be advantageous to the job, discuss a few of their previous work experiences, and offer broad context for their application via the use of these letters.

The following are some of the best practices that may be followed while creating cover letters:

You should include the name of the hiring manager and the address of the firm in the top left corner of the cover letter. This demonstrates that you have done your homework and are aware of the people who will be interviewing you for the position.

You should tailor your cover letter specifically to the job and firm for which you are applying. Do not submit the same cover letter that you use for every application. It is important to keep in mind that this does not imply that you have to compose a brand-new cover letter for every job that you apply for. There are instances when it is simpler to draft a single cover letter and then modify the wording inside it so that it is appealing to each unique firm that you apply to within an industry.

Maintain brevity in the covering letter. A hiring manager either does not have the time or the willingness to read a cover letter that is 10 pages long. Write just one page that contains what you need to say and stop there. You will be compelled to be productive as a result of this, and you will have to strike a healthy balance by limiting your qualifications for a job to just the most relevant factors.

It is essential to bear in mind that, similar to an objective statement, a cover letter is not required by all employers, and even fewer employers will really read cover letters. Students may find it difficult to understand the purpose of cover letters since they need them to do things that appear illogical, such as describing just some of the important achievements and experiences, rather than all of them. After all, the majority of students would prefer not to downplay the significance of their accomplishments.

The reality is, however, that being able to create an outstanding cover letter might be the deciding factor in whether or not you are offered the job. It is a skill, the same as any other, and when students display mastery of it, they demonstrate a capacity for communication and critical thinking that will assist them once they enter the industry.

They are now able to submit an application for the job that interests them after they have finished writing a cover letter.

5. Putting in a Job Application

When it comes to sending in your application for a job, the procedure is often the same from one employer to the next. The application process is often straightforward, despite the fact that certain businesses could have specific requirements or guidelines that students need to adhere to.

The following steps are often included while applying for jobs:

Write your resume

Write your cover letter

Please complete the application form (if needed)

Please send in your application (either digitally, in person, or via mail)

Attend a response.

Everything here is rather basic, with the only exception of the part where you have to wait for a response. After all, students need to already own both a résumé and a cover letter, ideally with each document being targeted to the specific position for which they are seeking.

It's possible that the application form itself will have a few different variations. The majority of jobs need the candidate to provide their name, contact information, address, experience, and other fundamental information about themselves so that the employer can get a feel of who they are on a more broad level. Higher level employment, on the other hand, may require the candidate to do some form of project to demonstrate their ability, or the interviewer may ask more specific or pointed questions to discover whether or not the applicant would be a good match for the culture of the organization.

The patient game of waiting begins after the application has been finished and sent to the appropriate location.

It might be challenging to wait for a response from the organization. After all, it might seem like an eternity to wait for someone to respond to the application you sent. It is particularly unpleasant since some hiring managers opt not to react at all to applications that, in their opinion, do not meet the requirements. In other words, students may submit an application for a job they are interested in, but they may never get a response.

The ideal activity for students to engage in during this time is to continue to submit applications for other employment. This eliminates the possibility that they will waste time doing nothing but waiting around for a response that will never arrive. Tell them to make the most of that time by expanding their range of possible outcomes. If they submit a sufficient number of applications, they will inevitably get answers. In most cases, a representative of the firm will take the time and show the courtesy to respond to your inquiry regarding the next step in the process.

In the event that the question is answered with a negative, the student will be forced to brush aside the setback and make another attempt elsewhere. At this stage, it's quite easy to feel defeated and give up. In certain highly competitive fields, it is not uncommon for businesses to wait many weeks or even months before providing any kind of response, and even then, it may just be a notification of rejection. This is also true for jobs that requires no special training. Because anybody may submit an application, it is possible that a spot will be filled before a student ever has the chance to send in theirs.

Once a student has received a good response from a potential employer, it is time for the next significant step, which is the interview.

6. The Interview Request and Its Acceptance Along with Preparation

It may seem like a little step in the process of landing a job, but agreeing to go on an interview is really a critical step in the road.

The demeanor and degree of professionalism of a student are immediately communicated via an acceptance message, regardless of whether it is written, typed, or spoken. It's important to make a good first impression by using formal language, responding with organized questions, and being courteous.

In addition to this, a student makes a positive impression when they reply quickly to an interview offer. Additionally, it gives students the ability to firmly establish a day and time for the real interview. Some human resources professionals even rank a candidate's responsiveness on par with their capacity to be on time for work.

After the student has confirmed that they will attend the interview, they should start getting ready for it. The significance of this cannot be overstated in any way. In today's world, going into a job interview without having spent at least a couple of hours preparing for it is unethical and should be avoided at all costs. They have access to a variety of effective preparation methods, including the following:

Conduct research on the firm so that you may have an understanding of its history, culture, and role. What exactly does the firm specialize in? Where did they get their start? If you decide to become one of them, what function do you see yourself doing in your new position? You are demonstrating that you care about earning the job, and that you are willing to work hard to succeed in your new career, by doing this.

Think of some questions that you would want to ask during the interview. During the interview process, it is helpful for you to have insightful points or questions that you can bring up. Hiring managers like this. It demonstrates that you are well-suited for the position, that you have given it some consideration, and that you can see yourself contributing to the team. It is recommended that you bring at least three to four questions with you to the interview as a starting point.

Bring some notes with you, or just try to recall the most important aspects of your pitch. It is simple to retain a page of notes off-screen that describes your skills, limitations, and the reasons why you would be a good match for the career you are applying for. This is because many interviews are now being conducted remotely. You may refer to this in order to assist you in maintaining some kind of organization during the interview. If you keep your notes concise and don't depend too much on them, you might even use this strategy for an in-person interview!

All of these factors are important contributors to one of the most important aspects of job hunting skills: doing well in the interview itself.

7. Achieving Success in an Interview Acquiring a job interview may appear like a relatively little step in the process of acquiring a job, but in reality, it is a very important one.

The demeanor and degree of professionalism of a student are immediately communicated via an acceptance message, regardless of whether it is written, typed, or spoken. It's important to make a good first impression by using formal language, responding with organized questions, and being courteous.

In addition to this, a student makes a positive impression when they reply quickly to an interview offer. Additionally, it gives students the ability to firmly establish a day and time for the real interview. Some human resources professionals even rank a candidate's responsiveness on par with their capacity to be on time for work.

After the student has confirmed that they will attend the interview, they should start getting ready for it. The significance of this cannot be overstated in any way. In today's world, going into a job interview without having spent at least a couple of hours preparing for it is unethical and should be avoided at all costs. They have access to a variety of effective preparation methods, including the following:

Conduct research on the firm so that you may have an understanding of its history, culture, and role. What exactly does the firm specialize in? Where did they get their start? If you decide to become one of them, what function do you see yourself doing in your new position? You are demonstrating that you care about earning the job, and that you are willing to work hard to succeed in your new career, by doing this.

Think of some questions that you would want to ask during the interview. During the interview process, it is helpful for you to have insightful points or questions that you can bring up. Hiring managers like this. It demonstrates that you are well-suited for the position, that you have given it some consideration, and that you can see yourself contributing to the team. It is recommended that you bring at least three to four questions with you to the interview as a starting point.

Bring some notes with you, or just try to recall the most important aspects of your pitch. It is simple to retain a page of notes off-screen that describes your skills, limitations, and the reasons why you would be a good match for the career you are applying for. This is because many interviews are now being conducted remotely. You may refer to this in order to assist you in maintaining some kind of organization during the interview. If you keep your notes concise and don't depend too much on them, you might even use this strategy for an in-person interview!

All of these factors are important contributors to one of the most important aspects of job hunting skills: doing well in the interview itself.

7. How to Be Successful During an Interview

It is possible for a student to find success in an interview to be a challenging endeavor, or it may be the portion of the job search process that is the simplest.

Interviews may be interesting, simple, and pleasurable for students who are friendlier, more open, and more gregarious. Social skills surely have a significant role in determining how well children perform in school.

On the other side, those who struggle with social anxiety or who are more introverted may find the interview process to be a living nightmare. It's possible that they're frightened of walking into a room full of new people and are avoiding answering questions honestly because they're attempting to figure out what others want to hear from them.

No matter where on that spectrum a student may find herself, however, they will require certain fundamental communication and presentation abilities in order to excel during an interview, such as the following:

Dressing well

Keeping to the appointed time

Shaking hands

When properly expressed

Smiling and being nice

In spite of the fact that they may seem elementary or self-explanatory, you would be shocked to learn how many people fail to demonstrate at least one of these abilities during interviews. Whether they are late, come up in incorrect dress, give the image of being cold or indifferent, or all of the above, the fact that they disregard these abilities indicates that they are not the greatest candidate for the task.

Your pupils should at least have the ability to use these abilities as a very minimum requirement. They demonstrate attitude, enthusiasm, pride, dignity, and compassion, all of which are desirable attributes for an employee in any area, by doing so, which is why it is important for them to do so.

But even if a student's interview does not go well, it is not the end of the world if it does not go well.

Even the most qualified candidates may, on occasion, commit errors that will cause them to be disqualified from job openings. After all, it is a high-pressure environment, and high-pressure situations may cause a wide variety of anxious hiccups.

It is crucial to highlight to your students that job interviews are learning experiences, and that there is knowledge to be acquired from each one, regardless of whether or not they are successful. It does not matter whether they are successful or unsuccessful.

Students who persevere through challenging job interviews have the chance to gain valuable insight into several aspects of life. They are aware of the things that they performed badly in the interview, and they may even be aware of whether or not working in the same industry in the future is a good or terrible decision for them. They did not "fail" the interview; rather, they gained knowledge from the experience that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives and carry with them wherever they go.

Even if you aren't all that interested in the position itself, it is good practice for those who are looking for new jobs to always sit down for an interview for a new post. This is considered common sense. You will improve your chances of having a good interview and further sharpen your social skills if you take this step. Furthermore, you never know if you won't wind up falling in love with the job once you find out more about it.

Students who put in enough effort to acquire the necessary knowledge and experience will eventually develop the expertise necessary to become experts capable of acing the interviews that actually matter to them and landing their ideal career.

The next stage in the process of earning a job is for the individual to begin working.

A student has the option of beginning their working career either as a minor or as an adult. Both of these topics will be discussed!

8. Working While Being a Minor

The majority of your pupils will be minors when they get their first jobs, unless you teach a class of graduating seniors from an accredited high school.

This has a large variety of repercussions, but the ones you need to bear in mind the most are the potential violations of labor laws that might be committed by your pupils. These restrictions are intended to keep minors safe, pay them fairly, and treat them properly while they are away from their parents. However, they may also provide a few more hoops that students will need to jump through in order to guarantee that they may legally work.

Finding out the specific requirements for working as a minor in your state is the first thing you should do if you want to educate your pupils about this topic.

Because the regulations governing the employment of minors might vary from state to state, it is essential that you have a good grasp of the procedure that your pupils will need to go through before they can begin working.

For instance, it is typical for governments to demand that children possess special papers — which are sometimes referred to as "working papers" — and even the signatures of physicians on paperwork that claim they are fit for employment. These work permits are often obtainable via the student's school district; however, the process may differ from state to state, and you should do your own study in order to provide the most effective guidance possible to your pupils on the legal requirements of your state.

The ability of a minor to begin working may also be contingent on factors such as the existence of bank accounts, medical documents, legal documentation, and occasionally parental agreement. In this regard, minors have a lot of groundwork to cover before their first day on the job in order to actually be able to work, and it is your responsibility to educate them on the appropriate procedures to follow.

However, even if your pupils have difficulty acquiring this documents, they may take comfort in the fact that it will only be for a few years at the very most at the most. When they reach adulthood, the procedure becomes much simpler, which brings you to your next topic of instruction, which is to provide pupils with background information about adult employment.

9. Having a Job as an Adult

The procedure of working is often made easier for adults and is subject to fewer laws as compared to the process for children. However, in order to get started, you will still need certain pieces of legal papers as well as a bank account that is open to you.

In most cases, prospective employees are required to provide documentation that may demonstrate two things: first, that they are who they claim to be, and second, that they are permitted to work inside the United States. Your pupils shouldn't have any problems as long as they hand in the required paperwork within a few days of beginning their jobs, at the very most.

The following are some examples of these types of documents:

A passport issued by the United States

A permanent resident card or alien registration receipt card

The United States Social Security card

A driver's license or citizen ID card

A tribal document of Native American origin

An official record of one's birth.

It is important to note that in order for your pupils to begin working, they need not need all of these papers; in most cases, they only require one or two of them. They do nothing more than assist companies in confirming the identity of applicants for jobs.

On the other hand, depending on the organization as well as the credentials that are necessary for the position, additional evidence, documentation, or testimonials could be requested:

Many businesses may ask for references from your pupils, which are individuals who the student is familiar with and who can vouch for their credentials and talents. It's possible that these people are your contemporaries, past superiors, or even lecturers and professors.

Students who are applying for jobs that require a high school diploma or a college degree may be asked to provide a copy of their academic transcripts or even the degree itself.

In order to begin working in some government occupations, applicants must first get a security clearance that has been validated.

Your pupils may have to jump through some hoops to get all of their documentation in place, but this will depend on the firm they are working for. But as long as they get it ready before they get to their first day, they will have performed one of the last skills they need to master when they are looking for a job.

Learning how to resign from one's position is the last item on this list, and while it may seem paradoxical, it is just as vital as any of the other skills listed here for finding work.

10. Quitting One's Job

Leaving a job may bring on a great deal of stress and concern for the majority of individuals, regardless of the kind of work they do.

After all, there is no such thing as a perfect employer, but the vast majority of companies aren't entirely terrible, either. And because this is the case, it stands to reason that workers who make the decision to quit their jobs are often conflicted about how they should feel about the new opportunities that lie ahead of them. Even workers who consider their position to be "simply a job" may find it difficult to part ways with colleagues with whom they have developed important ties.

When it comes to quitting a job, the most important thing to keep in mind is to do so in a manner that is professional, courteous, and polite.

After all, previous employers provide the most trustworthy references for present and future job opportunities. A company can benefit greatly from the recommendations of former employees when making new hires in the future.

So, in order to quit their jobs in an appropriate manner, what steps should students take?

Make your announcement in writing (usually two or three weeks)

Take a seat for the departure interview.

Discuss the reasons behind your decision to leave without placing blame.

Establish goals for the remainder of your time spent working for the company.

Maintain the same work ethic till you depart

When someone has to transition from one professional opportunity to the next, these methods perform really effectively for them. These actions help to ease the transitional phase for both the employee and the employer, resulting in the best possible outcomes for both parties. This is true whether the employee is working in a retail setting, a 9 to 5 office job, or a temporary employment gig.