Over the last two weeks, Fionn 4 has been taking part in a program called ‘JAP: Career Success.’ This programme consisted of two different sessions.
For the first week of this program a lady from ‘Northern Trust’ came in to do online modules with us on a website called ‘Skills to Succeed Academy.’ Skills to Succeed Academy offers 36 modules to choose from. These are provided to help us students prepare for dilemmas we will face in the future such as job interviews. There are multiple choice answers for everything that happens throughout the module which allows us to see the consequences of each decision we make. This session was very beneficial for all students.
For the second session two women from ‘Northern Trust’ came in to do a workshop. For the first part of the day there were introductions and ice-breakers, the two women explained the career paths they decided on and how they managed to wind up in ‘Northern Trust.’ This was very profitable for us students as we made the discovery that you don’t always have to know exactly what you want to do in life to get a job you have an interest in and actually enjoy in the future.
We then went on to play a game in pairs. One person was the instructor and the other was assigned the role of the listener. What the game entailed was that the instructor had to describe a picture consisting of different shapes and then the listener had to attempt to draw the picture being described as accurately as possible. This was a good game to improve not only our communication skills but also our descriptive skills.
Later on in the day we went through interview skills. This was useful information because as teenagers we find ourselves needing part-time jobs to afford nice things. As one of the women worked in the Human Resources department as a member of the talent acquisition team we knew that everything she told us was completely factual as she would interview potential employees.
At the end of the workshop we had a mini graduation ceremony. Each person was called up individually and presented with a certificate. Along with the certificate each student was gifted a phone stand.
The ‘Career Success’ program went down a hit with each student. It was a very informative workshop that everyone could take something away from it.