Week 2 Journal

FYI:  I am putting in grades tomorrow so make sure check tomorrow and make sure everything looks correct.  For Journal question 2,  So far, is the internship what you thought it would be?  Why or why not?

2nd Tri. Journal 1

What do you expect to get out of this internship?  What is something you learned, liked or disliked during the first week of class?

Fall 2011 Box Elder Employment Survey

Each year the WBL Program does some sort of recruiting to keep the numbers in the program at a successful level.  This year combined with other reasons, we (meaning I) decided to poll local businesses in relations to job searching.  One reason for this is that at the current time, it is becoming harder to find a job worth keeping.  Another reason, was an attempt to really find what employers look for in a prospective employee.  Also, among the many others, what can students do now to prepare themselves for life?

Approximately 30 of the local (Brigham City Area) businesses responded.  The respondents range from multiple doctors offices to the hospital to fast food establishments to HR Departments in the local branch of our state government including DCFS and our school district.  My point is that there is a very wide range of variety trying not to focus on one particular profession.  Although the results seem tweaked to my program, they have not been altered in any way, shape or form. Here they are:

1.   While in high school, how important are the following activities to make a student more employable?

There are three other things that employers listed that students should participate while in high school to make them more employable: (Each was listed once) Student Council, Have a clear attendance record, Participate in church and or community service 

2.   When looking at a prospective employee's resume` how long do you typically spend?

3.   The Following “Attributes” are ranked in order of importance according to the survey.

1.     Teamwork

2.     Problem Solving

3.     Reading Skills

4.     Computer Skills

5.     Organization

6.     Math Skills

7.     Leadership

8.     Writing

9.     High School G.P.A.

10.   Knowledge of Science and or other core subjects

-Some other things mentioned are Coachable, Honest, Positive Attitude, Common Sense

4.  What do you feel is the most important class that a student could take in high school to make themselves more employable at your place of work?

5.     Have you ever hired anyone that looked amazing on paper and then once they started working, they did not turn out to be a productive employee?

6.   What type of student do you feel would be most valuable:

7.     How do you feel the current job outlook is for students in school?

8.       What is the number one thing that comes to mind, that a person can do to get an opening over the rest of the competition? For example, have a better degree, know the right person etc. etc. (Here are the top 10 responses….in my opinion, in no order)

•      Honest, Experience, Education
•      Have a positive attitude, no sense of entitlement, willingness to work
•      Being teachable. Get to know the business you are trying to become employed with...which includes getting to know the personnel.
•      Work ethic. Working hard and taking the initiative to do what needs to be done without being micro-managed. Taking pride in their work, regardless of what the job is.
•      Learn how to carry oneself and how to sell yourself in person just not on paper. I'll hire real world skills all day over just box smart skills.
•      I can teach an employee to do the job but I cannot teach them to be friendly and have a positive attitude.
•      Be personable, persistent and persuasive
•      Prepare yourself with the knowledge, skills and ability the job is looking for.
•     Interview VERY well, and you will get the job. Confidence and honesty is key. Just make sure you can back it up in your actual work performance.
•     A desire to do the work and put in the time to learn the way things are to be done.

9.   The Following are ranked in order of importance on which is the best way to receive a pay increase.                          

1.     Work Hard and Smart

2.     Show Initiative

3.     Be Friendly and Courteous

4.     Be Punctual

5.     Volunteer for extra assignments when the occasion rises

6.     Continuing Education

10. When asked what is the biggest challenge our students have to get over when entering the workplace: 

·         Lack of Work Ethic was by far number one, here are some comments from employers : “Most high school kids think that they don't have to work hard, they think they just have to be at work to get paid” “Most high school kids Don’t have to pay for everything so they don't care if they show up, get a raise, want to improve etc.” “Get off the Video Games and learn to mow the lawn etc.”

·        Lack of Skill Was next on the list

·        Lack of Knowledge came in third

·        Lack of Opportunity was believed overall, not really to be a problem

In looking over the results:  The program has come to some conclusions.  First of all, looking at question 1: There are two things from the list that got noticed as the Most Valuable Thing you can do in high school.  Now I realize I did not include everything a student can participate in however, Taking College Classes received a vote of 9% Most Valuable and Doing an internship received a vote of 25% most valuable.  Furthering that thought, doing an internship, was looked at by 75% of the group as with "Very Valuable" or "The Most Valuable". 

Moving on to question 2:  29% of the group looks at a resume` longer than two minutes.  That means, our students, 71% of the time, have less than two minutes for their resume` to mean something.  In talking with employers about the current economic state, there are plenty of resume's that they have to look at with each opening so Resume` building is rather important.  However, if you look at question 5, 96% of the employers have hired someone that looked good on paper and turned out to be a bad apple.  To me, that is amazing. 

Question 3's goal was not to devalue the worth of core subjects but to gain more light on how really important is G.P.A. In talking with a friend who is a principal, he never even asks a prospective teacher's past G.P.A. but rather he wants to know how well can this person impact students for good.  Can they relate their topic to their students in a way that truly prepares them for life.  I think like this principal, other employers want workers that fit well in a team and have the "soft skills" and intangibles that are going to get the job done.  In talking with a lady at DCFS, she related a story to me about interviewing a fellow and she asked him what a good manager to him was.  His was reply was someone who will just give him his assignment and leave him alone.  He doesn't want any help unless he asks for it.  Well according to the results, nobody would hire someone that does not want to work in a team.  She didn't hire him either.

Now question 4 would really seem as though I am tooting my own horn, however, it is not the case.  I found it interesting that even with some medical personnel taking the survey, not one would put human biology as the most important class.  Math was second highest and the internship dominated.  Here is my thinking why:  In the summer I had the opportunity to ask the HR director for all of the IHC hospitals around the Salt Lake area.  My question was what is your type of nurse?  Her answer was someone with plenty of CNA experience and just "gets it"  I said just gets it like gets really good grades in anatomy and physiology?  Her answer was no.  She wanted someone who could come in, understand how that department works and fit well with the team that was there.  I was under the impression and still am that a student can know every single joint, ligament, or bone in the human body and can be a crappy nurse and or doctor.  And so it can go with any other profession.  If you just don't "get it"  you are not going to get the job. If you are lucky and do get the job, hopefully you are not in that 96% that was hired and the HR wishes you weren't.

Question 6 merely re-iterates my point that super high grades is not always the best thing in the world. 

I will close with question 10.  I was surprised to see the overwhelming majority think that students in this day and age have a low work ethic.  And that most thought there was plenty of opportunity out there to be successful but rather it was a lack of effort.  Do you feel this is really the case?

Davis and Bott

Davis and Bott, Certified Public Accountants is now accepting a position for a high school intern.  They are looking for a student interested in accounting that has demonstrated proficient math and problem solving skills.  This is an amazing opportunity for a high school student to be a part of an amazing business.  They have been in business since 1977 and recently completed a brand new office building located on Forrest Street just west of Wells Fargo Bank.  They are very supportive of the Box Elder High School vision of "Preparing Students for Life".  For more information on this amazing opportunity, contact Mr. Roberts in the Counseling Center or email him at jesse.roberts@besd.net
-This internship has been filled, thanks for all the interest!

2011 Fall Interns Underway

School has been in session for almost a month and the internship program is rolling along.  This trimester there are 39 intern locations ranging from orthopedic surgeon to elementary teacher.  We live in an amazing community with awesome businesses that help the program run.  Thanks to all those that make the program possible! 

Proctor and Gamble

Yesterday Sharon Brown and myself were taken on a tour of the new Procter and Gamble Box Elder Plant.  We were guided around by John Mckay who is a major figure in their plant and we visited with Joe Tomon who is the plant manager.  It was an amazing experience to see how toilet paper was made.  It was not the toilet paper process that caught us off guard but the way a successful business is run.  An example of this is the plant manager himself. Joe, who is the top person in charge, sits in a cubicle with everyone else.  He does this "to not forget what it is like to work with everyone else".  The kindness extended from everyone out there especially the executives was extremely impressive.  They are all about making everybody better people.  What a good example to follow in any career.  One main feature of their plant is natural lighting.  They did loads of research to find out that more productivity is done when people work in natural lighting.  Look at the difference between the students now in our open, natural lit, Box Elder High compared to the old dark school.  There is a direct correlation.  The tour ended with them giving an extremely generous donation to BEHS.  One that they did not want any publicity or notoriety for.  Adding to their kindness and generosity.  Principal Eddington thinks this is the biggest donation Box Elder High that he can remember from a commercial contirbutor but they did not want to be recognized for it.  Lastly it was very nice to hear John talk about what a nice area this is.  He recently moved here from their Georgia plant and he discussed how much more family friendly Utah is.  Thanks again P&G.

District Court

Recently the work based learning program and some additional students had the oppurtunity to visit the First District Court of Utah.  We were taken on a behind the scenes tour, sat in on the drug court session followed by a meeting with Judge Allen, had the oppurtunity of visiting with the juvenile judge, Judge Jones, learned about probation and many other things that take place in that building. It was an awesome oppurtunity for our students to learn about many different careers in the court system.  We were fed very well and very well taken care of.   Many thanks go out to Mike Zenovieff the chief probation officer and his staff for putting such a wonderful day together and allowing our students to learn more about the Judicial System.

Journal 4

Tell me why or why not you would want to have this internship as your career for the rest of your life.

Thought about Career Choosing

An interesting study recently came out and I do not think this is a new observation: "About 80% of college students change their major at least once. On average, college students change their major three times over the course of their college career."
Being one of those who changed their major exactly three times I can relate to this statistic.  Reading this thought and along with sitting in on high school junior SEOPs, (who 90% do not know what they want to do) I have recently come to a question.  What is more important, finding out what you want to do in life or finding out why you want to do that particular thing in life?  I feel that it is more important to search and come to the conclusion of why you want to do something instead of what you want to do.  I think that if you have that foundation of "why you want to do that"  it can save years and time off of your college journey.....just a thought.    

Journal #3

What are some things you would love about this career and what are some things you would dislike?

Journal #2

So far is the internship what you thought it would be?  Were your pre-judgements right or wrong? Why?

Tri 3 Journal 1

How can this internship benefit you in the long run?

Reality Town

Another fun activity that the Work Based-Learning Program helps with is Reality Town at BEMS.  This Activity was a great success and the counselors at the middle school worked very hard to make it happen.  What is Reality Town? Reality Town is a simulation in the library.  During the simulation students learn about tax withholdings as they examine their personalized pay stub that includes their name, chosen career, and their Reality Town family scenario which states information about their spouse, or lack thereof, and the age and gender of their children.
Students are then instructed to make financial decisions regarding their Reality Town family and their monthly expenditures as they visit 22 different businesses including groceries, housing, medical office, child care, etc, which are staffed by local professionals, community volunteers and parents.

With each choice they make at the eighteen different businesses, students establish their Reality Town lifestyle, and determine their monthly budget.  Financial Counseling and Supplemental Income Businesses provide struggling students with additional help and financial resources to aid them in their Reality Town adventure.

My First Job

This year's My First Job Activity was awesome! The speakers did a fantastic job and the students were very well tuned in to what was being taught.  Thanks to all the speakers for taking the time to come and share their expertise.   Darryn Hodgson (Member's First C.U.), Kristen Floyd (Workforce Services), Brent Baugh (Brigham Implement), Julie Bott (B.E. Credit Union), Scott Uyematsu (Vulcraft), Jenn Dinsdale (Smith's), Matt Hansen (Hansen Motors), Lance Siddoway (Kents), Mark Suchan and Bryce Bradfield (Malt-o-Meal), Dennis Kiefer (America First), and Bob Marabella (All American Real Estate). 
P.S. the hundred bags of cereal that Malt-o-Meal gave out was a nice addition.

Winter 2010-2011 Interns!

2nd Trimester Interns are already almost half way done and doing an awesome job!  It is awesome to hear our business partners talk about how amazing Box Elder Students are.  Thanks for working hard and a special thanks to our business partners!
Here is a glimpse into 2nd tri.