Employability Tool

Let's talk college and career readiness:

So many of us teaching CTE are challenged with showing our students two paths after high school.  We are trying to help mold our future workforce, while also promoting the importance of education.  Welcome to the wonderful world of College and Career Readiness.  Let's get started!

College readiness refers to preparing the students for things like the college application process, financial aid, student loans, basic skills, public speaking, and academic success.

Whereas, career readiness incorporates skills like resume building, the interview process, certifications, work skills, job benefits, and other skills that makes a student employable.

But, how do you make a high school student employable? What are the critical skills needed for an easy transition to the workforce?  What programs can a high school offer the students in order to help them choose their own path after graduation?

How do we as CTE educators help students answer, "Yes!" to this very basic: question:

Let's start with identifying the specific skills necessary for gaining employability:

These essential skills can be attained throughout the CTE course and with each activity assigned.  The more rigorous the activity, the more attainable these skills are going to be for the students.

Another way a school can offer their students a way to obtain the skills necessary to gain employability is to get involved with nationally recognized clubs, such as the ones you see here.  These clubs offer course content and annual competitions where students can compete in their CTE field while gaining leadership skills to last a lifetime.

In my own CTE classroom, I have come up with a list of five strategies that can be used in the CTE classroom in order to enhance students' employability and skills sets:

Strategy One

Presentation/Public Speaking: Students will present projects to their peers and industry professionals to help build public speaking skills.

Strategy Two
Resume/Portfolio Building: Students will be required to create and maintain a resume and portfolio throughout all four years of the program.  As they evolve as a student, the resume and portfolio should evolve with them.

Strategy Three

Mock Interviews: Students learn the aspects of the interview process.  All the way from a proper introduction to a proper closing statement.

Strategy Four

Cooperative Education Opportunities: Giving the students real-world, hands-on experiences with industry professionals, while earning a paycheck.  Giving the students the opportunity to explore deeper into the career path they have chosen for their CTE course.

Strategy Five

Certification: Students are given the opportunity to earn a nationally
recognized certification.  Add to a students resume and portfolio with results and certificates that can be printed same day.

Once the strategies for enhancing employability is established, its time to put together a plan to execute those strategies.  Just remember, as a CTE teacher, it is our job to enhance employability to all of our students.  Here is how I have planned to do just that in my own classroom:

Student Transition Plan Example

Once you have helped the students create a plan for their transition into the workforce, you have to let them go out an execute that plan.  Wish them luck and hope for the best.  You have given them all you can to help them along their journey.

And always remember to:

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Michelle