Developing school and college students KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Attitude) in preparation of CV's and for Job Interviews.

1. Finding a job after college: !
Finding a job can be a scary experience for many young college leavers.
You have a lot of things to think about including:!
!•
How can I find a job!
• Where should I work? !
• What type of job do I want?!
• How much will I earn?!
• What skills do I have to offer?!
• How do I develop a CV?!
• What happens at a job interview?!
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If you're in the final year of college, you have to think about what you
want to do next.
!
To help you make your decision, we have outlined some options
available to you, which will hopefully give you at least some idea of the
direction you should be taking now you've got your college education
completed.!
!
If you have a particular career in mind, there maybe an opportunity to
meet with some industry employers who may provide you job training.
This gives you a job opportunity to see if you would like to work there
and if they like you they may offer you a job. To find these opportunities
you should attend as may employer events as possible.!
!
Knowing what to do after leaving school!
You may not have any idea where you want to go next but hopefully you
have some ideas of what you would like to do.
!
You don't need to know exactly what you should do, just have a general
idea of what subjects interest you. These don't need to be subjects you
have studied at school they can really be anything. If you really have no
idea you might want to start a list of all the subjects at school and
activities outside of it which you enjoy doing. Hopefully you will be good
at them as well but that is not the most important thing.!
!!
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2. Once you have decided what you might like to do you need to decide
how you're going to go about doing it.!
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This means deciding what's the best way to get your chosen career and
job. If it requires qualifications your studies at Chongqing Vocational
Institute of Engineering should help you in this area.
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The important thing is to talk to people - your friends, your parents, your
teachers also look at websites and companies in the areas you are
interested in.
!
All the research you do will give you a better idea of exactly what you
might want to do and will come in useful if you decide to pursue that
career or decide to study a related subject.!
!!
I still don't know what I want to do when I leave school!
Just from looking at all this, you still may not have a clear idea of what
you want to do. If this is you then you will need to re-think your strategy
for finding a job. !
!
What you should do is undertake a review of your “KSA” this known as
Knowledge, Skills and Attitude.!
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1. Knowledge:!
What knowledge do you have that will help you find the job you want?
Here you must understand what you have studied for at Chongqing
Vocational Institute of Engineering. What has been your Major, and
exactly what areas have you studied in. You may have studied
Accounting, Marketing, Engineering, Construction, or Civil Engineering
for example. You should list the level of knowledge that you acquired for
each of the Majors you have completed.!
!
Having a qualification will indeed help you in the job search process, but
you must also list on your CV your specific areas of study and that
demonstrate that these areas are still fresh in your mind and you can
talk about this knowledge openly. It is no use having a qualification if you
have forgotten everything you learned!!
!!
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3. The most important thing to remember is that at a job interview you will
have only one chance to demonstrate how good you are and why the
company should employ you. So use your knowledge of your Major and
your studies to impress the employer so much that they offer YOU a job!!
!
2. Skills:!
What skills do you have, what are you good at, and what do you enjoy
doing? Write these down to start you thinking.!
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Employability skills:!
These are the skills that may get you the job the want or make
employers notice you more. You should concentrate on these areas as
this is what potential employers are looking for. The only reason
employers will offer you a job is because your skills match what they
need and so take every opportunity there is to prove that.!
!
Your employability skills need to be clearly shown on you CV so that
when employers read your CV they can see exactly if you are a match
for their organisation or not.!
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Employability skills include the following:!
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1. Written Communication:!
• Thinking through in advance what you want to write about!
• Report writing skills!
• Gathering, analysing and arranging data in a logical sequence!
• Developing your argument in a logical way.!
• Briefly summarising any content !
• Adopting your writing style for different audiences.!
• Avoiding jargon.!
!
2. Verbal Communication:!
• Accurately hearing what people are saying.!
• Able to clarify and summarise what others are communicating.!
• Being sensitive to others values and feelings.!
• Not interrupting.!
• Helping others to define their problems.!
• Telephone skills (thinking through in advance what you want to say.
Keeping business calls to the point.)!
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4. • Making a speech in front of an audience (thinking up an interesting
way to put across your message, structuring your presentation, using
audio-visual aids effectively, successfully building a rapport with your
audience.)!
• Making effective use of body language, dress, conduct, speech.!
!
3. Investigating and Analyzing:!
• Clarifying the nature of a problem before deciding what action to take!
• Collecting, collating, classifying and summarising data.!
• Being able to use results effectively using text/graphs/tables/pictures.!
• Finding where the required information is available.!
• Gathering information systematically.!
• Formulating questions.!
• Being able to condense information/produce summary notes!
!
4. Planning and Organizing:!
• Managing your time effectively/using action planning skills.!
• Prioritising tasks effectively.!
• Setting objectives which are achievable and measurable.!
• Identifying the steps needed to achieve goals.!
• Using lists.!
• Being able to work effectively under pressure/managing stress.!
• Completing work to a deadline.!
!
5. Negotiating and Persuading:!
• Developing a line of reasoned argument.!
• Emphasising the positive aspects of your argument.!
• Understanding the needs of the person you are dealing with.!
• Using tact and diplomacy.!
• Handling objections to your arguments.!
• Making concessions to reach agreement.!
• Challenging the points of view expressed by others.!
!
6. Co-operating (Group Work):!
• Contributing your own ideas effectively in a group.!
• Taking a share of the responsibility in a group.!
• Being assertive - rather than passive or aggressive.!
• Accepting constructive criticism and giving positive feedback!
• Concentrating on behaviour that can be improved.!
• Identifying your strengths and weaknesses.!
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5. 7. Leadership:!
• Setting objectives.!
• Organising and motivating others.!
• Taking the initiative!
• Persevering when things are not working out.!
• Taking a positive attitude to frustration/failure.!
• Accepting responsibility for mistakes/wrong decisions.!
• Being flexible - prepared to adapt goals in changing situations.!
!
8. Numeracy - Being able to:!
• Use simple statistics.!
• Calculate percentages.!
• Multiply and divide accurately.!
• Read and interpret graphs and tables.!
• Use a calculator.!
• Managing a limited budget.!
• Design and use spreadsheets.!
• Perform calculations.!
!
3. Attitude:!
Your attitude determines your altitude (or how high you can fly), this
means that if you have a good attitude you can achieve most things, and
that includes finding the right job for yourself.!
!
In life attitude is everything, you know this yourself. If your mood is not
good you see things in a negative way, then everything you do becomes
a struggle.!
!
Flick the switch and change your attitude into a positive one and
immediately you will fell better and ready to face life’s challenges. This is
very important when it comes to searching for a job. Employers will
always employ someone who has a good positive attitude instead of
someone who has a boring negative attitude.!
!
So remember this before you walk into an interview room, ‘flick the
switch’ and have a positive attitude, smile at everyone in the room, look
and act enthusiastic, Talk about yourself enthusiastically and tell them
what your ‘KSA’ is in great detail, and remember your attitude
determines your altitude! !
!
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6. When you have a positive attitude you are using your strengths you !
demonstrate flow. !
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When you are involved in flow activities!
• you have a sense of energy and engagement!
• you are so engrossed in the task!
• you rapidly learn new information and approaches!
• you show high levels of performance!
• you want to do things that use your strengths: even when you are !
tired!
Using your strengths focuses on doing more of what you are good at, !
rather than what you are just capable of doing.
!
High achievers spend most of their time using their strengths. They !
focus on developing strengths and managing weaknesses. They may !
not have more strengths than the average individual, but they HAVE !
learned to utilise them better and to apply them to new situations.!
!!
4. A Creative Career (Job) Search!
A creative career search involves a creative, active approach to !
researching careers and making job applications. Rather than being !
passive (reading books and surfing the Web) and reactive (waiting for a !
vacancy to appear before making an application) you take the initiative !
in finding out what is involved in a career or about job opportunities that !
exist and are currently available.!
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The main elements to the creative career search are:!
• Developing a network of people who can help give you advice and/or !
information!
• Making speculative applications using a CV and a cover letter!
!
These may be used separately or together. The creative career search !
is particularly important when there is a lot of competition for the jobs for !
which you are applying, for example during tough economic times, or for !
popular jobs such as those in the media or other areas.!
Most people find a job in film by word of mouth: the more people you !
know in an industry, the better your chances of finding a job.!
!
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7. Research:!
The first stage in any career search is research. Find out as much as !
you can about the job(s) in which you are interested using the !
Internet. You might also find public, academic and business libraries a !
good source of information also.
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This stage is essential, because no potential employer will be interested !
in you unless you can show them that you have at least researched and !
found out the basics about their company.!
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Before you go to an Interview find out as much as you can about the !
company from their website. Write down what their company is all about !
so you can ask some meaningful questions at the interview.!
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Every company will be impressed at your interview if you can !
demonstrate that you have done some research on them, they will be !
very impressed that you have used some initiative and taken the time to !
find about them.!
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Finding a job is in your hands, no one can find a job for you, you have to !
do it all yourself. So make sure you follow these simple rules that will !
help you in the job search process and remain focused with a positive !
attitude at all times.!
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There of course be times when you go for interviews and you do not get !
the job, never mind, keep trying using the advice in this document, and !
remember its not how many times you are knocked down that matters, !
It's how many times you get up and start again that really matters!!
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The worst thing that you can do if its takes a while to find a job, is to feel !
sorry for yourself. You are in control of your own destiny, if you are !
feeling sad then you will look sad and this will be seen by the people !
that are interviewing you.!
!
No company will employ someone who looks this way, so ‘flick the !
switch’ and get that positive attitude back every time you go for a job !
interview, and smile its contagious!
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