John-Paul “JP” Burton Wadibia (11) came up with this ingenious idea to Celebrate Career Readiness and Professional Development Month. During Thursdays on Nest Time, ambitious students meet to learn from a special guest speaker. Anyone who signs up will gain job shadowing and internship opportunities, learn to create a resume, proper interview etiquette, and invaluable soft skills. All you need to do is join is Nest time availability, and a willingness to engage.
The first meeting was held on Nov. 7 at the auditorium, where members were joined by Tina Asher, a career development coach. She has expertise with career transition, time management, boundaries, and leadership development.
Asher taught the students about making a resume, where she said you need to impress people. Make your interviews concise and quantitative. She said to ask yourself these questions: “Why are you doing it?” and “What’s the thing behind the thing?”
People being interviewed can’t throw anyone under the bus because it will reflect off on them and they also see how they resolved the situation.
One important thing she said was to not ramble. Do not ramble. Asher had to fire a person that was perfectly fit for the role just because they kept on talking endlessly.
Asher also gave advice on presentation and cleanliness.
“Hygiene is huge and you always dress for the position above that position,” Asher said.
“Note-takers are money-takers,” Asher said. The more notes you take, the more you retain. It shows that you’re paying attention and it gives you material in the future. It costs a company a lot of money to hire the wrong person, so show that you care.
To get non-paid internships, Asher said to talk to small businesses and entrepreneurs. We all start somewhere, so walk in and have a conversation. Be friendly and bring some emotion to your work. Leave the workplace better than you found it.
“I want to give students a chance to get educated and find opportunities within their school,” Burton Wadibia said, who is using this event as his competition paper for DECA this year. “Little things like that really matter.”
The next meeting is Nov. 14 where Burton Wadibia has four professionals coming in for a resume workshop. On Nov. 21, he has professionals coming in to do mock interviews with students as well.
