Agcareers.com: Stand Out to Employers. Student Learning Objectives: After completing this activity the student will

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1 Agcareers.com: Stand Out to Employers Student Learning Objectives: After completing this activity the student will 1. Analyze job descriptions for specific skills and keywords. 2. Compose statements that explain how he/she demonstrates the required skills. 3. Create an all-purpose cover letter. Time Required: 45 minutes Resources: ffa.org-my Journey Equipment and Supplies Needed: 1. Internet access 2. Copies of worksheets for each student AFNR Performance Element CS.03. Performance Element: Career Success: Demonstrate those qualities, attributes and skills necessary to succeed in, or further prepare for, a chosen career while effectively contributing to society. NASDCTEc AGC09.02 Select, research and examine critical aspects of career opportunities in one or more AFNR career pathways in order to gain an understanding of the breadth of occupations within this cluster. Common Core- Reading: Informational Text CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). Common Core- Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects: Writing WHST Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. WHST Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. Common Career Technical Core

2 AG5 Describe career opportunities and means to achieve those opportunities in each of the Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources Career Pathways. Partnership for 21 st Century Skills Communication Initiative and Self-direction Lesson Plan: 1. Suggested use: This activity will work best if the Career Cruising activities What Careers Match My Interests? Part 1 and Part 2 are completed before using this activity. Students will have an idea of what type of careers appeal to them, and they will have some experience with the Agcareers.com website. 2. Suggested Follow-up Activity: Have students develop a resume through the resume generator available on the My Journey Build page. 3. Interest approach: Go to Choose the Princess Card Trick. a. Show the students the cards and have them pick a card that is shown. b. Students should write down the card they picked. c. Drag the cards around on the screen to mix them up. d. Click next. e. Have students confirm if their card is gone. Everyone s card should be missing. f. See if students notice why their card is gone (Hint: all the cards changed). g. Students will eventually figure out why (through discussion, sharing of what card each picked, etc.). h. Determine how quickly students figure out how the trick worked. 4. Discussion: It usually takes a while for people to notice that ALL the cards changed, because they focus so much on their card. This is called change blindness, and most people suffer from this. We become so focused on a task at hand that other things get overlooked. a. Why would knowing that change blindness exists be important when sending letters to potential employers? b. How could you be sure that your letter will be noticed by a potential employer? c. Wrap up discussion around this point: An employer can become blind to anything other than what they are focused on. If an employer is looking through a thousand resumes and cover letters the only ones they will pay attention to are those that use the words they are expecting to see what they put in the job description and the skills they need the employee to have. You might have an

3 excellent resume and cover letter, but if the words do not match up with what the employer is expecting to see your letter goes in the trash. You have to tailor your resume and cover letter to match what the employer is expecting. 5. Give each student a copy of the worksheet Stand Out to Employers. 6. Give each student a copy of the Creating a Cover Letter document. Students will use Agcareers.com and a cover letter generator to develop a cover letter they could send to a potential employee for the agriculture job of their choice. a. To complete the cover letter, students can use a cover letter generator or the Microsoft Word cover letter template. The template or the link to the generator is available on the My Journey Build page.

4 Name: Stand Out to Employers Directions: Go to the Agcareers.com website. The link is also available from the My Journey Connect page. IF What Careers Match My Interests? (Part 2) has been completed, then choose one of the Ag Careers that was researched and type it into the Quick Search option on Agcareers.com. IF What Careers Match My Interests? (Part 2) has NOT been completed, click on the advanced search option on Agcareers.com. Choose the industry sector, indus try type, and career type that most appeals to you. You may select more than one type. Click Search. Choose the job that you find most interesting. What is the Job Title? Summarize the job description in 1 sentence using your words. What is the Company/Organization name? If the address is not provided in the job description, look up the address online. Skill Needed for this Job (from Job Details) Example: Plan meetings and coordinate projects Keywords (from the skill listed in Job Details) Example: plan, coordinate Create a Sentence (give a real life example of you using that skill) Example: I coordinated a community service event for my FFA chapter to assist at a local soup kitchen once a month. CS.03; AGC09.02; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI ; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI ; WHST ; WHST ; AG5

5 Name: Creating a Cover Letter Directions: Create a cover letter by choosing one of the following methods. Go to the cover letter generator available on My Journey Build. ( Create a cover letter by following the step by step instructions. Choose a General Cover Letter (all purpose) template. You will need to create a free account to edit and print your cover letter. Edit your cover letter: Insert the company name and address you found online in the correct spot. You might need to delete some sentences if they do not apply to you. Remember! You can use volunteer work and unpaid internships as previous work experience. In the paragraph where it states my responsibilities included [two or three responsibilities which are similar to ones stated in job posting], insert the sentences you created from the skills and keywords from the job description. OR Use the cover letter template available on the My Journey Build page and complete the gray fields. Remember! You can use volunteer work and unpaid internships as previous work experience. You now have a cover letter that will catch the attention of a potential employer because you used specific examples related to the skills they are seeking in an employee. CS.03; AGC09.02; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI ; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI ; WHST ; WHST ; AG5