A Comprehensive Guide to Success After Foster Care
By Teens Who Have Been There

Sample Story
Getting My First Job Was a Pain in the Butt

Sample Activity
Acing a Job Interview

Topic: Acing a job interview

Goal: Help teens realize that a job interview (and the way they should behave on the job) is a little like acting. They have to learn to play the role, and they have to practice. Only when it starts to feel natural will the teens be able to perform well under the stress of a real job interview

Time: 5 minutes for each teen

Tell teens: When you meet someone for the first time on the job, you can’t go wrong with the following:

1) Stand up (if you’re sitting down).

2) Shake hands (firmly, but not like a vise grip).

3) While shaking hands, look the person in the eye.

4) Say: “Hi, I’m X. Thank you for interviewing me. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk with you.”

(Teens can put this in their own words, but they need to do three things: state their name, thank the interviewer, and express their appreciation.)

Note: The “Making a Good Impression” exercise on p. 84 can supplement the lesson.

• Pick a teen to rehearse with you first.

• Explain to other teens in group: You are the “audience,” and you need to look for four things. The teen should:

1) Stand up when the interviewer enters and approach him or her.

2) Reach out to initiate the handshake.

3) Look the interviewer in the eye while shaking hands.

4) Say the line above, or a reasonable variation on it.

• Explain to teens in group: They need to give their peer constructive feedback on how well she does each of those things. (Remind them that they’ll each get the chance to rehearse in a minute.)

• Bring teen to the front and have her sit down in a chair (pretend it’s a waiting area).

• Stand off to the side, and then walk in and call out the person’s name.

• Go through steps 1-4 above.

• Before there are any comments, do it one more time with the same teen.

• Ask group for a few quick constructive suggestions.

• Repeat with the same teen two or three more times. Asking the group for to give one piece of feedback each time (e.g., “maintain eye contact,” or “grasp my hand a little more firmly”).

• If you have time and a small enough group, repeat this with each member of the group, in front of the group so that each student gets some direct feedback from you, and gets to “rehearse” their role in front of the “audience.”

• Have the group practice on each other. Tell them they must do the exercise 10 times each and they must give each other one piece of feedback each time.

Closing discussion: 5- 10 minutes

• Ask the teens what they learn. Point out to the teens that a job interviewer is going to form an opinion of them in the first 30 seconds, and that getting off on the right foot can make the entire interview go much, much better.