• Career Financial

    Management/Portfolio

     career
    Students in this course will combine skill based work with career research to complete a working portfolio by the end of the year.  Classroom work will include researching college opportunities, interview skill lessons, or other practice assignments done in class.  The Binder materials expected to be with the student by the end of week 2 are their binder, 20 (or more) sheets of resume paper, plastic paper protectors and section tabs.  Students will work on this throughout the year.  Mini-projects will be assigned throughout the year and will include investment math, tax preparation, benefit analysis and more.  Students will also complete major projects in class including a final edited resume, writing a complaint letter, preparing a career research paper and more. 
     
    Students in this class will combine real world skills with the opportunity to create an actual working portfolio.  While creating various work skills projects during the year, the students will develop a working portfolio that they may use at a job interview in the future.  Students will have the opportunity to learn about our economic system and its impact on their lives, banking skills, insurance skills, budgeting, tax preparation and much more.
     
    Students will be required to research the main skills needed to get into the career of their choice and during the course of the year, they will plan on how to get the experience needed to showcase these skills and their growth at their final exit interviews.  Students will have "Career Fridays" to complete portfolio work, conduct career interviews, research colleges, have guest speakers or other goals that they set and are evaluated with by the instructor. 
     
    Finally, each student will be required to set weekly and a yearly goals.  They will keep track of these goals throughout the school year, review and reflect on them and determine at the end of the course, if these goals were met.  In order to complete this, each student must maintain a notebook and have it with them in class at all times, in addition to the class notes.  A simple, 100 page $1 notebook is just fine for this. 
     
    Here is my course outline:  CFM Portfolio Course Outline 
     
    Email: Jgordon@frontiercsd.org

    PURPOSE OF THIS COURSE:                                                                                 hired
    • To allow the student to create a working portfolio
    • To allow the student to complete multiple practice job interviews
    • To allow the student time to develop a well-prepared resume, cover letter example and proof they can organize their work for a professional interview
    • Job/career research
    • Showcase of work completed in high school
    • Tax preparation
    • Insurance basics
    • Basic budgeting
    • Goal setting
    WHAT THE STUDENTS NEED
    • Professional 3-ring binder
    • Resume/cover letter paper (15-20 sheets or more)
    • Examples of their "best" high school work
    • Examples of awards, certificates and achievements
    • Letters of recommendation by teachers, employers or others who know them
    • Current high school "unofficial" transcript
    • Attendance records
     
     GRADING  
     Classroom Notes and Daily Assignment:      20%         
     Monthly Projects:                                        50%
     Portfolio Work: 20%
     Career Research Work: 10%
     
     
    goals  
     
     
     
     
    CAREER RESEARCH PROJECT- 1
    All students will learn and review goal setting, career research and career clusters to determine at least one (If not more) direction they may use to prepare for a career of their choice.  Each student will complete research on the career, conduct a career interview with a local business person, determine their goals, salary requirements and more.  Steps 1 and 2 will be given to all students soon, with due dates as well.  Students will also hear from a business person discussing goal setting (Career, financial and personal) and a Human Resource Manager, who will direct the students on preparing a resume and cover letter, which will take place as Project-2
     
    Project 1 and 2 worksheet:  Career Project 1 and 2 sheet
     
    Career Skills Worksheet:  5 skills worksheet
     
     
    Project 1 Paper Template (Use of Side Headings, Double Spacing):  Project 1 Template
     
     
    resume  
    CAREER RESEARCH PROJECT- 2
    Career project 2 will include the planning and preparation of a working resume and cover letter.  Students will write their cover letters to a business within the area of their career research, then complete a "Screen" interview at the conclusion of their project by the end of October.  Students will hear a Human Resource Manager present on tips for preparing for the interview, including resume hints and more.   At the end of this project cycle, their is a planned workshop, called "Experience Your Future" at Bryant and Stratton College, in which students will listen to other local high school students ideas on creating and selling a product, career motivations and more.  This trip will be set and announced soon..
     
    RESUME TEMPLATES 
    High School Resume Template      Intro Resume 
    College Resume Template      College Resume
    Professional Resume Template      Professional Resume
     
     
     
     
     
    taxes  
    PAYCHECK and SKILLS PROJECT- 3
    Project 3 will allow students to learn about taxes and how they are deducted from their paychecks.  Students will complete a 1040EZ form, learn about simple deductions and use of tax tables.  In addition, students will start to plan examples for their portfolios in the following areas:
     
    1.  Communication Skills (Examples of the students ability to communicate in both written and verbal forms from coursework already completed, clubs they are involved in, sports teams they are involved in or work based examples)
     
    2.  Teamwork Skills (Examples of the students ability to work well with other people to reach a goal, including classwork, homework, work related examples or again, club or sport related examples)
     
    3.  Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Skills (Students must show proof of times where they were able to find solutions to problems not readily at hand, through hard work, grit and determination or ability to work through assignments given to them at school, home or at work)
     
    4.  Organization Skills (Students must be able to prove to an employer that they can organize materials to make their work experience easier to complete.  Examples in this area must be based on how they organize, why they organize and what the organization lead to) 
     
     
    Here are 2 examples of competency sheets to use in place of examples (ONLY if needed)
     
    TAX FORMS
     BENEFITS POWER POINT:  Benefits
     
    benefits
    BENEFITS PROJECT- 4
    Students have now researched their careers, interviewed local business people to learn about their career ideas, set goals (both short term and long term), create a resume and cover letter, completed a "screen" interview, learned about payroll taxes and income taxes and prepared a basic 1040EZ tax form.  They now move to how they are paid and the benefits offered by their perspective employers.  In project 4, students will learn about benefits and how they assist them in their daily lives, add to their income being paid and even assist them in budgeting, which will take place in Project 5.
     
     
    budget  
    BUDGETING PROJECT- 5
    Students now understand how to get a job, how they are paid, how taxes effect their earnings and how benefits are a part of their entire payroll calculations.  Now they need to understand how to use the pay they receive to budget properly, save for retirement and invest into areas they feel comfortable.  In this section, students will use the information from their career area of interest to create a monthly and yearly budget to meet goals set in the project sheet.  They must save "At least" 10% of their income each pay period for a "Rainy Day".  They must determine how to invest and what to invest into and they must also plan on their monthly living expenses, as well as how to use that discretionary income for things to add enjoyment and fulfillment to their lives and give work another meaning.
     
    Budget Worksheet:   Budget Worksheet Template
     
     
     

    MID YEAR REFLECTION PAPER: Reflection Paper Template

     
     
    SCREEN INTERVIEW PREP
    Students will be preparing for screen interviews once their revised resumes are complete.  Each student will have 5 minutes within a group set prior to the interview, in which to go through a screening interview with a goal of being asked to come back to a second round interview.  These interviews are for resume use only with a goal of not only following interview rules learned in class, but also to get resume editing tips so they may continue to prepare a strong resume for future use.  Resume tip worksheet is listed below:
     
     
     
    college  
    COLLEGE or SKILLS RESEARCH PROJECT- 6
    Planning for college and training is a very large expense for all young adults.  In this section, students will research college opportunities, match college offerings to their career goals, research course work needed to complete, review possible minors to study in, learn about training opportunities, review clubs, groups or other organizations to reach their goals and determine what work experience they may need to reach their goals

     

    College Powerpoint Presentation Outline 2018: Word Project Sheet 6

    College PowerPoint Presentation Powerpoint Template 2018: Powerpoint Template Guide

     

    Credit Scoring Article Link: https://www.credit.com/credit-scores/10-things-everyone-should-know-about-credit-scores/

     

    CREDIT AGENCIES COLLECTION OF DATA: https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-management/credit-reporting-agency1.htm

     

    CREDIT PAPER TEMPLATE: Credit Scores Template Paper

     
    COVER SHEETS, INSURANCE, INTERVIEW PREP PROJECT- 7
     
     
     
     
     
    Each student will learn about how a portfolio should be well organized and must set a plan on where to show an interviewer their best examples are.  Each part of their binder will contain a cover sheet and all key work will be put on resume paper.

    TABLE OF CONTENTS SHEET: Table of Contents in Word Format

    FINAL CHECKLIST:  

     
     strengths
    SPECIAL SKILLS PROJECT- 8
    Students will research and find out what specific skills they have and can build on to be a job candidate that stands out against the competition.  Each of these skills will also be a part of their "Skills Transfer" paper in which students will review what other career areas may be open to them if their main choice has an no openings or they change their minds in their career paths.
     
     
     
     
    portfolio  
    PORTFOLIO ORGANIZATION PROJECT- 9
    Portfolio development.  Students will be required to re-visit their resumes and cover letters, edit them and prepare them for final print on their professional resume paper.  Portfolios will be organized this month, tabs put into binders, papers or other word edited, grade transcripts put in and any missing items finalized and updated. In addition, EACH student must include examples of a specific skill they possess that they can highlight at their exit interviews.  
     
    "Half" of the students FINAL EXAM GRADE  will take place by the end of this month..  Due last day of May
     
     
     
     
     interviews
    CAREER "EXIT" INTERVIEW and FINAL EXAM- 10
    Students will spend the final 2 weeks of class preparing for their "Exit" interview, with class tips, examples and more.  Each student can complete a practice interview before the final interview.  Students must also add any final, missing pieces to their binder, including awards, certificates or other items that add to the binders appeal.  Students must understand how to use a portfolio at the interview, how to take notes, the importance of their own questions, posture rules and more.  Interviews will be scheduled for an entire class period the last week of school and no student can be absent that day, unless permission is given prior to the date scheduled. 
     
    CLASSWORK DUE  
     
    OPENING DAY CLASS Wednesday September 7th OPEN
         
         
         
         
     
     

Last Modified on May 21, 2018