Our Mission: Your Transition
The process of getting a job at any age can be puzzling. But the more you know about the world of work and the sooner you learn it, the more likely you will be able to define, design, and if necessary, cobble together pieces of your life to achieve your personal version of employment success.
In just a few years, your official transition from life as a student to life as an adult worker will begin. Our mission is to help you become as ready for that transition as possible. In fact, our slate of activities actually begins that transition for you. For example, during your time as a Rainmakers Candidate in our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program (RIPP), which targets high school juniors and seniors and first-year college students, you will, among other things:
- develop a performance-based résumé that will contain the kind of information that employers expect from all job candidates … and you will modify and add to this résumé as you complete your years in high school and/or college and use it to seek employment when you are older,
- learn skills that will allow you to create your own internship and future employment opportunities, a key skill set you will need in the growing Gig Economy. You can start your career at the age of 18, build it over the years, and earn money in the virtual world,
- earn credentials and letters of recommendation that will document your success … certifications that colleges and employers look for as proof of participation in activities that demand leadership and other key skills, and
- learn more about what the world will expect of you so you can better prepare for those demands now and have an easier transition into college or working adulthood.
Your Number One Job Remains the Same
Achieving the best grades you can in school should be the number one goal in your life as a student. Nothing is more important than getting an education now, while you are young and have your whole life in front of you. The academics you learn in high school provide you the basics you will need to turn knowledge into the career you will have as an adult. (Example: High School Mathematics = Accountant.)
Know that if your English and Mathematics skills are not strong enough for you to succeed in college-level courses, your college (or your industry training program) will demand that you take remedial courses. Unlike regular college courses, which ‘count’ toward your degree, remedial courses do not count toward anything, yet they are as expensive as courses that do count. Remedial courses only offer you the opportunity to catch up in your English or Mathematics skills — material you could have earned in high school for free. You don’t earn a college degree if you are studying high school level work. So unfortunately, even though remedial courses don’t count toward the degree, they do count when your tuition bill arrives. You have to pay for remedial courses – they are as expensive as any other college course — and to repeat, you will be learning what your could have learned in high school for free.
Keep in mind that taxpayers in your state and your town or city are paying for your public school education. They want you to put their hard-earned money to good use. That way, you can get the biggest return tomorrow for the financial investment they are making in you today!
But, of course, grades are not the only thing that college admissions officials (and employers) deem important when they review your application for admission (or employment).
Most colleges and the majority of employers look very favorably on students who use after-school, weekend, and vacation time during their high school years to get involved in meaningful activities that catalyze their personal growth and help build their futures. They believe the choices students make regarding how they spend their ‘time off’ as the school years come and go provide important clues to the character and ambition of candidates under consideration for a job or college entrance.
Consider investing time with us — juniors and seniors should commit to our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program (RIPP). Learn and practice the skills you need to get and keep a job. With the training and mentoring you will receive in our program, you will be prepared to find and succeed in a job whether it is in the traditional workforce or the Gig Economy. You will develop the professional audacity you will need to secure and serve a successful remote internship with a business you recruit. Those exact skills will also help support your success as adults in the Gig Economy.
And if you’re still a freshman or sophomore in high school, pay close attention to our special curriculum for underclassmen/woman. The information in our Stormy Wannabees Advantage Initiative will help you better understand why you need to work hard every day in high school and be better prepared for the demands you will face as a high school upperclassman (junior or senior) and for the work you will need to do to become a Rainmaker.
And for our eighth graders, we offer The First Rung, which introduces them to the basics of the business world.
Now, what will be on YOUR résumé when you graduate?
To find out what you don’t know, use the link at the very bottom of the page to start the Mission/Transition Quiz!
Don’t Miss This Additional Information:
Get the Just the Right Amount of Professional Audacity.
We Give You What Colleges Want.
Get Your Competitive Edge Here.
Links to Additional Information:
For Eighth Graders: The First Rung
For Freshmen and Sophomores: The Stormy Wannabees Advantage Initiative
For Juniors and Seniors: The Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program
Check what you know.