Your Child’s Skill Inventory
When a person loves the work he or she does, it isn’t really work. Nothing is as good for a human being as having a job that ties into his or her likes with his or her strongest skills. In our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program (RIPP), we encourage our Rainmakers Candidates to think about the academic subjects they like the most and how their attraction to those subjects might lead to a productive, rewarding, and financially viable career. We help our Candidates define those likes and develop a plan that will reveal, energize, and capitalize on those favorites. Essentially, we help students define their strengths and show them how those strengths can lead to rewarding careers.
A considered approach to selecting and earning a career that stimulates the mind and the soul has to begin early. We start that process in RIPP with thoughtful exercises that help direct Members’ thinking so they can begin to define their array of talents and the value each skill might have from an employer’s perspective. While their inexperience makes this a challenging task, we start by asking them to define their academic likes/dislikes so they understand that the hard skills they need to be able to offer an employer are all based on content learned in high school and expanded in education or training after high school. Getting a job is all about hard skills. Keeping a job is all about soft skills (work ethic, teamwork, dedication, honesty and many more).
For example, if your child is good in:
- Mathematics, she might pursue a career as an accountant.
- Computer programming, he might become a systems analyst.
- Science, she can select one of many in-demand fields, such as engineering or medicine.
- English, he can become a writer, translator, or reporter.
- Foreign language, she can become a professional translator in high-demand languages such as Farsi, Mandarin, and German.
- Art or Music, he can produce logos or jingles for a company.
- History, she can become a museum curator, research analyst, or anthropologist.
- Physical Education, he can become a teacher, physical therapist, or fitness trainer.
Being able to succinctly and accurately present ‘marketable’ skills to an employer is key to employment. Our Candidates practice those essential activities as they gear up for Phase III of the Rainmakers Club program. Phase III (called ‘The Gig-ternship’) is where the rubber meets the road for all Rainmakers Candidates. They are required to secure and successfully complete a ‘remote gig’ (temporary virtual internship) in order to successfully complete the RIPP. In advance of their cold calls to employers seeking the required unpaid externship (not on site), we advise them and help them define their strongest subjects and their favorite activities. During the search for and completion of the ‘gig,’ we provide ongoing mentoring and advice.
The tasks involved in this activity are identical to those they will need to have to be able to get a job in the GIG economy, where workers at all levels may have to seek new employment every four years.
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