Lesson 3: Apply and Interview for a Stash101 Job

Learning Objective

Students will be able to leverage personal skills and experiences to create and submit a job application and cover letter, as well as participate in an interview, for a classroom job of their choice.

Jump$tart Standard: Earning Income: 

4-1b. Discuss the types of knowledge, skills, interests, and experience required for different types of jobs.

8-2c. Assess personal skills and interests and match them to various career options.

SEL Competency: Responsible decision-making

Pre-work:

• Make sure your classroom jobs are up to date for your classroom and the jobs that require more work or attention to detail, such as the Banker, make the most money. 
• To see the list of jobs and add/edit/delete those of your choice, navigate to Economy > Jobs.
• Determine whether you want students to complete a resume, cover letter, and job application. If you only want them to complete a resume and cover letter, disregard the Job Application sections of this lesson plan, which includes job application forms and job application examples. 
• Under the purple “Settings” button on the Stash101 Home page, make sure “Apply for a job” is selected. 
• Note: There are four integrated jobs within Stash101 that include additional access for students:
  • Banker: Student can access other students accounts to deposit money and assign bills.
  • Human Resources: Student can reset passwords and approve/deny job applications.
  • Entrepreneur: Student can add products to the marketplace that students can buy and create auctions where students can bid for items.
  • Payroll: Student can send, edit, and approve time cards.
    • To access job training sheets for the integrated jobs within Stash101, see below: 

Banker Training Sheet

Human Resources Training Sheet

Entrepreneur Training Sheet

Payroll Training Sheet

Introduction to Classroom Jobs (10 min)

On the home page, look to the right of a student’s name and click on the gold “Access” key; then click on Jobs > Job Board. Alternately, you can go to Economy > Jobs and display the jobs from your side, but it will look a little different than the student view. 

Say: Here are the classroom jobs that are available to you, including the tasks you will need to perform to keep each job. 

Go through each job, what the daily tasks are, and the pay.

Optional Applicant Examples (10 min)

Say: Spend five minutes looking at two applications for classroom jobs (included at the end of this document). Think about what assumptions you make about each applicant based on their application. Be prepared to share out your thoughts on each applicant.

Pass out the applications or display them on the board. Read each application together as a class. Share out your thoughts.  

Ask: What do you notice about each application? What can you infer about each applicant? Who would you want to work for you? Why?

Optional Application Work Time (20 min)

Give students time to work on their applications. Alternately, you can assign this as homework. Some students will put a great deal of effort into their application to get the job that they want in the classroom.

Resume Submission (5 min)

Say: Most jobs ask you to fill out a basic application AND submit a resume/cover letter. Once the potential employer looks over your application and resume/cover letter, you may be asked to come in for an interview if they like what they see. 

We are going to write our cover letters and then submit our resumes. Afterward, we’ll take a few minutes to talk about interviews, which will be conducted soon.

Say: Log in to Stash101.com and click on Jobs > Job Board. Scroll through the jobs we talked about and find two jobs that you would like to apply for. Then click Submit Job Application (see below re: how to submit). You will see a place to write a brief cover letter explaining to me why you believe you are the best candidate for the job. Cater this cover letter to the specific job you’ve chosen, and talk about why your experience and skills would be a perfect fit for the job.

Optional Interview Discussion (10 min)

Say: We will be conducting interviews for your desired jobs tomorrow. What things do you think are important when going to an interview? (Answers: arriving on time, looking professional, firm handshake, eye contact, being prepared, etc.) Keep these in mind when we have interviews. I recommend you dress nicely. If you are remote learning, make sure you are dressed nicely from the shirt up, and your background isn’t distracting. 

Here are some interview questions you might be asked. Think about your responses tonight: 

1. Why do you think you are the best candidate for this job?
2. What are three words that your friends would use to describe you?
3. What is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness?
4. Who do you admire most, and why? 
5. Tell me about a mistake you made in your life. (Pretend this was asked by Beth, the head of Human Resources at Amazon. The Human Resources department helps make decisions about whom to hire for a job.) 
6. What is one problem that you solved? Explain how you solved it. (Pretend this was asked by Elon Musk of TESLA & SPACEX.)
7. What questions do you have for me about the job? 

(On the way out, have students practice their handshake with you.)