Work Skills Activity One:

Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are Age range: 16-19 Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 2 Contents 03 Aims 03 Key learning outcome...
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Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are Age range: 16-19

Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 2

Contents 03 Aims 03 Key learning outcomes 03 Resources 04 Activity steps 12 Student Sheet 1.1: Animal characteristics 14 Student Sheet 1.2: Personality traits 16 Student Sheet 1.3: The Venn diagram

Student Sheet

PDF

PDF Presentation Slides

Note: see Work Skills overview PDF on barclayslifeskills.com for programme overview.

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Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 3

Time needed: 60 minutes

Aims • To help students identify their strengths, interests, preferences and personality types • To help students understand the importance of reflecting an accurate self-image in pursuing a career • To encourage students to develop self-awareness through discussion with their peers

Key learning outcomes By the end of the activity students will have: • identified their personal key characteristics and lifestyle preferences • matched typical behaviours to a range of characteristics • begun to identify possible careers that match their preferences

Resources • Know who you are PDF Presentation Slides • Student Sheet 1.1: Animal characteristics • Student Sheet 1.2: Personality traits • Student Sheet 1.3: The Venn diagram

Student Sheet

PDF

PDF Presentation Slides

Look out for these icons throughout the following activity steps which will direct you to the relevant student handouts and slides. If viewing online these are not click throughs.

Note: students who want to collect evidence of their progress through LifeSkills can add their worksheets and summary sheets to a folder, along with any additional relevant materials.

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Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 4

Activity steps 1. What type of personality are you?

PDF

WS1.1

Sheet 1.1

• Explain to students that modern recruitment processes use a lot of assessment techniques that help identify someone’s personality traits as well as their skills, strengths and weaknesses • Explain that there are many different tests out there but the personality ones are often based on the theory of Myers-Briggs assessments, which is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure a person’s psychological preferences in how they make decisions • Explain to students that the exercise they’re about to do is a quick icebreaker to introduce them to the concept of personality traits. Show PDF Presentation Slide WS1.1. Ask students to choose one of the animals shown on the slide • Explain that animals, like humans, have different personality traits and deal with situations in different ways according to their natural instincts. Explain that although humans are very different from animals, we also have our own characteristics and preferences for the way we deal with different situations. Some animal behaviour is similar to human behaviour. Explain that any team activity works best when there is a range of personality types within it • Give out Student Sheet 1.1 and ask students to read the definition of the animal they chose. Then identify with a show of hands how many of each animal you have in the room. (You may wish to make a note of numbers to help group organisation)

PDF

WS1.2

2. Team activity • Show PDF Presentation Slide WS1.2. Tell students they’re going to complete a short team activity. Organise students into groups of 4 ensuring a mix of animal types. If there is a predominance of one type then deliberately create a group of all the same species (e.g. all lions together). Explain that their choice of animal is a strategy for setting up the team groups rather than letting them choose who to work with • Set them the task described on the slide and tell them they have to work as a team to create the most innovative plane they can, in 5 minutes, using a sheet of A4 paper • Following the activity, ask the groups to explain how they went about the task and whether any of them took on a particular role. Did they work well together as a team? Did anyone take more of a lead in organising the group than others? Was one particular person the designer? Was one particular person the analyser? • Explain to the group that the purpose of activities like these is to demonstrate that good teams require members with different personality traits and skills. Tell them that assessment centres often use activities like this one to help them analyse the strengths of applicants

Extension idea If time allows, students can test their planes and be judged for innovative design and distance travelled. This also demonstrates the importance of analysing the outcome of a team project

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Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 5

PDF

WS1.3

PDF

Sheet 1.2

WS1.4

3. Identifying your personality traits • Discuss the importance of needing to have an understanding of your own personality and how that can determine your preferences for how you like to work and help you identify what your strongest skills are • Give students Student Sheet 1.2 and explain they are going to use it to start recording their identified personality traits, which they will later use in helping them identify possible career areas to investigate • Show PDF Presentation Slide WS1.3 that contains a range of words that could describe personality. Ask students to quickly look at each one and choose the 10 characteristics that they think best describe them • Students should highlight their chosen words and the corresponding number on the first grid on Student Sheet 1.2 • Explain they should then identify how many words they’ve listed from each number category (it’s unlikely they will have chosen words from every category) and write this on the second grid. They then rank the categories in order of their frequency • Show PDF Presentation Slide WS1.4 and ask students to identify which category of skills they have the highest match for, then the second highest and so on. Students should write these onto the bottom grid on Student Sheet 1.2 • Discuss with the students how having a good understanding of what their natural strengths and likes are will help them identify areas of work for which they will have a natural aptitude

Extension idea Students could do the exercise again asking another student who knows them well to select the words for them. This gets across the message that sometimes how we perceive ourselves is not how we’re perceived by others and reinforces the importance of getting to know ourselves from all perspectives PDF

WS1.5

4. Match skills to occupational areas • Show PDF Presentation Slide WS1.5. Discuss with the students the concept of choosing an occupational area where their main interests, personality traits and skill strengths are a good match • From the information on the slide ask them to pick out the categories that are a good fit with the profile they identified in the last activity • For those students who already have a target job or occupational area in mind, ask them to review their findings from the activities to see if it confirms their choices. Explain that the activities they’ve completed are very basic and if the results don’t indicate a good match with a path they’ve already chosen, this is not a problem but they might like to investigate further, so they can focus on any skills they may need to develop in order to succeed on their chosen path

Extension idea If students have access to the internet they can explore different occupational areas on icould.com and www.careersbox.co.uk

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Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 6

PDF

WS1.6

5. Exploring positive behaviours • Show PDF Presentation Slide WS1.6 and ask students to work together in pairs or groups of 4 to discuss each word and identify an example of behaviour that demonstrates that attribute, eg what behaviour might someone display which you would identify as typical of a caring person? • Ask each group to pick one word they have discussed and present their thoughts to the class. Encourage students to identify which behaviours are typical of themselves or of each other if they know each other well. One of the benefits of this activity is to help students answer the question: “Why do you think you’d be good in this role?”

6. Summary discussion

PDF

WS1.7

Sheet 1.3

• Reinforce that the activities they’ve completed in the session are shortened versions of the types of tests and activities that are used in recruitment and it’s important to have some awareness of what their strengths and preferences are • Explain that most of us start our journey to a career with a fairly narrow range of skills and attributes and, as we become more experienced, we grow and develop in areas that we may not have a natural affinity with • Show PDF Presentation Slide WS1.7 and explain to students that they are going to complete their own Venn diagram. Talk them through the example on the slide, demonstrating the links they might look for between their skills, interests and personality to help identify suitable career areas. The idea is to get them thinking about career areas and work experience/voluntary opportunities they may not have considered before • Hand out Student Sheet 1.3. Students start by filling in their personality traits, their skills and their interests. Where the diagram overlaps they fill in possible occupational areas to research and consider • Discuss with students that this activity has been a starting point in helping them think about the career they want to pursue. Explain that having made some choices they can identify steps that will help confirm that choice. For example, finding some work experience in their chosen field or taking a short ‘taster’ course

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Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 7

Personality types in animals

Student Sheet 1.1

Lion

Bear

Lions are born leaders and are very brave. They also like order and calm. These characteristics could be associated with a person who demonstrates leadership skills and enjoys the process of solving problems.

Bears are home lovers and like to be around close family and friends. A person with this characteristic might be caring and kind and look out for those they care about, considering the feelings of others before their own. They would also take pleasure from the achievements of others over their own.

Snake Snakes are relaxed and stay calm under pressure. A person displaying similar characteristics would definitely like to be wellinformed before making any decisions.

Crocodile Crocodiles are strong and tough and very loyal. A person with the similar characteristics would like to observe and consider the best option before making decisions, and would be great at remembering details.

Bird Birds value their freedom and are fiercely independent. A person with similar characteristics would enjoy travel, seeing new places and encountering new experiences. They would have a bird’s eye view of everything that goes on, therefore great at considering the wider picture.

Monkey Monkeys are sociable animals that like to spend their time in the company of others and are always interested in anything and anyone new. This animal could be associated with people who are very active, energetic, enthusiastic, and like to party.

Hippopotamus The hippo is a very determined character. Determined people like to see things through however tough it gets. Occasionally people displaying these characteristics might get careless in their enthusiasm to get the task finished and may not always think through the consequences of their actions.

Giraffe Giraffes are organised creatures. If a person were to demonstrate similar characteristics they would plan for every activity and then follow it until the task is complete. They would also be very decisive.

Elephant Elephants are intelligent with a very good memory. A person with similar characteristics would have an excellent recall of the detail of events and never forget others. They would have the courage and determination to make things happen.

Zebra Zebras like to keep their feelings to themselves. A person with this characteristic might not be keen to express how they are feeling which may be confusing to others. These people would like structure to help them get on with the task and can be trusted to work independently.

Remember to get online at barclayslifeskills.com and use our great interactive resources to discover even more about Work Skills

Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 8

What are my strengths?

Student Sheet 1.2

Highlight the 10 words that you feel best describe your personality. Don’t spend too much time thinking about each one; go with your first reaction. Now count up how many words of your chosen 10 belong to each category. Adventurous

6

Ambitious

1

Calm

2

Caring

2

Considerate

2

Constructive

4

Cooperative

3

Copes with change

3

Determined

1

Disciplined

5

Imaginative

6

Enthusiastic

3

Finishes things

5

Focused

1

Friendly

2

Hard-working

1

Sociable

2

Helpful

3

Optimistic

2

Neat and tidy

5

Methodical

5

Persistent

4

Self-confident

3

Practical

4

Realistic

4

Reliable

1

Resourceful

6

Self-disciplined

5

Motivated

4

Inventive

6

Idealistic

6

No of words identified Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 Category 6 Look at the descriptors on PDF Presentation Slide 1.4 and identify which skills categories you match. Now list categories in order of highest to lowest score on the grid below.

My personality matches:

Think about what types of career might suit the skills you’ve identified as your strengths. Does the career you have in mind match your strengths or are there areas you’ll need to develop?

Remember to get online at barclayslifeskills.com and use our great interactive resources to discover even more about Work Skills

Work Skills Activity One: Know who you are | 9

Putting it all together

Student Sheet 1.3

In order to make the right choices when you leave your current programme of study you need to be clear about what types of activity inspire and motivate you to do well. Understanding your personality and identifying your strongest skills will help you make good decisions about your future. Use the diagram to write down under each heading what your key strengths, interests and personality traits are. Then think about your career aspirations. Is there anything that you’ve always wanted to do or a profession you’ve always wanted to be in? You will already have given this some thought in choosing your options at 16 and the programme of study you’re following now. But what comes next? The best progression routes will be the ones that combine aspects from all three areas. So, the section of overlap in the diagram is where you can note down the possible routes to pursue, whether that’s further study, employment or training.

Strengths

Personality

Aspirations

Interests

Aspirations

Remember to get online at barclayslifeskills.com and use our great interactive resources to discover even more about Work Skills