Do high school students understand the skills they need for finding employment?

No, most of them have no clue. I am the last cog in the interview process at my business. We will receive resumes that look great, call in the prospect, and they will show up with 22 earrings, elephant sized pants, sweats, 15 inch skirts, low cut blouses, and baseball caps. When asked to fill out an application, most will misspell the words that are even legible. Apparently, someone is helping them with those resumes. They don't even know how to say the word yes...instead I get yeah or huh? It's just so sad and I don't blame the kids...it's that somewhere along the way, the educational process didn't include real life scenarios. Ours is a service business, we don't require college degrees from our employees, but we do require some common sense and at least some effort at self respect. I'm afraid that we see very little of either. Someone out there is not doing their job. We can't take on life training at this level, I am looking for workers not proteges.

No, because they have nothing to compare life to except school and the effort needed to do school-related activities. Some have after-school and summer jobs, which is a help, but they don't have the knowledge needed to support themselves or even to know what they'll need just for basic survival. They think it's a nice car, wide-screen TV, a Blackberry and all the other toys they now are unable to live without (except they are not usually the ones who are footing the bill to subscribe to all these "must-haves.")

They are being taught more about life skills than I was at that age, but they are not even close to understanding how much competition they are coming up against for their dream jobs, and perhaps not being educated enough about the classes they should take first, to get the most out of a college level education...what to major in, which schools they should apply and the cost of one school over another. Most are going to have to have pretty good jobs to pay back the school loans and to be able to live, too.

Some do and some don't. Finding a job is discussed indirectly in some of our local high school classes but it's not taught formally in any course at our local high school.

After retiring from my career, I took a part time job at the request of a friend who really needed some reliable help in the small town convenience store and gas station she managed. There was a sandwich shop in the store that mostly employed kids 16 to 20. I wasn't their official supervisor but I was told to keep them working when the boss wasn't around. I got along very well with all the kids. Most did their jobs.

You could tell the ones that didn't have a decent work ethic or sometimes even common courtesy modeled for them at home. They didn't last long and it's a shame. These kids truly didn't know any better. They thought they could play around at work just like they probably did in class. They thought that the store managers would be lenient about enforcing the "rules" just like their parents probably were at home.

In all fairness to the kids, most were students either in high school or college. School was their first priority as it should have been.

Unfortunately, most students (especially those not going on to college) have no clue what they will do after graduation, so they have no idea what skills they need to get a job. They are too busy having fun to worry about the future. They will end up working in McDonald's or doing hard work for minimal pay. It's not until they get out of school that they start to realize the importance of preparing for a career. Some high schools have counselors who meet with each student a couple of times a year to discuss their options and the counselor can lead the student into a training program or hands-on environment to help them get employment. It's never too late to further your education and I hope that the unprepared graduates go back to school or a trade school so they can be trained for a trade or business venture.

High school students??!!

Try university grads.

This is a true story.

A local young man had graduated with a degree in Geology.

He just couldn't land a job in that field, so he applied to work in a mine just to pay the bills.

They were hiring and it was good money.

Over the course of a few months, he had submitted 3 applications. Never got a call.

One day he stopped over, on his way to take another application to the mine.

Things were getting desperate.

I couldn't understand why they wouldn't call him, so I asked if I could see his application form.

OMG! No wonder!

It was a standard 4 page application with questions.

His answers were horrendous.

Example;

Q- why do you want to work here?

A- I need money.

Q- Why did you leave your last job?

A- Didn't pay enough to pay all my bills which are lots.

I very tactfully got him to let me help him with a new form.

I also explained that companies don't care about your circumstances. They want to know what you can bring to them. This seems to be lost on the young generation.

He ended up getting the job.

I graduated in 1966 from high school. I could read and write, not well perhaps, but I had enough to function.

My brother graduated the same high school 10 years later and if it hadn't been for his big brother seeing that he had magazines that he liked to read, he would probably still be unable to read or write at more than a 1st or 2nd grade level.

And from the same school, I have a nephew with a diploma, not a GED, a real diploma.

He can't read well enough to take the written portion of his driver's test. His writing ability ends with his signature. He isn't stupid in any way, but he is every bit as ignorant as a large rock. He doesn't understand or possess the skills to do a damn thing aside from collecting welfare and dealing some drugs.

My four kids all went to public school as well, but they really received their education at home. My oldest is a stay home mom with two boys, she reads constantly and writes an article from time to time for a local magazine. My son is a graphic artist, he does a lot of work for Home Depot. The middle daughter has a BA. My youngest took her exit exams and passed everything in her Freshman year of high school. She is attending college and manages a couple of contemporary local bands.

The main difference is parent involvement and motivation, sometimes on the toe of my boot but with my wife teaching and me motivating things worked out fairly well.

In most high schools, students are routinely taught resume' writing during their junior and senior years, usually in English classes. There are elective classes that teach interview skills and job hunting techniques, but students must sign up for these. In college students can learn these skills through the career development offices in most schools. Again, students must seek out this service. I think that most are relying on Internet resources these days. There are sites like Monster.com and Careerbuilders that give guidance for job hunters. They offer sample resumes and other advice for job hunting and interview success.

There's lots of help in high school, college, and online, but students must take the initiative to get the help.

Edit: I graduated h.s. in 1968 and college in 1972. I was given no guidance at all. If students don't know how to look for a job these days, it's their own lack of initiative.

Man you know varies with the person.

Some know they don't and continue getting educated. Some think they know it all and got the tiger by the tail.

I think all young people should either spend two years in vocational training or go on to higher education or spend two years in the military services. Women too. There is all kinds of work for everyone.

The Army Corp of Engineers and the Sea Bees could get some infrastructure built.

People should not be allowed to slide to the gutter without a show of effort first.

U ain't gettin answers cuz people don't know.

Some highschool kids know what it takes to find jobs, and others ain't gotta clue.

I work at an amusement park during the open season and sometimes I know some of the kids that apply for work since I see em in my school. There are kids I woulda hired cuz I know they would work good, but they come in with saggy pants and stuff and basically get the standard brush off. Then I see guys dumber than a box of rocks who dressed up get the job.

Some do but most dont. They see people earning big bucks and assume that they should be able to do the same with no experience or education. The need to learn how to dress talk and act on interviews. If they arent going to college they need to learn a good trade. In years to come there will be few unskilled jobs out there for them to work.