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Show i : J - ' -. If s : l( l ' i ; V . ; w i . ; ?a 1 " . 4 ,-Vv4 ! .' . 1 ' J 1 ;: y V : is - ..-o ' Jf " '' ' . . ' ' .. : I ,i ' i be I I DC 4 ' ' 1! : JOB INTERVIEW ft jy TOM BUSSELBERG it ' i HVSVILLE - Sloppily- ,gbed hair, playing down s :'.,vious jobs and casual :;Sliitir could all lead "there as far as getting a " m concerned. IB il STUDENTS AT the Davis m Vocational Center are '-iW the ins and outs to "1 iiessful pre-employment emews during a week-,1 week-,1 program designed to 1 sip ihem land, and keep, ft after graduation. Dm Brice, coordinator of ami services, oversees the . program and says it adds a valuable part to overall center training. "Skills are one thing, and you can learn skills and not know how to survive (in the working world). When they (students) leave here we want them to be able to develop their own job. "IN THE past, the employment agency did the job development and there was a problem once they were ' out on their first job," he continues. "And they didn't have anything to fall back on. We would have employers call in clients and we would send . Although you may know the skills that doesn't mean you can get the job unless the interview goes well. Practicing for that all-important chat with a potential boss are Job Service interviewer Bill Brown, left, and student Douglas Hopkins. them out and they wouldn't last." During the class, students write a resume, letter of application and complete a card file of potential employers. "We want them to get employment by choice, not by chance," Mr. Brice says. At the beginning of last week seven students were in the program and by week's end only two remained. "THE SUCCESS rate has been approximately 80 percent per-cent (placement) before they leave (the center)," he says. - In many cases they don't have time to go through the whole program. It was developed this past year by coach-instructor Dale Stevens, who works on a one-to-one basis with students. He is assisted by Job Service staffers Bill Brown from Layton and Perry Jordan from Bountiful. THE FINAL phase before students go job hunting puts them in a job interview situation situa-tion with their every move and sound recorded on videotape. video-tape. When this reporter visited, two students were being interviewed: in-terviewed: Doug Hopkins of Clearfield and Brent East of Clearfield. Interviewing each individually was Mr. Brown. DOUG IS 17 and seeking a job in auto painting, but said he would be willing to work into that later on. He already has experience in welding and sanding and has done some painting on his 1969 Volkswagen, Volks-wagen, he told Mr. Brown. Had he held any other jobs, Mr. Brown asked. "MINOR," DOUG replied. Those included work with an irrigation system at a county golf course, dishwasher and construction, which he quit after a month. "How has your attendance been (at the center)?" the interviewer in-terviewer asked. "IT'S BEEN pretty good," Doug said. "I was there every day and maybe missed one." When the interviewer found Doug was only 17, he said that could present a problem in working with some power equipment. "We'll probably have to have you do sanding and pounding out (until he turns 18 in November)." "DO YOU have any questions?" ques-tions?" Mr. Brown asked. "No," Doug said. THAT "NO" answer was something Doug has to change, instructor-coach Stevens said. "You've got to have that prepared (response), (re-sponse), memorized just like an actor. Remember how we spent time in class saying how important it is to leave the interview with a positive note? "You could have said something like, 'I'd just like to say I'm fast, I'm good and I haven't missed a day for four months,' " Mr. Stevens said. "Remember how we stressed to be positive? You said you had some 'minor' jobs. If you say that, he (interviewer) (in-terviewer) gets that impression." impres-sion." TO THAT point Mr. Brown added, "Most 17 year olds have probably never held a job. Most don't have anything to base on." Mr. Stevens said, "If you can tie past experiences in, such as you worked construction construc-tion and the golf course you were responsible for irrigating irrigat-ing and sprinkling systems and that you had to be a self starter. Say you're not afraid to work. You said you quit at construction. That was very, very hard work. You should've said you loved it. That would have told two things: you are able to work and a self-starter. "i DIDN'T like it that you laid your arm on the table," he added. "I would suggest that rather than have him (interviewer) think you were . slopping along you should just have fairly good posture." Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Stevens said being 17 could be a problem at present but should be minimized. Employers can often get special permission allowing employees to use some equipment. On top of that, . Doug will be 18 in a few months. "YOU COULD say, 'I'm 17 but I'm looking for auto body as a life's profession and if you give me a job I'll want to sny for years. If you work me in for a few months and train me, I'll stay on,'" Mr. Stevens said. Preparing letters of recommendation recom-mendation and indicating references will also enhance job chances, he told Doug. BRENT WAS looking for cleaning work and told Mr. Brown that he knew "how to do it all," having worked at Sunset and Fremont elementary elemen-tary schools. "I run the buffer," Brent said. "I buffed every floor in that school. It didn't look good so I did it over. I never worked with cleaning solvents but put in lights, washed windows and bathrooms." "DID YOU ever break anything?" Mr. Brown asked. "No," Brent replied. BRENT SAID he would like to eventually work in a supervisory position, having run cleaning operations at one schooi for two days. Mr. Brown, in critiquing Brent's performance, said he . should keep in mind that of his previous jobs, the most important to remember at that point was his cleaning experience. "You almost forgot for-got to mention the most important im-portant job." Brent had also worked at a service station and map firm. Being positive was stressed again by Mr. Stevens. "We spent 2V2 hours on being positive. You were negative quite a few times. You said people didn't like you and that you couldn't stand it (at one job). You weren't fired. Why didn't you just say you quit to go to another job. There are too many pluses and good things." |