Employment Essentials

High School Career Tech Marketing Course

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Week 1: April 6-10

Learning Goal:

I can learn more about personal financial management concepts by using virtual simulations to study and apply to real-life scenarios.

Estimated Time for The Week: 2-3 hours (more time is optional with the number of lessons available)

Learn & Practice:

  • Go to vb.knowledgematters.com and log in with your login information
  • Review past lessons to refresh your memory on methods of completion
  • Complete lessons as presented, step by step
  • Remember that you can open the tutorial and reading, as needed, any time and restart your sim if you get off track (file - restart)
  • Consider that it is always best to complete lessons in the order they are presented as they will build on each other
  • Reflect on any particular areas that were less understood than others and start a conversation with a classmate or your teacher for stronger understanding
  • Final simulation will be available in later weeks to complete. In the final simulation, you will be able to run all aspects of a virtual person’s life by applying all learned in the lessons above.
  • Resources used: knowledgematters.com/highschool (this is the homepage for high school and is not the login screen - for login, use link above)
  • Get engaged and have fun while learning more about personal finance!

Week 2: April 13-17

Learning Goal:

I can learn about and explore resources to help me seek, find and apply for employment as a teenager for safe and appropriate employment for my age group.

Estimated Time for The Week: 1-2 hours (more time is optional )

Learn, Explore & Practice:

  1. Go to Ok Department of Labor, Child Labor Unit and look over and read to become familiar with resources available
  2. Recall our guest speaker’s presentation from Semester 1, “Paying Attention Pays” from the OK Dept. of Labor. Do you still have the handout? These online sources will also work!
  3. Review guidelines and OK labor laws that apply to our young teen workers on the OK Department of Labor website at Ok Child Labor Laws
  4. Remember, each place of employment might vary in their policies, but it’s important to know the law vs. what just might be nice or a courtesy, when employed, regarding breaks, etc.
  5. Consider your rights and then search for employment based on your age, interests and skills
  6. Go to Ok College Start and look over the many resources available on the website for high school students and beyond for college and careers.
  7. View the resources specific to career planning located on the OK College Start website at Career Planning
  8. Get engaged and have fun while learning more about finding and applying for jobs. Use your time and resources available wisely.
  9. Reflect on businesses you have enjoyed being a customer of, and explore your options with those by going to their website’s career section
  10. Apply what you have learned by visiting your employer of interest online at their website (examples, Kohl's, Old Navy, or Crest, etc.) and actually apply for a job, when you are ready!
  11. Remember, even if you don’t get the first job you apply for, each time you apply, you have an opportunity to improve your skills and gain experience in the job search and application process.
    • Good luck and enjoy the journey!




Week 3: April 20-24

Employment Essentials

Learning Goal:

I can learn about and explore resources to help me build a resume that enables me to apply for academic scholarships and employment.

Estimated Time for The Week: 1-2 hours (more time is optional )

Learn, Explore & Practice:

  • Go to Ok College Start
  • Set up a FREE account
  • Click on Career Planning
  • Click on Learn About Yourself - YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. EXPLORE HOW WHO YOU ARE MATCHES WITH CAREERS BY USING ONE OR ALL OF THE CAREER ASSESSMENTS LISTED.
  • View the other resources specific to career planning located on the Ok College Start website
  • Get engaged and have fun while learning more about yourself and how your experiences can help you build your resume. Use your time and resources available wisely.
  • Click on the resume builder under quick links in the career planning section
  • View learn more about resumes to give you the information or framework you need before starting your own.
  • Understand, anyone can write a resume, but it takes real skill to write an effective one. Entire books have been written on the topic of resume creation, but the following articles should give you more insight on the whole process. Additionally, as you progress through the Resume Builder, you will notice that some sections have related articles listed.
  • View sample resumes to see which format might be the best for you and your experience level.
  • Apply what you have learned by creating a professional looking resume by clicking build a new resume

- fill in the template by following the prompts.

  • Take the opportunity, while school is not in, to go through your files to recall past experiences or awards/recognitions you may have forgotten about to add to your resume.
  • Talk with your parents and friends about the qualities they see in you and recall together experiences you may be able to add to your resume that would help someone get to know you better and see how you are worthy of the scholarship or job you may be applying for.
    • Good luck and enjoy the journey!


Week 4: April 27 - May 1

Employment Essentials, Week 4

Learning Goal:

I can learn about and explore resources to help me prepare for a professional interview that may lead to opportunities for academic scholarships, internships and employment.


Estimated Time for The Week: 1-2 hours (more time is optional )


Learn, Explore & Practice:

  • Go to Ok College Start
  • Set up a FREE account (unless you already did last week) and log in
  • Click on Career Planning
  • Click on Get A Job and see the 4 types of resources listed on the page. Review any you’d like to learn more about before getting into today’s lesson, interviewing.
  • Click on Job Interview Practice and work through answering the questions. Type them out. See the tips given to improve after each attempt. The site will save your answers to review later.
  • Click start, then choose questions, answer and review until you feel confident in your answers. This may take some time but will help you develop your interviewing skills and gain confidence
  • Practice by doing a couple mock interviews with a family member or friend. Have them ask you the questions you’ve seen and typed out answers to.
  • Come up with 5 additional questions you think an employer might ask and practice answering them
    • Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Week 5: May 4-8

Employment Essentials, Week 5

Learning Goal:

I can learn about and explore resources to help me prepare for a fulfilling career, beginning with post-secondary school/college options that will give me the necessary training to begin my career of choice.


Estimated Time for The Week: 1-2 hours (more time is optional )


Learn, Explore & Practice:


Week 6: May 11-13

Employment Essentials - Week 6


Learning Goal:

I will understand the value of marketing and personal relationships with customers in the world of work.

Estimated Time for The Week: 2 hours

Learn & Practice:

  • Read this article: Marketing & Customer Relationships
  • Understand the Pareto Principle: Pareto Principle
  • Understand the Loyalty Ladder Loyalty Ladder
  • Think about how small businesses locally are impacted by the loss of customers.
  • Ask yourself how often you/family shopped “small” (locally owned businesses) before COVID19.
  • Ask yourself how often you/family have shopped “small” during COVID19.
  • Identify & list 5 small businesses in Edmond. These should not be large chain businesses, such as Target, but rather something local such as Best of Books.
  • Differentiate the types of businesses that you list (such as a restaurant, gas station, grocery store, coffee shop, other services, etc.)
  • Brainstorm & list 10 different ways people in your community could support these businesses during hard economic times. Be creative!
  • Consider that not everyone has excess money to spend.
  • Share your thoughts with others which may include your favorite Marketing/DECA teacher.


Looking for a future week? Check back after 12:00pm (noon) on Sundays, when new weekly content goes live!