Career Intervention

Kalie Halpin

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

EDUC 704
Determining The Need

The population served for this intervention was six Latinx senior students at Jordan

Matthews High School. Five are female, one is male, and all are of low-socioeconomic status.

These students are all high-achieving, with impressive academics and extracurricular

involvement.

At 17 and 18 years old, these students are in the exploration phase of Super’s Life Span. Through

the well-developed CTE program at Jordan Matthews, they have been able to dip their feet in a

variety of career interests. Now, they are beginning to combine knowledge of both themselves

and their world to make career decisions. Once they implement their career choice, they must

complete the tasks necessary to begin their occupation (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2017).

These six students are choosing to pursue careers in STEM and education, where Latinx

populations are traditionally underrepresented (Jones et al., 2018). Teaching and engineering

both require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in education. Thus, in order for these student to

pursue these careers, they must first ensure that they can cover their education financially.

Through collaboration with the college advisers and teaching staff, I found out that these

students have made it to the final round for scholarship interviews at their respective colleges of

interest. They all show an immediate need for interviewing skills to secure their scholarships,

deeming interviewing and professionalism training as a necessary career intervention. Beyond

this immediate need, students will undoubtedly have many more interviews in their lifetime.

Having them practice this skill set now will set them up to receive more opportunities that they

desire later.

Planning and Delivery

 This intervention began when I heard of one student who was in the running for a

scholarship interview. I then spoke with student services staff and senior teachers, asking which

other students had plans to interview for scholarships. After forming my list, I determined the

skills that students need to master to perform well in an interview process. I combined these with

ASCA standards and North Carolina Guidance Essential Standards to create objectives for the

intervention.

By the time these students interview, they will:

 Have prepared common interview questions on CFNC and an elevator speech

 Understand interview etiquette, including professional dress

 Run through a full-length mock interview to assess their strengths and areas for

growth

I collaborated with students, teaching staff, and my mock interview committee to find

time to meet for lessons and mock interviews. I met with students three times over the course of

this intervention. In the first lesson, we covered professionalism and interview etiquette. I

provided students with pictures of different articles of clothing and had them sort them into piles

for going out, interviewing, and wearing at home. In the next lesson, they used the career

planning section of CFNC’s website to write out answers to common interview questions,

formulate a personal elevator speech, and practice with their peers. In our final meeting, students

had mock interviews. They were expected to dress for success and use full interview etiquette.

This included appropriate introductions and handshakes, full answers to the committee’s

questions, and asking prepared questions to the committee, without pauses or stops. Our

interviewing committee, that was composed of college advisers, CTE staff and counselors, chose

questions based on the scholarship and occupation each student is applying for and CFNC’s
common interview questions. Each committee member then had a chance to talk through what

went well and give ideas for improvement.

Evaluation

This intervention was fairly simple to implement, given that there was no extra cost to it,

and the small number of participants made planning for logistics painless. Because these students

are high-achieving, teachers were willing to let them out of class to work with us. The most

difficult piece was coordinating times with the rest of the interviewing committee.

Four of the six students received the scholarships they applied for. Each scholarship

covers all out-of-pocket need, securing these students’ enrollment at their respective schools. In

addition to allowing these students to complete their degree without financial limitations, they

are also entering into programs that specialize in their preferred occupations. Therefore, this

intervention not only helped these students cover their financial need to complete their required

occupational training, but they will now receive extra programming in their desired fields, setting

them up for more opportunities in school and after when they are looking for their first job.

Based on perception data, each student felt more confident connecting their personal

experiences with interview questions. Every student was able to receive personalized feedback

on their interviewing skill, and walk away with practice and tools to increase their performance

in their actual interview.

Overall, this intervention had positive outcomes, based on students’ monetary rewards,

their perceptions of the intervention, and all objectives being met. In the future, I would like to

implement this intervention on a larger scale. Career training is not a tier one priority at Jordan

Matthews, but it is so necessary, especially at a school with low social capital. If four out of six

students got the position they were interviewing for, doing this intervention could help push
hundreds of my students forward in the careers that they desire. I would like to bring in

volunteers from the community to conduct mock interviews for the school. The feedback would

be less in-depth, and the questions would be less individualized, but it would still give students a

chance to articulate how their skills and experiences match with their preferred career options.
 References

Jones, J., Williams, A., Whitaker, S., Yingling, S., Inkelas K., & Gates, J. (2018). Call to action:

Data, diversity, and STEM education. Change: The Magazine of Higher

Learning, 50(2) 40-47, DOI: 10.1080/00091383.2018.1483176

Niles, S. G., & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2017). Career development interventions (5th ed.).

Columbus, OH: Pearson

 Appendix 1

SCHOOL COUNSELING CORE CURRICULUM ACTION PLAN

Process
Data Perception
(Projecte Data Outcome Data
ASCA Domain and d number (Type of (Achievement,
Grad Mindsets & Curriculum Projecte of surveys/ attendance and/or Contac
e Lesson Behaviors and d students assessments behavior data to be t
Level Topic Standard(s) Materials Start/End affected) to be used) collected) Person

12 Dress for I.CR.4.2 Demonstrat Powerpoint 8 Students Kalie

Success e the importance of presentatio 12:00- feel
 Attendance
Halpin
and Basic responsibility, n 1:00 confident in  Students
Professiona dependability, ability to can identify
l Etiquette punctuality, integrity, dress and what is and
and effort in the act is not
workplace. appropriatel appropriate
y in professiona
interviews l clothing

12 Interview: I.CR.2 Understand Powerpoint 12:00- 8 Students Kalie

How to be the relationship presentatio 1:00 know what to
 Attendance
Halpin
your best among personal and n expect when  Students
salesman academic decisions, walking into can answer
career expectations, an interview common
and future life
decisions.

B-LS 7. Identify long-

and short-term
academic, career and
social/ emotional
goals

12 Mock I.CR.4.2 Demonstrat Interview 12:00- 8 Students felt Kalie

Interviews e the importance of Evaluation 1:00 that the
 Attendance
Halpin
responsibility, form, adult mock  Evaluation
dependability, volunteers interview forms are
punctuality, integrity, helped them given to
and effort in the to feel more each
workplace. confident in student
a real after their
interview interview
with
feedback
 Appendix 2

SCHOOL COUNSELING CORE CURRICULUM RESULTS

REPORT

Process
Data Perception
(Projecte Data Outcome Data
ASCA Domain and Projecte d number (Type of (Achievement,
Grad Mindsets & Curriculum d of surveys/ attendance and/or Contac
e Lesson Behaviors and Start/En students assessments behavior data to be t
Level Topic Standard(s) Materials d affected) to be used) collected) Person

12 Dress for I.CR.4.2 Demonstrat Powerpoint 6 All students Kalie

Success e the importance of Presentation 12:00- felt
 6 students
Halpin
present
and Basic responsibility, , 1:00 confident in
Professiona dependability, professional ability to  Students
l Etiquette punctuality, integrity, dress card dress and successfully
and effort in the game act identified
workplace. appropriatel what is and
y in is not
interviews appropriate
professional
clothing

12 Interview: I.CR.2 Understand Powerpoint 12:00- 6 All students Kalie

How to be the relationship presentation 1:00 felt confident
 6 students
Halpin
present
your best among personal and , CFNC that they
salesman academic decisions, website could act  All students
career expectations, professionally typed out
and future life in an answers to
decisions. interview each
common
interview
B-LS 7. Identify long- questions in
and short-term CFNC and
academic, career and practiced
social/ emotional reciting
goals them to a
partner

12 Mock I.CR.4.2 Demonstrat Interview 12:00- 6 All students Kalie

Interviews e the importance of Evaluation 1:00 felt that the
 6 students
Halpin
present
responsibility, form, adult mock
dependability, volunteers interview  Students
punctuality, integrity, helped them each
and effort in the to feel more received
workplace. confident in individualize
a real d interview
interview feedback
from staff
 4 of the
students
received the
scholarship
they
interviewed
for