Good Practice Examples/Global Practices/Job Hunting Activities

Case Study on GoTeach Job Hunting Skills

Sources of Information

Interviews with 6 Young People from Peru and 2 Young People from Indonesia and 9Volunteers from Thailand, Mauritius, South Africa, Peru and Indonesia

1. Executive Summary

The GoTeach programme began in 2011 as a pilot programme in four countries and has since expanded into an international partnership of over 26 countries across Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe between SOS Children’s Villages and Deutsche Post DHL Group’s GoTeach “Living Responsibility” CSR strategy.

Its mission is to improve the employability of disadvantaged young people by connecting them to the world of work. Thus DPDHL Group employees at every level volunteer their expertise and time to help young people from SOS Children’s Villages. They seek to inspire and motivate the youth to prepare their first professional steps, by means of sharing their own professional and personal experiences.

This Case Study focuses on job hunting skills that Young People have gained by being part of the GoTeach programme. According to the Youth Employability Skills and Competencies definition, possessing job hunting skills means, understanding the different methods of finding vacancies and how to apply and understanding how to create a CV or application letter and how to prepare for an interview.

Subsequently, GoTeach activities focusing on job hunting skills conducted in South Africa, Mauritius, Peru, Indonesia and Thailand will be explained in more detail.

2. Objective and purpose

This case study was designed with the aim of getting an overview of activities connected to job hunting skills that are conducted in different GoTeach countries. The Case Study gives a summary of various approaches to improve the job hunting skills of young people, from different countries. Therefore the Case Study assesses the following aspects:

• The duration of time allocated for CV writing and interviewing skills
• The number and average age of youth involved
• The number and the position of  volunteers
• The activity type (training, workshop, career day, mentoring etc) and the methods used (discussion, presentation, simulation etc)
• If existing, how is the activity structured
• What are the key take-aways (tangible, practical)
• What are the benefits of performing this activity
• How many internships and full time employment positions are offered to young people attending the activities
• Potential partner companies to be involved in this kind of activity
• Current challenges in performing this kind of activity
• Future improvements of the current activity the country is having

The results can help countries to implement, strengthen and improve their own approach. However it should be noted that depending on the local context a different approach might be more suitable. Furthermore the Case Study should facilitate the exchange between GoTeach countries.

3. Methodology

Regional Managers were contacted to identify countries that have already implemented job hunting skills activities. Based on their recommendation different countries were approached and interviews with volunteers, who conducted an employability skills activity and young people, who attended the activity, ideally a young person who already had the chance to make use of the learnings and maybe successfully entered the working world, were conducted. All in all three volunteers from South Africa, two volunteers from Indonesia, one volunteer from Thailand, one volunteer from Mauritius and one volunteer from Peru were interviewed. Additionally, two young people from Indonesia and six young people from Peru participated in the interviews. The interviews took place between the 21st of July 2017 and the 25th of September 2017 and took around 45 minutes each. To assure that all relevant aspects were covered an interview guideline was developed. All interviews were transcribed and analysed.

4. Activity Types

As above mentioned, according to the Youth Employability Skills and Competencies definition, having job hunting skills means being able to write a CV and resume and being prepared for job interviews. Below different activities and workshops that give the youth a better understanding of how to write a CV or conduct a job interview are described.

5. Activity Description

Which of the activities conducted in your country are connected to Job Hunting skills- CV writing & interviewing skills?

Most of the countries offer activities that strengthen and improve CV and resume writing skills and interview techniques. Young people are introduced to the process and possible questions of an interview and participate in mock interviews. Additionally, in Indonesia an activity on public speaking and in Peru a time management session is offered. Furthermore the training modules feature leadership development and English classes and facilitate personal development and employability. Depending on the country, activities and their duration vary. Whereas in some countries activities connected to Job hunting skills are part of a 3 day camp as in Mauritius, in other countries activities are organised as a one-day workshop. Furthermore some countries offer job shadowing or internships. For instance in Indonesia, young people are interning at Mondeles for two weeks to get a better understanding of the work in a warehouse.

Please shortly describe the structure of this activity (What kind of activity, methods used, average duration- in hours)

In South Africa the training itself lasts one day. Young people are taught how to write a CV. A 30-slide presentation covers topics such as “What is a CV? When should you use a CV? How long should a CV be? What information should a CV include? What makes a good CV? What is the format of a CV (chronological, functional and chrono-functional)? How to write a CV (Header, Objective, Education, Honors/Activities, Work Experiences, Research Experiences/Projects, References)? and Do’s and Don’ts. A 5-slide presentation about competency based interviews gives the young people an idea about possible questions and ideal answers at an interview. An example for an interview question could be ‘What do you do when you have many tasks to complete at the same time?’ The answer to this question should be structured according to the STAR technique (Situation/Tasks, Action, Results). At first the interviewee should explain a situation or task where he or she experienced something similar/comparable. An example would be ‘In my previous role as an HR Business Partner, you always have many things to complete e.g. recruitment, disciplinary actions, performance reviews etc. At one time I had many roles to recruit for and also quite a few disciplinary actions and work to do on our HR IT system. I didn’t know how I was going to cope’. Afterwards the Interviewee should explain what action he or she took. An example would be ‘I made a list of everything that I had to complete, and then I tried to see which was the most urgent, but because there were so many things that were urgent, I knew that I had to ask for help. I asked our HR administrator to assist with some of the more admin-related work and I told my manager that some of the tasks, which were not as important but still had to get done, would be a little late.’ In the end interviewees should give a result, stating if the situation/task was performed successfully. An answer could for instance be I completed the urgent tasks with the help of our administrator and I didn’t get into trouble with the tasks that were late because I had already talked to my manager.’ Other examples for possible questions would be: ‘Tell me about a leadership position you have held, what was the position and how did it turn out?’ Tell me about a difficult assignment you had to complete? What has been your greatest achievement so far? Have you ever been asked to do something that was against your or your company’s ethical standards?’

Afterwards mock interviews are conducted by the HR department to give the young people an opportunity to practice the learnings. The presentation and mock interviews only lasted for one hour and were part of a whole-day workshop.

In Thailand two types of activities are conducted. One is called ‘Ton Kla on the Go’ and the other one is called ‘Ton Kla Camp’. ‘Ton Kla on the Go’ visits around five country villages in Thailand. Ton Kla camp takes place once a year in Bangkok. The ‘Ton Kla Camp’ in Thailand lasts for 4 days and is more advanced than Ton Kla on the Go. The Camp starts with an Icebreaking activity, which helps the young people to feel comfortable talking and sharing their experience with the other participants. During the 4 days different activities are performed. Young people are taught in professional English, participate in psychology sessions, since some of them do not know where their future career will be, in personality sessions, to teach them how to behave, dress and put on makeup for an interview and in inspiring sessions, where an external speaker is invited, who tries to build confidence and motivates the youth. In Mauritius one on one or one on two counselling sessions are also provided to discuss career options, assertiveness and how to handle feedback. Besides financial planning activities, young people are asked to develop their own CVs. This CV writing workshop is followed by a workshop on interview techniques and mock interviews. Altogether teaching interview techniques and conducting mock interviews takes around 2 hours. In Mauritius the mock interview sessions lasts for one day. Here every young person takes part in a mock interview with a senior manager. The manager has the profile of the young people (for ex. he/she would like to be a cook) and the manager asks the questions according to the profile checklist.

However the number of young people participating in mock interviews varies from region to region. Either all young people, as in Thailand, have the opportunity to participate in a one on one interview with the HR Manger or the interview is only conducted with some young people, as in South Africa or Indonesia. The remaining young people have the possibility to observe the interviews. Afterwards the interviewees receive an individual feedback.

Furthermore young people for instance in Mauritius are informed about what kind of personalities employers are looking for, e.g. being punctual or communicative and about proper behaviour patterns during the interview, such as eye contact, sitting up straight, do not lie or how to dress. In Mauritius Youtube videos are shown to explain good and bad practices.

Moreover to help the young people get a better understanding of the work environment, job shadowing’s or internships are offered. In Indonesia, young people have the opportunity to learn how to scan data, manage archives and learn about inbound and outbound processes/logistics during a two weeks internship. Included in the camp activities in Thailand is a company visit to DHL Express. In South Africa young people are subdivided into groups. Each group was assigned to a department. For instance youth who were assigned to the group ‘S’, knew that they would be a part of the group visiting the Sales department. The volunteer of each group introduced himself to the group before going to the work environment. While the volunteer explains his or her task area, young people are allowed to ask questions to get a better understanding of work life.

6. Findings

Please mention the number and average age of young people.

Most of the participants in all countries are between 15 and 20 years old. In Thailand also the attention of younger people is captured. Ton Kla on the Go targets young people who are between 12 and 20 years old. In Indonesia also 22 year old youth, already studying, are participating in the activities. All in all the situation of the young people is diverse. Some are still going to school, some are studying, whereas others are already working. However the majority of the youth has not been at a job interview before or has not learned how to successfully write a CV. Meaning that their level of job hunting skills is low.

Please mention the number and position of volunteers conducting this activity.

The number of volunteers varies from country to country. For instance in South Africa 3 volunteers from DHL conducted the mock interviews for 13 young people. In Thailand around 20 DHL employees volunteer in the Ton Kla Camp, where around 30 to 40 young people participate. The functions of volunteers are also diverse. Volunteers come from different management levels and work in different departments such as IT, customer services, finance or commercial. However the majority works in HR. Others background is in social works.

What are the key take-aways from this activity (tangible, practical skills learnt)?

Young people learn how to conduct interviews, e.g attitudes (sitting up straight) and the best way to answer interview questions. Furthermore youth confirmed that they improved their excel skills and that they acquired useful information for their future career. For instance that improving their English and communication skills is essential for working professionally (Indonesia). In addition, it was impressing for the young people to get to know the working atmosphere and the seriousness of the work at DHL. Some can picture themselves working for DHL, others state that they obtained useful information, but want to pursue other types of jobs in their field of expertise, such as cook or teacher (Mauritius). Additionally young people feel personally more ready and confident to start a job.

How many internships/ permanent positions are offered after the activities? How the skills gained help young people perform at the internship/job?

The internship demonstrated that being motivated and working hard can enable young people to achieve their own goals. Young people have learned to find their own motivation to achieve their desired future career and that it is not only about starting a job as soon as possible but that it needs a lot of readiness and skills. Furthermore the internships helped the young people to identify their area of passion. Two of the interviewed young people already applied for an internship in their field of interest. In this case culinary art and interior design

What kind of benefits this activity brings to the young people?

The activities help young people in getting a better understanding of the working environment and work ethics and are helpful to develop more confidence about their future career. Young People value internships because an inside in the working culture and daily tasks is provided. Interviewees would recommend this activity to other young people because on the one hand DHL is a good place to work that makes you feel welcomed and comfortable and on the other hand because the young people get professional work experience.

Furthermore participating in these activities offers young people the opportunity to exchange and share ideas and to interact with other youth. Participating in the activities, increased the self-esteem and self-confidence of the young people.

In your local reality, is it possible to involve other corporate partners to these kinds of activities?

Will you be available for suggestions based on the conclusion of this survey?

7. Follow-up

So far follow-up is not really provided after the activities. However countries such as Mauritius and South Africa express the need and importance of it. South Africa for instance refers to the mentorship programme in Madagascar. In Madagascar young people and their mentors meet once a month for around 60 -90 minutes for a coaching session.

8. Challenges and Recommendations

What kind of challenges appeared/can appear when performing this activity?

• Shortage of Volunteers: During kick off a lot of people were interested in supporting the project by volunteering. However during the planning a lot of the volunteers backed out. Therefore motivating employees to volunteer is essential.
• Distance: Often the youth live kilometres away from the DHL Company. Thus transportation depicts a challenge.
• Emotional Attachment: To cope with the personal stories youth share during the activities
• Language barrier: It was noted that communication in English is often challenging but also manageable. Indeed it was indicated that communication skills improved during the activities, however there is still room for improvement.
• Time frame: Often time is limited, resulting in too little time for some job hunting skills activities.
• Consistency: Often challenging to keep the consistency in the activity or rather to stick to the timeline
• Behaviour: Some Young People are really shy in the beginning of the activities.
• Mismatch of interests: Young people also noted that they did not feel comfortable about their area of work during the internship, because they were interested in other areas such as culinary art and interior design.
• Agenda: Sometimes the activities did not match the agenda and young people stated that there was barely anything to do, resulting in less learnings
• Dropouts: Some youth, who are too young, might leave the workshop early, because they don’t know yet about their future

What kind of future improvements of the employability skills activities do you see for your local reality?

• Icebreaking activities should be implemented before employability skills activities start. Icebreakers help the youth to feel more comfortable in the surrounding and make it easier for them to open up and connect with other youth.
• Entrepreneur and vocational skill training should be conducted. However the implementation turned out to be challenging so far.
• Mentorship or coaching sessions, where the mentor and the young person meet once a month for around 60 to 90 minutes should be implemented.
• More activities with relevant content should be implemented. For instance how to write an effective email or financial planning activities to enable young people to keep track of their expenses and support them in their independence.
• There is no need to subdivide youth in age groups, however grouping the youth depending on their future career wishes is reasonable
• A practical approach, where not only theories are explained, matters. Especially because for most of the youth it was first experience/ job interview
• More involvement from the DHL team would be beneficial
• Senior managers in interviews change. Disappointed if they have the interviews with people from lower levels
• Prepare young people for long term employment
• More internships should be offered. Could be tried to establish internships at SOS Children’s Villages.
• Individual interests and backgrounds should be respected. For instance in Peru artistic skills of young people should be identified. It is important to connect the career opportunities/discussions with young people’s area of studying/field of interest. Therefore workshops that focus on the career wishes should be developed.
• English and French lessons should be  offered in the following years
• Young people should be informed about the best way to dress

What would you recommend for others starting these activities?

• HR should conduct the interviews, because they have knowledge about the questions and the process of an interview. HR should set up possible interview questions and provide different techniques to the youth to answer the questions. In South Africa young people are familiarized with competency based interview.
• Young people should be informed about code of behaviour during interviews.
• Every young person should participate in the interview, because it is a helpful opportunity to practice the learnings and receive feedback
• Young People should have the possibility to give feedback as well
• The tasks and roles should be clearly distributed and identified between the DHL and SOS staff. However joint discussions between DHL and SOS regarding the content of the activities and the agenda should take place. (personalization)
• Follow up after camps / activities: youth with potential – support they need – cannot happen
• SOS to engage these entrepreneur needs
• YP should stay in contact with volunteers
• Look for personal motivation
• Continue to have a follow up with volunteers  Mentorship
• Mock interviews were done quite well, are essential and helped a lot
• Practical experiences/ approach matter
• Especially because for most of the youth it was first experience/ job interview
• Group-Preparation
• Engage the best persons from SOS (youth coordinator)

Chapter lead	Martin Schmid