Career Planning
Preparing All Students for the 21st Century Workforce
Preparing All Students for the 21st Century Workforce![]()
Preparing All Students for the 21st Century Workforce
At Elk Grove Unified School District we strive to prepare all students for the 21st century workforce through college and career preparation. EGUSD offers students a number of opportunities to explore career choices while still in high school. This section offers students assistance in researching careers. All the information you need in one place!
- Academies & Pathways
- Career Technical Education
- Military
- The Resume
- Job Applications
- The Job Interview
- Work Permits
Academies & Pathways
EGUSD offers over 60 career-themed academies and pathways within 15 industry sectors. While our academies and pathways focus in different industry areas, they all foster communication, collaboration, technical, and leadership skills through group work, field trips and mentoring opportunities.
Career Technical Education
In addition to its academies and pathways, EGUSD offers over 60 career technical education programs that students can take as electives.
Military
Members of the U.S. military service maintain the U.S. national defense and join as either enlistees (with a high school diploma) or as officers (with a college degree). Although some service members work in occupations specific to the military, such as fighter pilots or infantrymen, many work in occupations that also exist in the civilian workplace, such as nurses, doctors, and lawyers. Members serve primarily in 5 branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. Or, some serve in the Reserve components of these 5 branches, and in the Air National Guard and Army National Guard. (The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security.)
Enlisted personnel typically do the following:
- Participate in, or support, military operations, such as combat or training operations, or humanitarian or disaster relief
- Operate, maintain, and repair equipment
- Perform technical and support activities
- Supervise junior enlisted personnel
Officers typically do the following:
- Plan, organize, and lead troops and activities in military operations
- Manage enlisted personnel
- Operate and command aircraft, ships, or armored vehicles
- Provide medical, legal, engineering, and other services to military personnel
- The Army
Provides information and news about the United States Army. - The Navy
Provides information and news about the United States Navy. - The Air Force
Provides information and news about the United States Air Force. - The Marines
Provides information and news about the United States Marines.
The Resume
A resume is a brief description of your previous education, work experience, and additional relevant information.
The purpose of a resume is:
- To introduce you to an employer
- To serve as an example of how you think and express yourself
- To catalog skills, experience, training and achievements
Remember your main objective is to include:
- Name, address, city, state, zip, phone number with area code, e-mail address, fax number
- Honors, awards, fellowships and scholarships
- Licenses and certificates
- Memberships and activities, including leadership positions
- Special skills, such as computer knowledge and foreign languages
- Job history listed with most recent job first
- Previous job experience to include: title of position, name and address of employer, beginning and ending dates, job description and responsibilities
- Education with most recent or current school first, including degree, name of high school or college, address, major and graduation date
Presenting the information
- Create a scannable resume using white paper, standard fonts, and dark type
- Put most important information at the top of the page
- Be creative and professional
- Use active verbs like initiated, designed, supervised and developed
- Use past tense to describe former jobs and present tense to describe current jobs
- Spell everything out. Do not use abbreviations or acronyms.
- Present candidates credentials in a positive manner
- Tailor the resume to the kind of job you are looking for
- Have someone proofread your resume
Qualities of a good resume
- Easy to read, concise
- Professional. Use a typewriter or computer to print your resume, making sure copies are neat and clean. Mail your resume in good condition preferably in a large envelope.
- Emphasize key points or expressions by using bold type or underline
Mistakes to avoid
- Too short, too long (preferred length is one page)
- Misspellings, typographical errors, poor grammar
- Irrelevant information-height, weight, gender, marital status
- Disorganization, too wordy and vague; important qualifications should stand out
- Italics, underline, shadow or reverse type, vertical and horizontal lines, graphics or boxes
Job Applications
A job application is the first step to employment. Besides resumes and cover letters, most entry-level jobs ask you to fill out a specific application form.
Job-Applications.com provides hundreds of printable and online applications for financial institutions, airlines, retail and department stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, and companies in many different industries. Students can also watch hundreds of interview videos with current and former employees of companies to help prepare them for job interviews. All resources are free because Job-Applications.com is dedicated to helping job seekers reach their career aspirations.
The Job Interview
Preparation
- Learn about the company and the position. Check out their website and request information from the company’s public relations department. Information that can prove useful is the company’s size, its history, the main products and services they provide and current news stories.
- Double-check the time and location of the interview. If it is an area that is new to you, consult a map or take a drive there before so you know how to get there.
- Prepare what you want to say in the interview. Think about your greatest strengths and weaknesses, your most significant work or school experiences, your future plans and your ideal job.
- Review your resume and think about how your experiences can be matched up with the job’s requirements. Rehearse with a mock interview.
Interview Day
- Dress appropriately. Choose conservative clothing and keep jewelry and accessories to a minimum.
- Be punctual. Arrive a little early to allow yourself time to relax and focus.
- Bring along extra copies of your resume and a pad of paper and pen. Take notes on any interesting points or questions. Your notes will come in handy when preparing for a second interview or writing a follow-up letter.
- Be sure to listen carefully throughout the interview. It is easy to spend all your time planning your answers, but remember this is a conversation. Listening carefully helps you to respond appropriately. Make eye contact with the interviewer.
- Avoid generalities. Give concrete examples when describing your work/school experience. Always be positive. Don’t be critical of previous co-workers or bosses. The way you talk about your former or current boss may be seen as an indication of how you will talk about your future boss.
- Demonstrate that you have thought seriously about this career path and this company by asking intelligent questions about the position. Draw upon your research about the company or ask about the working conditions, the chances for advancement and major projects your prospective job would entail.
- Ask your interviewers for their business card(s) to ensure that you have the proper contact information when you follow-up.
- Emphasize you are interested in taking the process to the next step and why you are the ideal candidate.
Be yourself (sense of humor and all) and you will be on your way to being hired!
Work Permits
All high school students under the age of 18 years old in California must obtain a work permit in order to be employed. In EGUSD, students must sustain a grade point average of 2.0 or better (and have no F grades in the prior term) and have a positive attendance history. Once the eligible student obtains a job, the following procedure is followed:
To obtain a REGULAR WORK PERMIT the student must:
- Complete the “Work Permit Application” available in the school counseling office or download from CDE’s website (.doc)
- Obtain signatures from employer and parent/guardian
- Submit completed application to the high school counseling office for review
- Allow for processing, approval and completion of work permit (approximately 48 hours)
- After receiving the work permit, provide original copy to employer
- Renew work permit prior to expiration date following the same process each year
To obtain an ENTERTAINMENT WORK PERMIT the student/parent must:
- Obtain an “Application for Permission to Work in the Entertainment Industry” available at the local Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) office or download directly from DLSE’s website
- Complete the front side of the form and sign in ink
- Submit completed application to the high school counseling office for review
- Allow for processing and completion of form (approximately 48 hours)
- After receiving completed application from the high school, submit the application and required documents to the DLSE directly for approval
To obtain a WORK PERMIT during the SUMMER:
The same process is followed for obtaining work permits during the summer months.
Answers to commonly asked questions:
- The hours a student may work vary according to age.
- Schools have the right to reduce or restrict hours and/or type of employment in order to support the education, health and safety of the student.
- A social security number is required on the application or it will not be processed.
- Middle school students in need of work permits must obtain permits from the high school to which their middle school feeds.
- Students from other districts, private schools, or out-of-state schools will not be issued permits from EGUSD.
- Minors who have graduated from high school no longer require work permits.
- Students who reach 18 years of age while still in high school do not require work permits.
- A work permit is required for each employer for whom a minor student is employed.
- A work permit can be revoked if it is determined that the employment is interfering with the student’s education, the conditions of the permit are being violated or it is determined that a student is performing duties or is in conditions that have been deemed unsafe.
- Work permit applications and/or actual work permits cannot be sent electronically (via email, etc.) and must have actual, “wet signatures.”
- Work permits are NOT issued from the Trigg Center/District Office at any time, however, if additional support is needed, please contact (916) 686-7709
Work Permit (Students) Board Policy/Work Permit (Students) Administrative Regulation
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