Assessment 1: Preparing Resumes and Cover Letters (2 Weeks)

 Assalamualaikum everyone!

 

For the past 2 weeks, we went through the first assessment, which is the preparation of legal documents for interviews; a cover letter, and a resume. There's a reason why it took me 2 weeks to cover this topic, you'll see why later.

For the Diploma students, their task is a tad bit harder because they have to prepare a resume video in addition to the written (typed) cover letter and resume. For this task, students have to promote themselves to future employees by highlighting their skills and specialties in an introduction video called video resume. It is basically a resume, but in video form, which means that students have to know what parts of their resume they would like to highlight and present to wow headhunters.

Here is a summary of the SWOT analysis I had done based on the lessons these past 2 weeks:

STRENGTH: Due to the low level of English comprehension of the Certification students, the modules were prepared with samples and templates for students to follow, hence making it easier for us to complete the assessment since all they had to do was fill in the blanks. As for the Diploma students, they are more self-reliant, where they are able to find their own samples with my assistance, and had a little issue with completing both documents. In regards to their resume video, there are a lot of sources available online where they can see examples from Youtube of others making their own resume videos. The internet definitely has its perks when it comes to teaching because you can get almost every type of information you want online.

WEAKNESS: Things however were not as easy as I thought since before starting with their resumes and cover letters, students have to know the basics of how to look for job opportunities, and the easiest one was by using websites like JobStreet or MauKerja, which I discovered most of them had never used before. Hence, I had to teach them step-by-step how to job hunt online, starting from what to type in the Google browser, which websites to choose, and how to determine whether they individually fit the requirements of the job they are applying for or not, before proceeding to do a little company research to see the background of the company they are applying for. From this experience of teaching students how to use JobStreet, I learned that something that seems like common sense and can be self-taught for one person may not be seen the same way as another, since different people are exposed to things differently, and go through different life experiences. 

OPPORTUNITIES: Students have basic knowledge of the resume and cover letter layout, hence it was quite easy for them to identify what content and information should be included in these documents. Rather than me just teaching them every single thing, I decided to turn it into a class presentation, where each group is given different points to present in regards to resume and cover letter. Bu doing this, I'm allowing students to practice speaking in English, and also make them understand the topic better since they have to do their own research for the presentations.

THREAT: The lack of discipline is one of the major issues I can see among students during the completion of assignments. One unconventional practice they have in this college is that students are rarely given homework. This means that students actually complete their assignments and assessments during class hours. This is the reason why this topic is basically dragged out for two weeks; students would only complete their assignments during class hours, and after class has ended, they'll forget about them all altogether. I tried to test this out by giving them tasks several times, however, the result was still the same, the majority of them 'forgot'. I am not someone who likes punishments, so I'm still figuring out ways to actually make them more disciplined, but not in a strict environment.

In conclusion, there are still a lot of things I have to learn in handling students who are almost the same age as me because it all comes back to respect. How do I make them respect me enough to follow my rules, but not to the extent of them disliking me, thus affecting the class dynamics?

Anyway, wish me luck okay!

Till my next post, adios!