The Hart County 4-H Program and the Hart County Chamber of Commerce collaborated with the Hart County School System to offer a Work Readiness Day for all high school juniors to better prepare students for the workforce.  

The goal of the Work Readiness Day was to create an awareness about career opportunities within the county and show students what is require to help them succeed in the workplace. 178 High School Juniors started the day by touring two of the local manufacturing companies to see job opportunities and hear from the human resource departments what type of employees they are looking to hire.

After the tours students were divided into groups to learn how to fill out a job application, how to start their job search, learning & improving soft skills, resume writing and mock interviews. The 4-H Youth Development Agent worked with students on resume writing and improving soft skills to better prepare students for the job search now or after high school.

 96% of participants completed a resume that was ready to be used to apply for a job.  90% improved their interviewing skills after participating in the mock interviews.  91% of the students stated they were more prepared for applying for upcoming jobs from participating in the Work Readiness Day.  

A follow up evaluation showed that 3 students obtained part-time employment from local companies due to this program. Those students are earning an hourly salary ranging from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour. This will result in a total of over $22,000 in income for those 3 students from now until the end of their senior year.