According to our Jump Start for Job Seekers Curriculum Project Book 3:  To a large degree your choice of career determines where you live, who your friends are, and the lifestyle you are able to have. Rather than wait for your parents, teachers, or others, take charge of your own preparation  

Workforce and Career Readiness begins in the 4^th grade level with the 4-H Dollars and Sense program preparing youth for financial management.  This program is very popular with the elementary school principles as it provides the foundation for the next steps in career development. 95% of the 4^th and 5^th graders stated that managing their money was a lot harder than they realized.  Some of the comments included “I have a better understanding why my parents sometimes have to say no!”

The Middle School 4-H Reality Store provides a dose of real life especially how expensive it is for child care, housing, cars and food.  94% of the 8^th Graders said that they had no idea about child care and medical cost. They also learned that a second job meant more child care cost.

 Barren High School has an annual career and college day.   This Agent presented a worklist of skills needed for various jobs.  The 1200 students could take the test and see what career areas they were suited for at this time.  Information about attending the UK College of Agriculture was given to each participant.

This Agent worked with many of the students on preparing their resumes and interviews. Due to the cancellation of programs because of COVID-19, this Agent was serving as contact Agent for the Mock Interviews for the 10 Multi County Communication Contest. Instead of face to face interviews we did virtual interviews.  This Agent worked with the youth to have their resumes and cover letters sent to the judges and times that were convenient for the 4-H member and Judge for a phone interview.  This concept worked very well as usually your first interview is by phone.   The District winners advanced to the State Contest to be judged by Zoom.  This will probably be the wave of the future and something that needs to be added to the curriculum