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.  This year due to COVID 19 restrictions, the Work Readiness Day was offered virtually with speakers videoing their presentations and mock interviews completed via zoom.  For the industry tours we worked with a video company and the industry to also create digital media to give the students a tour of the work place.

 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. 172 High School Juniors started the day by virtually 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, how to dress for an interview and mock interviews. The 4-H Youth Development Agent worked with students on resume writing and dress for success to better prepare students for the job search and interview now or after high school.

  98% of participants completed a resume that was ready to be used to apply for a job.  91% improved their interviewing skills after participating in the mock interviews.  94% of the students stated they were more prepared for applying for upcoming jobs from participating in the Work Readiness Day.  

 This is the seventh year we have offered the Work Readiness Program.  A student that participated in the program recently reached out to the 4-H Youth Development Agent to say, “I recently obtain the job of manager of a Rural King Store thanks to all of my experiences in 4-H.  I was a shy student growing up but my participation in the 4-H Talk Meet and Demonstration Programs helped me greatly with my speaking ability.  What really made a different was the 4-H Mock Interviews and Work Readiness Program.  Once I graduated from college I know my interview experience through 4-H gave me an advantage over others in the interview process.  I just want to thank you for helping me get to where I am today.”