Personal Life Skills

Personal Life Skills

This course deals with issues such as Alternatives to Paid Work, Searching and Applying for a Job, Self-Management Skills and Preparing for an Interview.

Workskills are designed to give the learner a ‘heads up’ for the skills that are required in gaining and maintaining a job in the real world, and will teach the learner what employers are looking for in a candidate.

Course Content at Entry Level:

Alternatives to Paid Work: Indentify alternatives to paid work; Know that the skills gained from unpaid work are transferrable to other areas of work and life; Know organisations that provide information on alternatives to paid work and the opportunity to get involved with this.

Working as a Volunteer: Know about different types of voluntary work and different roles within the voluntary sector; Know the benefits of participating in voluntary work by indentifying some of the benefits of voluntary work for both the volunteer and the organisation / individual / community being served; Undertake voluntary work under direct supervision.

Managing Your Own Money: Know different sources of income; Know how to buy goods with cash and receive the correct change; Identify ways of saving money by making cutbacks and relevant lifestyle changes.

Being Responsible for Other People’s Money: Know the importance of keeping other people’s money safe; Know how to handle other people’s money responsibly; Understand the rules for handling other people’s money responsibly; Complete simple calculations involving money.

Searching for a Job: Know about the sources of information for potential employment; Be able to search for appropriate job vacancies from given sources; Know the key elements of job advertisements.

Applying for a Job: Know the different methods of applying for a job; Know the purpose of a job application form; Be able to present personal information in an appropriate format depending on the type of job and the application form / process.

Preparing for an Interview: Know what the job / placement / course which they are applying for entails; Be able to prepare responses for likely interview questions; Know that it is important to pre-plan travel arrangements and dress appropriately for the interview.

Interview Skills: Know how to present themselves appropriately at an interview; Be able to give appropriate answers to the interviewers questions; Know how they performed in the interview.

Self-Management Skills: understand self-management skills and how they increase productivity at work; Demonstrate self-management skills by being practical, knowing how regularly to take breaks and identifying the relevant person to approach if they need to help support; Review their own self-management skills.

Self Assessment: Know their own personal strengths and weaknesses; Identify their own useful skills and qualities; Know about setting long and short term goals.

Career Progression: Know about the particular qualities and skills needed to progress in a particular career; Know the different sources of information and guidance related to career progression; Know the benefits of career progression.

Course Content at Level 1:

Alternatives to Paid Work: Know that there are different types of beneficial activities which alternatives to paid work; Know how to access information from organisations involved in beneficial alternatives to paid work; Know that the skills and qualities gained from participating in alternatives to paid work may be transferrable to other areas of work and life.

Working as a Volunteer: Know why volunteers are important; Understand that a variety of personal skills are required for different areas of voluntary work; know how to apply to become a volunteer; Be able to undertake voluntary work.

Managing Your Own Money: Understand different sources of income and typical types of expenditure; Know how to balance income and expenditure; Know different types of savings accounts and how to choose a bank or building society to meet their needs; Know how to invest and save money for future needs and understand the advantages and disadvantages of this.

Being Responsible for Other People’s Money: Know different methods of payment and when they could be used; Understand the importance of handling other people’s money responsibly; Know procedures that might apply when responsible for other people’s money; Be able to handle financial transactions responsibly.

Searching for a Job: Know potential job sources; Know potential job roles that are suited to their skills and interests; Be able to search for job vacancies and understand job advertisements.

Applying for a Job: Understand the different methods for applying for a range of job vacancies; Know how to complete a job application by identifying the relevant information and appropriate ways of presenting this information; Be able to apply for a job using the appropriate application method.

Preparing for an Interview: Know how to respond to questions that may be asked in the interview; Be able to prepare appropriate questions to ask the interviewer; Plan travel arrangements and personal presentation in advance.

Interview Skills: Know how to present themselves appropriately for an interview; Answer the interviewers questions appropriately; Evaluate their own performance and identify their own strengths and weaknesses.

Self-Management Skills: Understand how to manage themselves in the workplace; Demonstrate a range of self-management skills; Complete a review of their self-management skills by identifying what went well and what did not.

Self Assessment: Understand their strengths and weaknesses; Understand how to use their skills to achieve previously set goals; Understand the need for setting long and short term goals.

Career Progression: Understand the skills and qualities needed to progress in a career; Understand information and guidance related to career progression; Understand the importance of career progression; Be able to identify opportunities for career development and plan the next stage in career progression.

Developing Personal Skills for Leadership: Know about the main qualities of effective leadership; Understand how to make decisions; Understand how to give instructions to members of a group; Understand how to give and receive feedback about a task or activity.

Practicing Leadership Skills with Others: Understand leadership skills they could practice with others; Demonstrate leadership skills in a group; Carry out a review of their leadership skills.

Learning with Colleagues and Other Learners: Be aware of situations where they learn with others; Know how to interact with colleagues or other learners in a learning situation; Understand that different people have different methods of learning; Be able to record progress in learning.

Communicating Solutions to Others: Understand how to solve possible problems; Understand how to communicate solutions appropriately to other people; Communicate the solution appropriately to others; Review their performance.

Course Content at Level 2:

Alternatives to Paid Work: Understand the different alternatives to paid work; Understand the skills, qualities and knowledge that can be gained from unpaid work and how they are transferrable to other careers / area of life.

Working as a Volunteer: Find and take part in a voluntary task; Understand what is expected of the volunteer undertaking the voluntary task; Understand that the skills used during voluntary work may be of a benefit to personal and career plans.

Managing Your Own Money: Be able to manage a budget; Indentify incomings and outgoings; Know how to choose a bank or building society to meet their needs.

Searching for a Job: Understand how to use potential job sources; Understand how their experience, skills and interests relate to potential job roles; Be able to investigate job vacancies.

Applying for a Job: Be able to use different methods to apply for a job – Online applications and written applications; be able to prepare for a job application with the appropriate information in a suitable format; Reflect on the relevance of their application to the position.

Preparing for an Interview: Anticipate key questions that they may be expected to answer at interview; Prepare appropriate responses to key questions; Know how to use information about the job / course to identify relevant questions to ask the interviewer.

Interview Skills: Presenting themselves appropriately in an interview; Be able to answer the interviewers questions successfully; Reflect on their own performance at the interview.

Self-Management Skills: Understand the benefits and importance of managing themselves effectively at work; Demonstrate effective self management skills by prioritising workloads and planning their time to maximize their efficiency; Carry out an analysis of their self management skills and identify areas for improvement.

Career Progression: Understand that personal skills, qualities and experience influence career progression; Access information and guidance on career progression and development; Understand the importance of work and study opportunities to career progression; Be able to plan their own career progression.

Developing Personal Skills for Leadership: Developing Personal Skills for Leadership: Understand the main features of leadership; Plan how to demonstrate leadership skills; Prepare for leadership activities.

Practising Leadership with Others: Understand how to lead a group activity; Demonstrate leadership skills with others; Evaluate their leadership performance.

Learning with Colleagues and Other Learners: Understand the importance of learning with colleagues and other learners; Plan the learning they will undertake by setting learning goals; Be able to interact appropriately with other learners or colleagues in a learning and development context; Review the learning they have undertaken.

Communicating Solutions to Others: Understand why they need to solve a problem; Communicate the solution effectively to others; Provide appropriate responses to questions or objections; Evaluate their performance.

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