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HSFPP Weekly Update # 148—How to Start Being Successful Today

Message from Bob & Chris: Your attitude and the way you approach work and life will help determine how successful you are. If you are not willing to work hard on everything you do, then why do it? The successful person looks for opportunities, works hard at them, and doesn’t consider anything to be too small or beneath him or her.

 

Related Updates:

Update #133 - Labor Market Predictions from 1990 - 19 September 2005
Update #121 - Career College? - 14 March 2005
Update #97 - Considering Careers and Potential Earning - 13 September 2004
Update #76 - Job Interviewing Skills? - 8 December 2003

 

Website Pick of the Week:

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/teenstudentgrad/a/teenjobsites.htm

This Web site provides information on cover letters, resumes, teen jobs, interviewing, and internships as well as links to teen job Web sites.

 

Notes to Educators:

Have students read this week’s article In the New$... and then use the following questions for class discussion. You might also want to use one of the Follow-up (writing) Activities below.

 

Discussion Questions:

1.) What can you do (or do you do) to be more successful in school, at work, and in anything else?

 

2.) How do you learn from failure? Try to think of a time when failure helped you do something better the next time.

 

3.) Why do you think employers often hire people who are passionate and hardworking but may lack some of the skills needed over people who have the skills required?

 

Follow-Up Activity:

English/Business Class: Find a job opening in the newspaper and create a cover letter and resume for it.

History/Social Studies Class: Write a paper about why Benjamin Franklin was so good at everything he did. What personal characteristics did Franklin have that also apply to success in today’s world? Use at least three sources, including at least one biography of Franklin. For encyclopedias, Americana is preferable; Britannica is also an excellent choice. You might also want to incorporate a book like The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, by John C. Maxwell.

 

In the New$... Habits and Attitudes of Successful People

By Chris Hart, Senior in Communications, University of Kentucky

Successful people don’t wait for something good to happen to them; they go out and make it happen. Although you are in high school and haven’t begun your career yet, initiative—making good things happen—is a skill you can employ now. If you do a good job now with the smallest of tasks, you will benefit eventually. Being diligent and working hard are habits that will benefit you throughout life. A business professor at the University of Kentucky who used to work in the banking industry said he would hire people who were passionate and hardworking over those who had more than sufficient skill. Nothing good can come out of having a bad attitude and doing less than your best.

Always be on the lookout for new opportunities and never burn bridges with people. You’ll be surprised how some contacts become beneficial. I started college as a German major at the University of Kentucky and, because I qualified for work-study, I looked for a work-study job on campus. I knew I didn’t want to work in one of the many student food service jobs on campus. So I was fortunate to find a job with Dr. Flashman, who is in the Family Studies department and is state coordinator for the High School Financial Planning Program (HSFPP). I have worked with him on this program since my freshman year. Of course I photocopy materials and handle the mail, tasks that are not very exciting, but those tasks come with the job and need to be done.

My sophomore year I changed my major to telecommunications and, as a result, took on more responsibility in assisting with these weekly financial lessons; and, as you might have noticed, I have been writing many of the articles In the News... lately.

Events don’t always go as expected, however. My communications major requires me to do an internship to graduate and the internship I had planned to do did not pan out. I was panicking when Dr. Flashman helped me get another communications internship that was better then the one I had planned. The reason I’m telling you all this is because I could have taken any work-study job but, by taking the initiative to find my own placement, I found a work-study job that I have enjoyed for nearly four years now; and working at this job helped me decide to change my major from German to telecommunications. In addition, by being reliable, pleasant, and always asking what I could next instead of waiting for my supervisors to tell me what to do, I was given more responsibility, and I had the referral that helped me land an internship that I’m excited about; and I also can graduate on time, something that had been in doubt.

Learn from failure. Randy Nelson of the highly successful movie company Pixar says, “You have to honor failure, because failure is just the negative space around success” (Wired, June 2004). Also keep a record of your accomplishments where you work, or as a volunteer for a nonprofit organization or any other group. Be aware also that college admissions offices are more interested in what positions you hold in school clubs than in the number of clubs that you’re involved with. Being an officer in a school club will boost your resume and help in college and job interviews.

Another important aspect to consider is your behavior outside the classroom and workplace. Many employers do background checks, even fast food restaurants. Many employers do not hire people who have bad credit. If you have not paid all your credit card bills on time, many employers will think you’re irresponsible and less likely to come to work on time or might not charge your friends for some of the food you sell them. (Remember also that poor credit can increase the amount you have to pay for vehicle insurance.) And be careful about activity on Web sites like Facebook.com. Employers and college admissions officials are now looking at Facebook and similar sites to do background checks. So, if you discuss or display images online of your partying activities or anything else that employers or admissions officials might consider inappropriate, you might be out of luck. So take the care to ensure that you are the kind of worker employers want to hire.

Kentucky High School Financial Planning Program
http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/hsfp
The purpose of the HSFPP weekly financial updates and Web site is to assist county Extension agents, credit union educators, high school teachers, and parents who home school their teenagers so that they may improve the economic well-being of our teenagers; and also to show educators how the HSFPP and the weekly updates meet Kentucky core concepts. The Web site and weekly updates are provided by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, and are free to all educators. The list of core concepts and order form for free program materials including the student guide and instructors manual can be found on the Kentucky HSFPP home page.