Job interviews can be challenging for high school special needs students, but with the right preparation and support, they can successfully navigate the process.
Handling Nerves: Help students manage anxiety and stress through relaxation techniques or coping strategies.
Questions and Answers:
Prepare for Questions: Assist students in preparing answers to common interview questions, such as “Tell me about yourself” and “Why do you want this job?”
Ask Questions: Encourage students to ask questions about the job or company to demonstrate interest.
Problem Solving:
Scenario-Based Questions: Practice answering hypothetical questions that assess problem-solving skills and adaptability.
Portfolio or Resume:
Create a Resume: Help students create a simple resume or portfolio highlighting their skills, experiences, and accomplishments.
Mock Interviews:
Conduct multiple mock interviews with different interviewers, if possible, to expose students to various interview styles.
Feedback and Reflection:
Provide constructive feedback after mock interviews, highlighting areas for improvement.
Encourage students to reflect on their experiences and identify strategies for improvement.
Follow-Up:
Teach the importance of sending a thank-you note or email after the interview to express gratitude and reiterate interest in the position.
Advocate for Accommodations:
If necessary, work with students to identify and request reasonable accommodations for the interview process.
Remember Each Special Needs Student Is Unique
Tailor your approach to their specific abilities and challenges, and provide ongoing support and encouragement throughout the interview process. The goal is to build their confidence and skills, ultimately increasing their chances of success in job interviews.
As students progress through high school, the need for strong interview etiquette skills becomes even more important. Interview skills should be a priority in every high school classroom.
As an educator, your role is to help your students succeed and thrive academically. But a huge part of this is preparing them for what’s to come. From scholarship and college admission interviews to their first jobs and internships, interviewing is going to be a huge barrier to success. That’s why you should focus on interview etiquette with your high school students.
And luckily, it’s easier to implement than you might expect!
Why Is It Important To Teach Interview Etiquette To High School Students?
Aside from preparing students for college and career interviews, teaching interview etiquette helps shape other life skills, too.
High school students are unique in that, when they feel fully confident, they have a contagious level of positive energy. When they learn new skills that feel relevant to real life, it’s easy to see their joy and sense of accomplishment.
That’s right—high school students will be incredibly enthusiastic about learning new skills, as long as those skills feel relevant and practical. Interview etiquette is hands-on and lets students think and learn in a new, different way.
Students love learning things that benefit themselves. Studying something like geometry is important, but many students don’t see how it’s relevant to their real lives. When you teach interview etiquette, you’re supporting your students in preparing for adulthood.
Plus, you get to build that confidence in your students. A huge part of interviewing is learning to showcase yourself in the best light and celebrate your skills. Many high school students are vulnerable and feel insecure….and you have the chance to change that while helping them make a good impression and achieve their goals.
3 Types Of Interview Etiquette You Should Teach To High School Students
If you’re worried about how to teach etiquette to your high school students, it’s way easier than you’re anticipating.
There are actually three main types of etiquette you should focus on. We’ll go over those three types and then move into some easy strategies for incorporating interview etiquette into your classroom.
1. Teach Them How To Have A Strong Interview Presence
The first main component of interview etiquette is having a presence. This means things like:
Having good posture throughout the interview
Walking into the room with confident body language
Keeping your body language confident throughout the conversation
Our body language tells interviewers what they need to know before we even start talking. Many students are completely uncomfortable with interviews, and that shows in their body language.
Prioritize walking in with confidence, maintaining eye contact, and keeping your shoulders back and down, your torso elongated, and your chin up.
2. Teach Them To Dress The Part
Dressing the part—and more specifically, dressing for what you want—matters. The way we dress helps portray our values and attitude toward a role.
You’ll want to encourage students of all backgrounds to do their best to dress in an authentic, appropriate, and professional manner. Remind students that it’s okay to ask about interview dress codes if they aren’t sure.
Typically, you can advise male students to wear slacks and a clean, pressed, collared shirt. The same outfit will work for female students, but a dress or skirt with a business-appropriate length will also suffice.
Just remember that all students do not come from the same background, home environment, or resources. Keep that in mind when discussing appropriate interview attire.
3. Work On Conversation Skills
The final fundamental piece of interview etiquette is conversation skills. There are a few important things here that you’ll want to teach your students.
First, let your students know that they should always do research on the company (or university) that they’ll be interviewing with. Even better, if they know the name of the person who will be interviewing them, they can research that person, too.
Next, prioritize conversation skills during the interview. Of course, basic manners and conversation skills matter here. But there are also specific that matter, like asking open-ended questions and using phrases like “describe,” “please explain,” and “tell me.”
You can have your students interview each other with scripts to practice these types of skills!
Now let’s get to the fun part. How do you easily teach interview etiquette in your high school classroom?
Here are four steps you can take to do this.
Make The Process Fun With Role-Playing
As a high school educator, you know how important it is to keep learning fun and engaging. When it’s time to prepare your students for interviews, you need to keep things hands-on and engaging whenever possible!
Role-playing activities are a great way to engage students with real practice. You can even pair students up in groups and have them consistently practice interview etiquette once a week.
Use An Etiquette Curriculum To Help You Plan These Lessons
If you’re looking for structured plans for etiquette in your classroom without extra stress, the Manners to Go curriculum is perfect for you!
Manners To Go offers a job skills curriculum complete with tons of engaging activities to guarantee student success during interviews. A huge part of interview etiquette is how you carry yourself (not just your answers to questions) and that’s exactly what our curriculum focuses on.
As a high school educator, you have lots on your plate. Manners To Go’s curriculum gives you a clear path for teaching interview etiquette in your classroom without tons of extra work.
Practice Key Interview Skills Consistently
There are so many skills that your students need to know in order to be successful in interviews. Breaking this down into a specific checklist helps you stay on track while creating snackable lessons for your students.
Here are some of the key interview etiquette skills you should focus on:
Preparing a list of questions for the interviewers
Answering typical interview questions students might be asked
Eye contact
Confident posture
Body language and delivery
Inclusivity and conversation skills
Make sure to point out successes at each of these skills as students start to use them. Manners To Go’s curriculum features lessons for each of these essential skills.
Prioritize Following Up After Every Interview
If you want to help your students stand out, going above and beyond with interview etiquette is a must.
And the best way to do that is to implement manners through following up!
Teach your students that following up with an interviewer isn’t just acceptable—it’s encouraged. Then, focus on practicing those skills by writing a handwritten thank you note or email.
These follow-ups are quick to put together, but take practice to master. They’re worth doing, particularly because they show good character and strong leadership skills.
Working on interview etiquette with your high school students is an incredible way to prepare them for the real world. Whether your students are heading to jobs, college admissions, or scholarship interviews, they need those essential skills to succeed.
Here is a FREE Guide to Help YOU Start a Business Teaching Manners to Children
If you are looking to start immediately and save money on travel and time, then this is your best option.You choose the dates of our trainings. Most choose to have their sessions once a week, others twice. This is a “live” and private training. It is NOTself-guided.
PRIVATE Training. That’s right, we meet in person, the two of us and our focus is completely on your business. Click the image above or follow the button below to learn more and to see a list of cities available for your training.
How do you teach your students to have a conversation? Isn’t it special to have someone be fully present with you? To have a conversation with anyone, an adult or a child is something to behold these days…a conversation without distraction.
My most popular topic when teaching business etiquette in the workplace is The Art of the Human Connection. The art of having a conversation, is a lost “art”. We are so consumed with social media that often we are so buried in it we miss out on so many opportunities. Often, it is the first request I have from a human resource director to discuss the basic skills of conversation to their team.
Take the time to teach your students how to converse! Life is fuller when you have this life skill. You actually become interesting. A children and teens learn so much about life when they hear others conversing.
Eye contact: This is a social skill that is so very important. By making eye contact, it shows someone that you are interested. It sends a message that you are confident. Point this out to your students. Explain why this is important. Take the opportunity to talk about confidence and how it feels. If your students are six or younger, get on their level. Literally! Get down on your knees if necessary and make eye contact with them.
Teach them to listen to others: Another important social skill is to listen. Tell them it is alright for there to be silence when having a conversation. This is the time to practice sharing-sharing the space to tell ideas and experiences.
Ask questions: By asking questions, you show others that you are interested in their experiences. Ask a student questions. Explain to them that you are having a conversation.
Phone skills: The Wall Street Journal had an article about answering the phone. Remember when we were growing up and we took messages for our parents? With smart phones, this most likely is not happening. This was a great way to teach conversation skills. It is still important for children to know how to answer a phone and converse.
Read a story. After reading a story, talk about it with your students. Did they like the story? What was their favorite part?
Our work is featured in the New York Times, Parents Magazine, The Huffington Post, Fox News Channel, and the Today Show website. We develop curricula for all grade levels.
We are here to help you make a meaningful mark on today’s youth.
If you are looking to start immediately and save money on travel and time, then this is your best option.You choose the dates of our trainings. Most choose to have their sessions once a week, others twice. This is a “live” and private training. It is NOTself-guided.
PRIVATE Training. That’s right, we meet in person, the two of us and our focus is completely on your business. Click the image above or follow the button below to learn more and to see a list of cities available for your training.
These might be the questions you are asking yourself about now.
Trust me, your students need you to show them how to not be socially awkward or uncomfortable.
When you teach manners and life skills in your classroom, you add a great deal of value to the lives of your students.
Here is how they feel when using good manners:
Here is How Students Feel When Using Good Manners and Life Skills:
More confident
Self-assured
Ready to take more risks
Prepared for college or job interviews and internships
Happier and healthy
Friendlier
Today, I am sharing an activity/lesson plan that you can easily easily teach in your classroom. In fact, if you click on the image below, you can download the specific manners lesson plan.
I believe when we set a goals or intention we need to understand our “why” behind it. This lesson plan will help your students understand the “why” we use our good manners everyday – in public, at at home, with others and especially in your classroom.
This is a fun activity and one that can take only five minutes – or more. You choose.
Your students can engage in a conversation, answer as a group or write down their answers independently.
Life Skills | Manners | Character Education | Social Emotional Learning
10 Tips to Teach Manners in Your Classroom
Now more than ever, teaching manners in your classroom is critical. Children today are looking to learn more about building relationships and creating community.
At Manners To Go, we believe that all children deserve to learn the social skills that will help them grow up to become healthy, happy, successful adults. Here’s your chance to make it happen. We owe it our children to teach them good manners.
Eye Contact
It is amazing what happens when you bring this to a child’s attention. Eye contact is the basis for feeling and showing that you are confident.
Greetings
What a great way to start the day. Greet your students every morning or end the day with “good morning” or a “good bye”. Make eye contact and smile.
Introductions
The best way to teach introductions is to organize a role-playing activity for your students. They can pretend they have never met each other. Teach them to say “hello, my name is”.
Posture
Sit up straight. Stand up straight. Having good posture shows that you are confident and interested.
How to Hold a Fork
Holding a fork correctly is important and shows that we have good table manners.
Napkin in Your Lap
Teach your students to put the napkin in the their lap during recess or lunch.
Conversation Skills
Do your students know how to start or carry on a conversation with each other or with someone they don’t know?
Be Fully Present | Put Down the Phone or Device
Isn’t it a beautiful gift when someone pays attention to what you are saying and shows they are interested?
Deference | Respect
Allowing someone to go first or opening the door. This is deference. This is respect. Model this in your classroom.
Greetings
Say good morning or good bye to your students or co-workers
Teach Manners in Your Classroom
Good Manners Set the Stage for Future Success
As an educator, you know how important social skills are for a child’s success. Children who are polite, well spoken, and attentive to others find it easier to get along with their peers and make a positive impression on the adults in their lives. As a result, more opportunities come their way, laying the foundation for future success in life.
Yet too many children are not being taught proper manners or other valuable social skills at home. Which means it’s up to us as educators to equip them with these important life tools – and help them grow up to be responsible, caring, successful global citizens.
Now you can help students improve their behavior in as little as 10 minutes a day… a week… or month.
Most likely we already share something in common. We believe that teaching children manners, character and social emotional skills are very important.
Manners To Go™ is a full-service company for those choosing to teach manners to children. You can make a difference. All children and teenagers deserve to feel what it is like to be confident, and use good manners out in the world.
Manners To Go™ is taught in public, private and charter schools around the world. The New York Times, Parents Magazine and Fox News have all featured Manners To Go and the many benefits of teaching social skills to children.
Whether you are an educator who wants to teach it in the classroom or someone who is looking to become trained and certified, we provide all the solutions.
My name is Lisa Richey, and I am the founder of Manners To Go™ . This brand has given me the honor of teaching manners to thousands of people around the world. The journey has taken me from Portland, Oregon to the Middle East. I believe that manners are not about judgment or rules. Manners are about self-interest. It really is about how using good manners makes you feel on the inside.
Lisa Richey provides etiquette programs to businesses, schools, and individuals.
