From Hobbies to Hired

by Inspire Team for Small Economy Works.

30 - 40

Goal

This activity aims to help learners recognize and articulate the transferable skills they have developed through their hobbies and interests. By connecting personal passions to employability skills, learners will gain insights into how to effectively communicate these skills in professional settings, such as resumes and interviews.

Materials

Instructions

Introduction

Begin the activity by emphasizing that learners possess transferable skills from their hobbies and interests.
Illustrate with examples: e.g., video gaming may develop problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership skills.
Provide a brief overview of the importance of identifying and showcasing these skills in a professional context.

Group Formation

Divide participants into groups of 2-3 individuals.
Emphasize the importance of collaboration and open communication within the groups.

Persona Assignment

Distribute a persona to each group, detailing the individual's interests, passions, and experiences. See Appendix A.
Instruct groups to identify transferable skills based on the persona's profile.

Skill Identification

Provide chart paper and pens/markers (in-person) or a pre-set Miro template (online).
Groups list and discuss the transferable skills associated with their assigned persona. Encourage creativity and exploration.

Group Presentation

Bring the groups back together.
Each group shares their assigned persona and the transferable skills they've identified.
Facilitate a brief discussion after each presentation for participants to ask questions or provide feedback.

Debrief

Facilitate a debrief using the questions provided below.

Background

Preparation

Prepare a copy of the list of personas (one for each group) (Appendix A)
Ensure materials such as chart paper and pens/markers or the Miro template are ready.

Technology Considerations

Ensure participants have access to the virtual platform (if applicable) and are familiar with the tools being used.

Additional Context

Highlight the universal applicability of transferable skills and their importance in diverse professional contexts.

Tips for Localization

Adapt personas to reflect the diversity and common activities within the learners’ communities, including names, locations and hobbies.
Provide examples of activities that resonate with the learners’ cultural backgrounds.
Use the learners’ own interests and hobbies as examples for the personas

Debrief Questions

How has this activity made you think differently about the hobbies and interests you have and the skills you've developed from them?
In what contexts would you list these skills on your resume (considering various amounts of job experience or the need to pull from personal experience)?
Can you identify any surprising skills that emerged during this activity?
How might recognizing and showcasing these skills impact your future career pursuits?
Did the group collaboration enhance your understanding of transferable skills? How?

Appendix A: List of Personas

Kat

Age: 26

Location: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Kat spends her Saturdays volunteering as a dog walker with the SPCA. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, playing video games, and playing cooperative board games with friends. Her favourite subjects in high school were art and biology.

Carter

Age: 20

Location: Mayo, Yukon

Carter grew up with his grandparents in Mayo. He loves hunting and fishing with his grandpa and making dryfish with his grannie. He looks after his younger siblings after school and loves to make up games for them to play together .

Sara

Age: 22

Location: Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Sara enjoys capturing life’s moments through photography, listening to music and practicing her guitar. With both photography and playing guitar, Sara has taught herself more and more by watching youtube videos and through tiktok. Most people who know Sara say she’s always got a song stuck in her head.

Taylor

Age: 25

Location: Whitehorse, Yukon

Taylor unwinds from school by tending to a small home garden, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, and participating in a monthly book club with her 3 best friends. In the winter, she has a small indoor herb garden that she uses for cooking, and she’s even started writing a cookbook which includes some of her favourite recipes so far.

Alex

Age: 28

Location: Pond Inlet, Nunavut

Alex started a local drum dancing and singing group when he was 14. Since then, he runs monthly sessions at the community hall, teaching and sharing drumming and singing to his community. All ages are welcome - toddlers, children, youth, adults and elders! Alex also loves to tinker on his snowmobile, and spend entire weekend days outside.

Nina

Age: 30

Location: Hay River, Northwest Territories

During the pandemic, Nina discovered Tiktok and she just hasn’t stopped. She makes videos about her life in Hay River, including showcasing her beadwork projects, doing “get ready with me” videos to go out in the cold, and also documenting the wild life that she encounters when she’s out on the land. Lots of people from Hay River, NWT and also from around the world, have started to tune into Nina’s content.

Kai

Age: 25

Location:

Even since Kai can remember, she’s been writing in a journal. Every day, for just a few minutes, she takes some time to write about that day - things that happened, conversations she had, feelings and thoughts. Journaling has been a steady presence constant in her life. Sometimes she’ll write short poems or stories.

Appendix B: Answer Key

Some of the skills that each of the personas may have include the following. Note that learners may identify additional skills they believe the personas have that are not included in this list.