Put Your Best Foot Forward: Preparing to Enter the Workforce with Confidence

A 2022 Gartner survey found that 46% of Gen Z employees said the pandemic made pursuing their educational or career goals more difficult, and 51% said their education did not prepare them to enter the workforce. Growing up in the pandemic deprived young adults of in-person social experiences that are crucial to developing confidence and communication ability. This course addresses that learning loss by building soft skills during the transition from post-secondary education into employment.

The purpose of this online course was to prepare young adults to transition into the workforce with confidence. Six modules covered the process of applying and interviewing for a job, with an emphasis on stress management, interpersonal communication, professional etiquette, and public speaking. Based on constructivist learning theories and empathy research, we designed this course for synchronous instruction using a game-based approach. This presentation will discuss the course objectives, technology, learning activities, and elements of gamification that were integrated to increase student motivation.

Ronald Deese
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Honolulu, HI, USA

Ronald Deese is a Community Work Incentives Coordinator for the Hawai'i Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program. As an employee of the University of Hawai'i Center on Disability Studies (UH-CDS), he has provided benefits counseling to jobseekers with disabilities for the past eight years and training on Social Security programs for the past ten years. His goal as a designer is to create online training that keeps learners awake through the magic of multimedia and interactivity.

Sara Brinkley
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Honolulu, HI, USA

Sara Brinkley teaches Career Preparation & Planning at Hawai'i Job Corps, a vocational training program for “at promise” youth. Her experience working with a diverse student population and dedication to empowering young adults have been a catalyst for her interests in workplace readiness, social and emotional learning, cultural responsiveness, positive psychology, and motivational learning theories. 2008 BA - English (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa), current graduate student in Learning Design and Technology (LTEC). Her professional goals are to leverage modern technology and theoretical frameworks to design meaningful learning experiences for students online and in person.

Put Your Best Foot Forward: Preparing to Enter the Workforce with Confidence

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