NoLimits Telementoring

What to Talk About

What You Do

• Job description;
• Major tasks;
• Equipment or tools you use;
• Description of your typical day.

What Your Work is Like

• Working hours;
• Salary range for this type of occupation;
• Working environment (noise, hazards, lighting, indoor/outdoor travel, special clothing, etc.);
• History of this kind of work;
• What you produce (goods, services, etc.);
• Interdependence of your job and other jobs/products/industries;
• Where else in the community your kind of work is done;
• Government regulations affecting your work.

The Future in Your Field

• Degree of opportunity for women and men;
• Opportunities for advancement;
• Personal qualities needed;
• Employment projections; effects of technology and new knowledge on your work;
• Effects of the country's economic condition on your job;
• Hints you would give someone applying for your job;
• Other jobs you could do with the same skills;
• Opportunities for further education.

Job Entry

• How you got started in this field;
• Other jobs you've held;
• Skills that you already had that you use now; how you acquired them;
• Your recommendations to others for acquiring these same skills;
• Your job as a lifetime career or a stepping stone to something better;
• Related jobs for which you are now prepared.

How Your Job Feels

• What you like and dislike about the job;
• What you would change if you could;
• Avenues available to you for making suggestions on the job;
• Interpersonal skills you find most important and why;
• Underlying attitudes and values important to your job;
• Why you chose this type of work.

How it Affects Your Personal Life

• Family time;
• Leisure time;
• Job related skills you use elsewhere;
• Expanding interests;
• General health.

Personal Life

• What do you think is your greatest accomplishment / personal achievement to date? Why?
• What do you most value in life?
• Who do you most admire? Why?
• If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Students Often Ask

• What is an average work day like for you?
• What did you hate doing that you had to do in order to get where you are?
• Name the two most important qualities or skills that a person must have to be successful in your field.
• Which aspects of your job do you like the least?
• Have you used what you learned in high school on the job?
• What education is required for someone in your position?
• Can you describe some related jobs in your field?
• Did you always know what you wanted to be?