HOUSTON – In the board game “Life”, one travels into adulthood: getting a job, having a family and handling money.
For hundreds of Houston students, it was a different game. Big companies set up camp at the George R. Brown Convention Center to hand out some real-life lessons.
Just like real life, it starts with a job. So the students applied, but not all received offers.
Kierra Hatchet, 16, was surprised to find her demeanor affected her job offers.
“I thought by being qualified, by being good for certain jobs, you would get the job, but that wasn’t the case at all,” Hatchet said.
So, she plans to make changes.
“Sell myself more for the job I really want. Act more interested, engage more in the person and more contact, more eye contact.”
Tarik Isaac is just 14 years old.
“They asked me what my weakness is and that caught me really off guard,” Isaac said.
Fortunately the confident teen was ready with answers. It paid off with 4 job offers.
“They’re teaching me how to calculate all this, the mortgage, the tax returns the 401k, the insurance and all these different formulas to pay for college, buy a house, and maintain it,” he said.
Most of the children taking part come from undeserved areas. Many will take the new information home and share it with their parents.
This was the first year for Briggs and Vaselka to be involved. The CPAs and business advisers didn’t have any trouble loading up with a solid team.
“It wasn’t hard to choose the right candidates,” said Kelley Heng, who is very involved in recruiting.
She described those who stood out.
“They asked for the job. They knew what questions to ask because I think that an interview should be two sided. It can’t be just us asking all the questions. They have to be eager and ready to look for the job.”
Saturday is the big day when the students will put everything they learn to the test.
They will begin the day at 19 years old with a base salary of $20,000. They will then age one year every hour and tackle all the decisions that come with life: Employment, mortgage, credit cards, insurance, even retirement.
All of this information definitely puts these students ahead of the game.
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