Students investigate how hiring teams evaluate candidates and build the core professional skills needed to stand out in real selection processes. Through a launch with a Walmart hiring manager, workplace-informed practice, resume and interview development, and weekly video reflection, they learn to communicate clearly, collaborate effectively, and revise their work using feedback from peers, parents, and professionals. The project culminates in recorded mock online interviews modeled after Target’s process and a public career fair with mock interviews involving real hired candidates, where students demonstrate readiness to get hired and maximize their career potential.

Students will build core professional skills by creating and revising a resume, practicing professional vocabulary, and using technology to produce polished application materials and video responses. They will strengthen communication and collaboration through structured discussions, peer and parent critique, and mock interviews connected to Walmart workplace expectations and a Target-style online interview format. Students will develop self-direction by recording weekly video reflections, setting improvement goals, and revising their work based on feedback over time. By the end of the project, students will present themselves professionally in a public exhibition of mock interviews and demonstrate readiness to stand out in a real hiring process.

Students will create a professional portfolio that includes a polished resume, tailored cover letter, job application materials, a bank of interview responses, and a shared vocabulary guide focused on core professional skills. Throughout the project, they will produce short weekly video reflections, peer- and parent-feedback notes, and revised drafts that show growth in communication, collaboration, and self-direction. They will also record a mock video interview in the style of a Target online interview and participate in live mock interviews with Walmart hiring staff and other real candidates who have been hired. By the end, each student will present a final “stand out professionally” portfolio and interview performance designed to support getting hired and maximizing career potential.

Open with a Walmart hiring manager leading a fast-paced “first impressions” challenge in which students review sample resumes, short interview clips, and applicant profiles to decide who they would hire and defend their choices in teams. Students then rotate through mini career-fair stations run by peers and adults to analyze what hiring teams notice first, build vocabulary around professional skills, and generate questions about how to stand out as young professionals. Close the launch with students recording a brief baseline video reflection on what they currently do well, what they need to improve, and how they want to grow before the final mock interviews with real hiring candidates.

Host a career fair-style showcase where Walmart’s hiring manager, family members, peers, and invited local employers rotate through student stations featuring polished resumes, professional vocabulary samples, and short clips from weekly video reflections. Students then participate in live mock interviews with real hired candidates and community partners, using a Target-style online interview recording as part of the public exhibition of their growth. End with feedback and recognition for students who demonstrate strong communication, collaboration, revision, and readiness to stand out professionally.