Soft skills in your workplace - please help me ❤️

[verybighouseinthecountry]

I volunteer at a girls youth club, many of them are newcomers, mostly asylum seekers backgrounds. They are 12-17, very diligent, hardworking and have a very wide range of (amazing) cultural capital from their respective backgrounds. They have all been here a minimum of 3 years, have excellent English, but lack confidence. They have no social capital with regards to the tertiary sector, and from what they've said there is an element of certain things being "not for us", they are nearly all in schools that aren't great and will not be able to help booster their confidence. The older ones have got solid GCSEs and very much aspire to go to university and into professions.
What sort of soft skills would you say are very important to teach (or familiarise with ) these girls? What type of skills are important to succeed in your workplace? Any unwritten rules? Any examples of poor skills that you've seen that hold people back?
Thank you 💐

The ability to talk to people older than themselves. So often we get work experience kids who can't converse with an adult and none of them give a good impression. They also don't get the best experience because it's so hard to get anyone to spend more than an hour with them as it's like pulling teeth!

Maybe asking a group of professionals to do some mock job interviews and help them format a good CV/covering email or apply for roles online. This is something the Kings Trust/Princes Trust is good with if relevant to refer them.

Maybe encouraging them to do a presentation on subjects they are passionate about. Give them some tips.

Have some inspirational speakers come in, women who have succeeded through adversity etc.

Are there any opportunities for them to do some sort of performance? Playing music in front of an audience or something similar? All help out with arranging an event and then some / all perform? Does absolute wonders for the ability to stand up and present to people

I think you need a focus on oracy, they need to practice speaking and debating. This will be critical to get their voices heard in every profession and can also improve confidence and ‘presence’.

With our latest cohort of young people, the old adage of you’ve got two ears and one mouth use them accordingly
Too overconfident to offer their opinions but not listen to that of others.

Also - not sure where you are - but are there any local firms that would help out? Help with interview practice or just general chats about the world of work to make it all seem a bit less daunting?

Brava to you for what you are doing

https://www.thegirlsnetwork.org.uk/

Get in touch with the girls network, they can provide mentoring sessions for your programme participants.

Group sports is another way of increasing confidence, developing team working skills & healthier lifestyles.

Your local music school & theatre might have a widening access programmes which is a good way of developing cultural capital. The Royal Academy of Music has a widening access programme but it's based in London. Check with your local music school for a similar programme.

Regular trips to theatres, museums, galleries, libraries & concerts are another way to developing skills, knowledge & cultural capital.

Thank you very much - some really good ideas. Speaking to adults is definitely not a problem, they are from backgrounds that are very respectful to elders. However, their register of language can be very poor, simply as a result of the schools they are in and have learned very informal language. One of the girls showed me an email she'd sent to the headteacher of a school she wanted to move to - it was along the lines of "Hiya, you guys offering science or what? Lemme know". This is probably something a lot of young people struggle with, so perhaps how to write a letter/email for a more formal tone would be helpful?

Definitely get a careers coach in as they can help with CV, cover letters and UCAS forms.

Get them reading a variety of different print so newspapers, novels, plays & magazines as this will improve their literacy skills.

https://thebrilliantclub.org/

https://golivetheatre.org.uk/about-us/

I work with kids from marginalised communities & some of them would really benefit from etiquette lessons. Simple tips on cutlery usage, manners, saying please and thank you. These are very obvious soft skills that a lot of kids haven't learnt at home. Learning how to dress appropriately for specific occasions. All of these skills are lost and need to be taught again to the next generation.

Definitely with this kind of thing then. Understanding and recognising when to use more formal language. Some simple exercises to figure this out.

Getting them to read a decent newspaper so they can learn how to construct more formal writing.

try and teach them email writing, because they can write emails on their phones they tend to write too casually
how to write a letter

I come from a similar background. No course helped me, only getting into an office and working for money did. Because I was getting real feedback (sometimes even getting told off!) & it had higher stakes because I wanted to keep my income coming in. I’d suggest reaching out to local businesses to see if they’ll give them summer jobs or internships. Focus on small companies that can benefit from the specific skills that young people do have - eg media / marketing / tech companies. Eg a lot of companies currently want to employ young AI / LLM testers and builders specifically because of the language differences and are willing to drop a lot of academic requirements to do this.

This might be a random thing, but something I certainly noticed in the workplace. We had a man who had completed his masters in the UK, lived here 10yrs and managed a small team. No disabilities I was aware of.

At work functions, he could barely use a knife and fork. Didn't seem to know how to hold them and would awkwardly shovel food in and use his hands when he could. I appreciate not everyone is proficient in using say chopsticks or cutlery or eating with their hands. Maybe a food day with the girls where they are shown how to use cutlery and a range of other eating styles?

Really helpful, thank you. I'd love them to know of some things beforehand, just to give them a bit of a confidence boost. Due to their colour/religion/socioeconomic position, the odds are probably stacked against them from the outset. A woman who is confident even just going into an interview is going to be a bit of a help hopefully.
Just go clarify, I'm not putting on a soft skills course or anything, just thinking of small things I could squeeze in along the way.

I've already been in touch with the local university, explaining the situation and I've asked if they could host us one evening, just to give the girls a tour and let them realize this could be a reality. I was shocked to realize not all schools do visits now. Will definitely check in with some companies.

https://www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk/

https://www.yha.org.uk/support-programmes/yha-breaks-programme

https://www.dofe.org/

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/how-to-develop-your-soft-skills