The most beneficial projects or activities that I could create to integrate into instructors' delivery would be to have the students compile lists of what they have gained from the individual class, including their work experience and accomplishments. Each class has a hands on component where the students are actively doing the job of that particular department in the field they are going into. This way when the students are at the point of creating their resumes they will already have some of their information needed in an organized way.
One thing that we have been doing for externships for some of our programs is having the students bring us business cards of three places they would like to do their externship at. Meaning they do some of the legwork of reasearching places and etc. It gets them involved and gives them a little ownership when they do go on their sites especially if it's one of thre places they are interested in. We of course assist them in the entire process but it's a great way to get them involved.
In a writing class, we did a HR workshop for the students. We put 50 resumes in each folder, changing names and addresses and etc. Each student had the same resumes and then we gave them the same job description and position they were looking for. They had ten minutes to come up with their best two candidates and one backup candidate. We then reviewed their selections and asked them how they went through each resume. Most of them went through the resumes looking at one certain skill or looking at the overal quality/neatness of the resume. It was a great workshop for a writing class and at the same time teach them the importance of writing on a resume and the overall layout.
I agree sometimes they do not have the resources. We have a cosmetology department at our school and we have partnered with education that when a student gets an interview that we can validate, they can go to the spa and get a free haircut or service to help them get ready for the interview. It's a win win, the students in cosmo get the practice and the student gets a great new look for the interview.
