The Peer Career Advisor Program Training Manual

Training Day 1 (Thursday, Sept. 8 5pm-7pm)

Ice Breaker: Introduce yourself and say one interesting fact about you! (5:00pm-5:10pm)

Session 1: Career Development, Office Resources and the Role of a Peer Mentor (5:10pm-6:10pm)

Overview of CDC Office and PCA Program changes (5:10pm-5:20pm)

o Change of CDC staff
o Focus on RR, CL, References, and workshops/programs for this year only
o Pre-package program and collaboration with UHDS/other offices
Tour of the office, printed resources, desk, offices for appointments (5:20pm-5:30pm)
Review of Career Development Wheel (5:30pm-5:45pm)
o Which visual resonates to career development?
Lay out a variety of visuals and ask the PCAs choose one to two visuals that relates to
what career development is. Have the PCAs share their visuals and thoughts.
o Definition and importance of career development
o Discussion of each phase in the wheel and where different students will be within the wheel
Role of a Peer Advisor (5:45pm-5:55pm)
o Their understanding/expectations
Review the PCA Position Description and commitments/policies
Throughout conversation emphasize that we arent here to make resumes (CL/references)
for others, but to provide feedback and guidance. Not to give advice, but to advise
o Have a returning PCA share about their experiences
PCA Program expectation Overview (5:55pm-6:15pm)
o PCAs own expectation of the program, PCA Advisor (Amy/Michelle), and CDC
What are your expectations?
What skills or experiences do you want to gain from this experience?
o CDCs expectations
Professionalism- Discuss life in a fishbowl and the importance of maintaining
professionalism outside just the CDC(on time, dressed appropriately, act professionally
around students)
Knowledgeable (This doesnt mean knowing everything, but knowing when to ask
questions, learn more, and inform students accurately)
Respectful & Responsible (Working with diverse students will be challenging at times.
We expect you to act respectfully to all students and staff members and represent the
CDC well. In addition, we ask you to respond to emails within 48 hours.)

Session 2: Understanding yourself and Diversity as a Peer Mentor and Leader (6:15pm-7:00pm)

Understanding who you are: Wandering Map (You majored in what?) (6:15pm-6:35pm)
o The PCAs will be given a sheet of paper and some color utensils; they will start off by putting
their name in the middle of the sheet of paper. They will write down (as many as they would
like) their +/- experiences, hobbies, significant events/times in their life, etc. It is important to
emphasize that the map/web does not need to look or be perfect. The key is to jot down
experiences and the web should look messy! After spending about 5-10 minutes drafting out
 their experiences, have the PCAs look and mark (with colors) for reoccurring themes/values
within their map. Some themes could be family, identity, learning, honesty, research, etc.
o Have the PCAs share their wandering map and discuss the following questions:
What were some of your reoccurring themes/values?
Anything that surprised you?
How does this activity relate to career development?
How could you use what you learned from this activity to help you mentor/advise
students during your appointments or presentations?
o Purpose of activity: One of the main purposes of this activity is to help the PCAs understand who
they are. By understanding who they are and how they came about to be who they are will help
them be mentors to their peers (WIU students).
Diversity: Labeling and Biases Activity (6:35pm-7:00pm)
o Each PCA will have a partner. One of the PCA from each group will be told to head out of the
room. The PCAs that have stayed in the room will be given cards that have biases on them (i.e.
low-income student, high achiever student, lazy student, etc.), and once they have looked at their
card, they will give that card back to the facilitator/advisor. While this is occurring, the PCAs
that have gone out of the room will be given specific roles. These roles could be acting as a
student who is coming in to work on a resume, cover-letter, and or references. Once ready, the
PCAs will go back into the room, and the role playing activity will occur.
Discussion
How did this activity feel (thoughts/reactions from both perspectives)?
How does this activity relate to working with students?
What are strategies to help PCAs overcome these biases/stereotypes?
o Purpose of activity: Students who use our services come from diverse backgrounds experiences.
In addition, whether consciously or unconsciously, we all have stereotypes and biases that may
impact our students when we assist them. Thus, this activity is to help our PCAs be more
conscious of diversity, their own biases/stereotypes, and how to work with all students.
o Discussion: How will your identities (i.e. PCA, race, gender, age etc.) play a role when you are
helping students?

**Reminder: We will be taking pictures next time in our training!

(Use: http://www.wiu.edu/vpaps/university_relations/model-release-form.pdf)

Training Day 2 (Friday, Sept. 9 2pm-4pm)

Ice-Breaker: Beach Ball Questions! (2:00pm-2:10pm)

Session 3: Reflecting on Training Day 1 (2:10pm-2:40pm)

Reflective Journaling (2:10pm-2:15pm)

o Allow the students to sit quietly and write down any questions, concerns, frustrations, ideas,
thoughts, excitements, worries etc. about the first week of training and shadowing in the office.
Large Group Debrief and Conversation (2:15pm-2:30pm)
o Have students share their concerns and questions in the larger group
Communication (2:30pm-2:40pm)
o Emails? Text? GroupMe?
o Calendar?
Session 4: Communication & Listening Skills as a Mentor and Leader (2:40pm-4:00pm)

Listening, communicating, and working as a team: Do you trust me? (2:40-3:10pm)

o PCAs will be split into two teams, and they will go out to the hallway. Each team will be in a
line, and they will have to work as a team to complete a race (within CDC/Memorial Hall). All
but the person who will be in the front of the line will have to close his or her eyes. The person
who is in the front will be responsible to lead everyone else who is in the group. Whoever gets
through the trail the fastest will win!
o After each group finishes, discuss the following:
How does everyone feel after completing this activity (thoughts/reaction)?
How does this activity relate to being a PCA?
o Purpose of activity: Yes, a point of this activity is to have fun! But most importantly, this activity
is to help the PCAs understand the importance of team-work, trust, and listening. Students who
use the CDC services may only use our office once or twice, and so having and building trust as
well as actively listening to students are vital during 1-1 appointments.
Open-ended questions, Affirmation, Reflective listening, and Summary (OARS) (3:10pm-4:00pm)
o Discuss: What is OARS?
o Activity: Role play OARS
o Watch Active Listening Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WER63AY8zB8)
Discussion Questions:
What are some things that you can think of that would stop you from active
listening? In the video she mentioned posters, phone, etc.
Ask what are some strategies she recommended for active listening?
How could you apply those in your meetings with students?

**For next time, please come with a variety of dates/times to fulfill the 3 volunteer hours that youll be
able to work in the office!

Training Day 3 (Wednesday, Sept. 14 5pm-7pm)

Returning PCAs will collaborate and lead these sessions together

Session 5: How to Create a Great Resume and Reference (5:00pm-6:00pm)

Resumes (5:00pm-5:25pm)

PCAs are required to tell students, If you want a staff member to review your resume, please schedule
another appointment and should encourage students to come back for another meeting.

o Resume Basics (5:00pm-5:15pm)

Resume PowerPoint and Discussion
Show examples and review resume basics to build a foundation of understanding
o Bullet Point Writing Activity (5:15pm-5:25pm)
Since writing bullet points can often be one of the most challenging parts of constructing
a resume provide example experiences/situations and have students work in pairs to
practice writing effective bullet points. Debrief with students and ask them to share how
they wrote the bullet points and what they learned that they might apply in a one-on-one
meeting with a student.
 References (5:25pm-5:35pm)

PCAs are required to tell students, If you want a staff member to review your resume, please schedule
another appointment and should encourage students to come back for another meeting.

o Pass out and discuss references guidelines/examples from CDC

o Students who use our services are in different points for their career development. Some students
may know how to develop references and ask for references while some may not know how.
Discussion questions
How many references should you have?
Who could be a reference?
o Family members who you worked for?
How have you develop relationships with those individuals to be a reference?
What should you do when asking for a reference?
Role-Play/Mock resume and references appointment (5:35pm-6:00pm)
A new PCA will be paired with a returning PCA. The returning PCA will act as a PCA and the new
PCA will act as a student. This role-play will be done in front of everyone, and once completed,
comments/questions/concerns could be discussed.

Session 6: Cover Letters (6:00pm-7:00pm)

Cover Letters (6:00pm-6:30pm)

o 4 Paragraph Essay (20 minutes)
Each student will be provided with 3 copies of a good cover letter; students will work
in pairs to identify the common themes they see in the opening, body, and closing
paragraphs of the three letters. Lead large group discussion after on what they noticed
o Cover Letter Overview & Questions (10 minutes)
Hand out cover letter guidelines and have a discussion
Provide an opportunity for students to ask questions
Role-Play/Mock cover letter appointment (6:30pm-7:00pm)
o A new PCA will be paired with a returning PCA. The returning PCA will act as a PCA and the
new PCA will act as a student. This role-play will be done in front of everyone, and once
completed, comments/questions/concerns could be discussed.