Unit 4

Getting Paid

Following one’s passions can result in getting a dream job, but what other factors do your students need to consider? This unit will provide students with the tools they’ll need to navigate the working world—both before and after they’ve landed that perfect position.

Educator Guide: Unit 4

Interactive Student Capture Sheets: Unit 4
Family Connection
Woman at a printer

Let’s Talk Jobs

10-minute read, plus discussion

This guide will help parents prepare their teens for a first job or a career. They will find tips and links to help with career decisions, writing résumés, and accessing pay statements.

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Topic 1

Preparing for Work

How can you help your students get the jobs they want? Introduce these tools to understand the job search process, including networking, research and preparation of a resume, cover letter, and job application.

Self-paced Module

Preparing for Work

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

Students will learn key job search skills, including networking and research. They will also get an overview on how to prepare a resumé, cover letter, and job application.

Launch Module  

Classroom Activity

Networks: Not Just Social

1 to 2 Class Sessions

Your students will brainstorm ways a professional network can help people who are seeking jobs, consider how social media can be used by potential employers and others to form opinions, and discuss the value of creating a professional social media profile.

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Supplemental Resource Links

Get a Job

University of Arizona’s Take Charge Today

In this lesson, students learn about ways to get a job and spend time exploring cover letters, resumes, and job applications. (To access additional educator resources, you will need to register for a free account and verify that you are an educator. Once logged in, the link above will take you directly to the resource.)

Resume Generator

Read.Write.Think.

Your students can enter their personal information to build chronological or functional resumés. At the conclusion, they can save, print, or email their resumés and will have the opportunity to compose a cover letter.

Resume Templates

Canva

Invite students to explore resume templates and consider the pros and cons of various formats. Students can customize their own with a free account.

Topic 2

Calculating Different Types of Pay

Your students will explore the difference between earning a salary, tips, commission, or other type of pay. They will examine various jobs and how different forms of payment may impact earnings.

Self-paced Module
Topic 2

Calculating Different Types of Pay

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

What difference does it make if you earn a salary, tips, commission, or another type of pay? Does it make a difference if you are an employee or a contractor? Complete this module and find out.

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Classroom Activity

Many Ways to be Paid

1 to 2 Class Sessions

After learning about different ways that people can be paid, students discover how four people can be paid differently but have similar job skills and training. Students apply this learning to their own career aspirations and consider multiple ways to earn money with the same job in the future.

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Supplemental Resource Links

Getting Paid

University of Arizona’s Take Charge Today

In this lesson, students compare different methods of employee payment, analyze wage deductions, interpret a pay stub, and explain how being employed can provide additional benefits. (To access these resources, you will need to register for a free account and verify that you are an educator. Once logged in, the link above will take you directly to the resource.)

State Minimum Wage Laws

U.S. Department of Labor

Students learn how the minimum wage varies from one state to another.

How Do Real Estate Agents Get Paid?

Investopedia

Many careers base pay on commission, including life insurance agents and real estate agents. This video features information about how real estate agents and brokers are compensated when a home is sold.

Hourly to Salary Calculator

The Calculator Site

It can be hard to compare the pay between jobs when some are calculated hourly and others show an annual salary. Use this calculator with students to convert from one form to the other. Consider using $50/hour as a benchmark figure for mental approximations since that rate comes out to about $100,000 a year. From there, students can use mental math to know that a rate of $25/hour would be about $50,000, and so on.

Topic 3

Comparing Job Offers

Your students will learn what they should look for in a job offer. Share these tools to explore income and other factors, such as insurance, flexibility, and personal satisfaction when considering a job.

Self-paced Module

Comparing Job Offers

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

What should students look for in a job offer? With this module, they will learn how to explore income and other factors, such as insurance, flexibility, and personal satisfaction when considering a job.

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Supplemental Resource Links

Choosing Between Offers

Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Career Advising & Professional Development

This printable worksheet includes 22 factors to consider when selecting between job offers. Users rate the level of importance of each on a scale of 1-10 and then rate each job offer. The two numbers are multiplied for each factor, and a total is determined for each potential job. Even without actual jobs to compare, students can consider how important each factor might be to them. Students could also recreate the worksheet in a spreadsheet with formulas to “do the math.”

How to Weigh Job Benefits

PBS Two Cents

What are fringe benefits and how do you compare them? This video explores common benefits that many employers offer (retirement plans, insurance, vacation, and more) and how to calculate total compensation.

For Power of Passion

TEDEd

This video from TEDEd considers the role of passion in choosing a job. After watching, students can answer questions and dig deeper with links to additional resources.

Calculate Total Compensation

CalXML

Students input information about wages, time off, and retirement benefits to calculate total compensation.

Topic 4

Paying Taxes

Your students will want to know why money is taken out of their paychecks. Teach your students how to examine parts of a paycheck and typical deductions for taxes and benefits along with the types and purposes of taxes withheld.

Self-paced Module

Paying Taxes

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

This module will cover why taxes are taken out of paycheck along with the benefits of paying taxes. Students will get an overview of the parts of a paycheck and typical deductions for taxes and benefits.

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Supplemental Resource Links

Taxes Unit

Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF)

This complete unit on taxes offers lesson plans, activities, a case study, and more. Creating a free teacher account will offer access to additional resources, including answer keys.

It’s Your Paycheck

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Use the lesson “W’ is for Wages, W4, and W2,” lesson 2 from “Unit A: Know Your Dough” to increase your students’ understanding of how people are paid, the impact of taxes, federal and state withholdings, and FICA withholdings. They also learn how to complete a W-4 form and what to do with a W-2.

Bread-and-Butter: Managing a Paycheck

FDIC’s Money Smart for Young People

This lesson focuses on understanding the elements of a paycheck, impact of taxes and exemptions, and calculation of gross and net income.

Filing Your Taxes

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy

This page provides links to articles about filing taxes and calculators for determining estimated taxes.

Why Do We Hate Paying Taxes?

PBS Two Cents

Explore why people often get upset about paying taxes, including the concept from behavioral finance called loss aversion and the importance of considering the benefits we receive from all of the things paid for by taxes. The video also addresses how taxes are sometimes used to nudge positive behaviors (tax deductions for donations, for example) and discourage less desirable ones (such as smoking cigarettes and polluting).

Topic 5

Creating Your Own Job

Could you be an entrepreneur some day? Use these resources to understand entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset.

Self-paced Module
Topic 5

Creating Your Own Job

10 to 15 minutes

How would you like to be your own boss someday? With the right idea and hard work, you could become an entrepreneur. Learn how.

Launch Module  

Supplemental Resource Links

Launching Your Dream

FDIC’s Money Smart for Young People

In this lesson and Maintenance Mode students investigate starting and maintaining a business.

The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)

Students can explore eight characteristics of an entrepreneurial mindset and take a quiz to see which ones apply to them.

Influenc’d

Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF)

Invite your students to play this game and view the world of entrepreneurship through the eyes of a social media influencer. Discuss their impressions and whether it “influenced” their thoughts on entrepreneurship.

Discover Venture Valley

Discovery Education and Singleton Foundation

Check out the resources in this entrepreneurship-focused program which features classroom activities, digital lesson bundles, videos, and suggestions for using the free video game, Venture Valley, with students.

Write Your Business Plan

Small Business Administration

Explore resources to help students understand the process of writing a business plan, including examples of plans for several fictional businesses.

5 Tips for a Better Side Hustle

PBS Two Cents

Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be a full-time endeavor. This video helps students consider factors to consider when deciding whether or not to pursue an entrepreneurial side hustle, including doing market research and understanding the costs of doing business. Tips such as having a separate bank account and setting aside money to pay taxes are also discussed.

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