SF YouthWorks is always looking for new and innovative ways to enrich the internship experience for our interns. We also understand that as much as we would love to, we cannot continue working with students after they leave the program. However, we can make sure they exit our program with the necessary skills and a plan for their next steps toward their career and education.
To address these needs, YouthWorks has been developing an Individualized Development Plan (IDP). The IDP documents a comprehensive set of goals interns will develop and meet over the course of their internship and beyond. These goals cover a range of important areas in their lives including career, education and professional development. The process of creating the document also helps youth to self-assess their mastery of important competencies, such as their workplace communication and adaptability. Finally the IDP will be used to help interns transition out of the program with a comprehensive plan for next steps.
Over the course of the year interns will set and document SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) goals that they can achieve during their time in the internship. They will refer to the document during YouthWorks skill enrichment sessions to document progress towards their goals. They will also document new skills they are developing in their internships and identify their professional strengths and challenges while setting improvement goals.
Identifying their strengths and challenges will help interns learn how to honestly assess their skill level and develop their own procedures to improve on them. SF YouthWorks looks forward to working with interns on the IDP and helping them set and achieve their goals with more depth than ever before.
Blog by YouthWorks Employment Coordinator Larry Berry