Duplicate one tangram for each group. Before class, determine how many possible groups there will be. Run off one copy of the “Personality Types” activity sheet for each group. Cut apart the personality descriptions and put in a separate envelope. Outline each of the shapes provided on the left of the tangram figures on separate sheets of paper and title the sheets with the names of the shapes. The tangram pieces can be most easily assembled into the prescribed shape if the outline measurements match those of the tangram pieces. The task becomes harder if you simply copy the shape in the size provided on the activity sheet.

Tell the class that once a job has been obtained there are still important initial steps to be taken. The work environment—people, activities, and the physical layout—must be learned. The newcomer must acclimate to the environment, and the environment in turn changes to accommodate the newcomer. In other words, it isn’t enough to have sought out and been awarded that position for which you are so well trained. Job entry also includes getting to know the reality, the ins and outs and ups and downs, of the work environment.

Divide the class into groups of five or preferably six members each. Explain that each group is to imagine itself working as a team in a large organization. The teams are going to be given a task to complete, and each team will be timed in an effort to determine which group will be selected by the president of the organization to carry out an important future assignment.

Before assigning the tasks to the various groups, ask the students to be particularly sensitive to how they and their team members work together in order to complete the job. After the group work, you will all discuss the dynamics of working with other people toward a common goal.

Explain to the class that in any situation where people work together, a number of personality types emerges. Since you will later discuss the interrelationships of people working together, it would be interesting to note how different personality types contribute to a team effort. Therefore, you will assign each student a personality type to act out in his/her group while the task is being completed.

Distribute to each individual within each group a copy of one personality type description provided on the activity resource page

Ask the pupils not to tell each other which type of individual they will be acting out. Provide some time for everyone to read their slips and think of how they will assume the described roles.

Distribute one tangram (Activity Sheet: A Tangram) to each group. Allow enough time for a group member to cut the square into seven tangram pieces. Care should be taken in cutting along the lines. The pieces will then fit back together more precisely.

Explain that you are going to give a “shape design” to each item into which they will shape their tangram pieces. That is what their task will be, and they will be timed on how long it takes them to do it.

Now that they know what their task is to be, they should assume their assigned personalities and talk about the job for a few minutes while you prepare to distribute their assignments.

Distribute to each team the name and outline of the shape they are to form (Activity Sheet: Tangram Figures) with their tangram pieces. Tell them to begin working.

After the teams have finished the task at hand, use the figures on the right side of the Activity Sheet: Tangram Figures to check the results. Announce that the president of the imaginary organization will award the future assignment to the team completing their project in the shortest time. Tell the students to continue in their assigned personality roles and talk in their teams about the method in which the president went about making this important decision.

Reassemble the class into a single group and talk about what they have done. Read the description of each assigned personality type. Ask the pupils to identify which role they played in their teams. · How many team members recognized the kinds of roles emerging within the group as they were working on the tangrams? · Identify the strong and the weak points inherent within the roles. · If you had been a newcomer on the job the day the task was assigned, which team member would have put you most at ease? Who would have been most helpful to you as an individual? Most inspiring? Most challenging? Who might have caused you to have second thoughts about the job?

Talk about the expectations and the realities of entering a job. One of the job features often overlooked by young people investigating a particular position is the interpersonal dynamics within the environment in which they will be working. What will working with a variety of coworkers be like? How will I relate to my immediate superior and to the “big boss”? Will I fit well into the scheme of things? Even in the case of workers in jobs that entail little involvement with people, these factors need to be considered. Fitting into the “people environment” is part of the entry into a job.

Brainstorm and discuss some other job entry considerations. Salary: How will you spend it? How will you save or invest any part of it? Work Setting: Will you need privacy and be willing to ask for it? How will you make your workplace your own? Benefit Plans: Which ones are offered? On what basis will you decide whether or not to participate in them? Job Responsibilities: Are they in actuality the same as those that are described to you when applying for the job? If not, will you clarify your work role with your superior? Leisure Time: Will you be able to leave your work at the office and enjoy your free time? Which leisure activities will be most satisfying? Will you realistically have the time and energy to enjoy them? Will they complement your work activities and vice versa?