Sample assignments for Xello

Building resilience and perseverance

ENG: 7-8

NI: 8-9

2 Skills

In order to develop resilience and perseverance, it’s important to be realistic about setting and striving towards goals, learning from your mistakes, and trying again. Think about how you approach a challenge. How are you able to overcome challenges or show resilience when things don’t go your way? What helps you to keep going or to persevere?

1. Think about a particular school assignment or task in or outside of school you had to complete that you found challenging.
2. Provide one example of what it would look like to approach this challenge with resilience and one example for perseverance.
3. Add and rate resilience and perseverance in your Skills section on your Xello About me profile.
4. Share your challenge, examples, and ratings in the text box below.

Click Turn in when complete.

Transferable skills

ENG: 7- 9

NI: 8-10

• Matchmaker
• 3 saved careers

How are your current experiences helping you build career related skills? The roles in your life require you to complete tasks that rely on certain skills. Whether you’re working as part of a team on a group project for school or caring for a pet at home, every responsibility requires you to use skills. Many skills you’re using and developing today will transfer to your future experiences, including your career.

1. Complete the Matchmaker assessment in Xello. If you’ve already completed this assessment, you can skip to the next step.
2. For 3 saved careers:
   • take a look at the central and secondary aspects  by reviewing them within the Find out why area of the career profile. What skills do you think you will need to fulfil these related interests?
   • review the Core tasks on the career profile. Are the same skills needed to perform these tasks?
3. In the text box below, make a note of a skill you’re actively practicing today and one you would like to work on more for each career.
4. Add your reflections about these skills including:
   • How you’re currently practicing a skill, and how you think it could transfer to your saved careers.
   • Opportunities you could pursue to help develop one of your desired skills further.

Click Turn in when complete.

ENG: 10-11

NI: 11-12

CV builder (contact details and education sections)

Before you start using Xello’s CV builder to create a CV, make sure you’ve checked out the Building a CV with Xello video and these articles on resume.io for some great CV writing tips:

• How to write an excellent CV with no experience, written by Susan Shor, Content writer & editor
• How to format a CV written by Karl Kahler, Content writer & editor

Once you’ve created your CV in Xello, you can choose to download it as a formatted PDF. If you’d like to change section headings or design the layout yourself, you can download your CV as a Rich text file.

Finally, attach your CV here and click Turn in.

ENG: 10-12

NI: 11-13

• 3 saved careers
• Skills lab

The Skills lab assessment asks you to assess 35 skills and critically evaluate how often you wish to use each skill in your future career.

1. Complete the Skills lab assessment in Xello. If you’ve completed this assessment in a previous year, you can skip to the next step.
2. Once you’ve completed your Skills lab assessment, take some time to review your answers.
   • If you completed your assessment in a previous year and your responses are no longer accurate, go ahead and modify your past responses to reflect how you feel now. 
3. Next, go Back to results and select More careers. You’ll be brought to the Explore Careers section where you can sort your career matches by Skills lab (skills match).
   • Remember: You can always hide a career from your match results if it doesn’t align with your personal values, future aspirations, or lifestyle goals.
4. Explore some career profiles and save at least 3 you consider as possibilities for yourself based on the skills match.
5. Learn why the career has been assigned the match level (excellent, good, fair, or poor) by clicking on Find out why at the top of the profile.
6. Share one of the careers you saved and why you think it is a possibility for you in the text box below.

Click Turn in when complete.

ENG: 10-13

NI: 11-14

1 Volunteer hour(s)

Add your recent Volunteer experience to your Experiences timeline found in the About me section of Xello. Make sure you have filled out all fields before reflecting on these questions:

Before the experience:

• How did you prepare for this experience?

During the experience:

• What did you do? What was your role and what were your responsibilities?

After the experience:

• How might this experience influence your school or college course selections, your choice of experience next year, or your plans for after you finish school or college?

Click Turn in when complete.

ENG: 10-13

NI: 11-14

1 work-related experience(s)

Add your recent Work experience to your Experiences timeline found in the About me section of Xello. Make sure you have filled out all fields before reflecting on these questions:

Before the experience:

• How did you prepare for this experience?

During the experience:

• What did you do? What was your role and what were your responsibilities?

After the experience:

• How might this experience influence your school or college course selections, your choice of future work experiences, or your plans for after you finish school or college?

Click Turn in when complete.

ENG: 12-13

NI: 13-14

CV builder

Review the Building a CV in Xello video as a quick refresher on how to use this tool.

• Using Xello’s CV builder, update your CV to include new experiences and skills!
• Once you’ve updated your CV in Xello, you can choose to download it as a formatted PDF. If you’d like to change section headings or design the layout yourself, you can download your CV as a Rich text file
• Please upload a current version of your CV to this assignment and click Turn in.

Course research

ENG: 10-11

NI: 11-12

• 2 Saved career(s)
• 4 Saved course(s)

Once you have some possible careers in mind, you can start looking into the education and training you'll need after school. Looking at different potential pathways is an important factor in thinking about careers: are you interested in completing the required education or training for this career? In this activity you’ll explore different courses and apprenticeships associated with 2 saved careers in Xello.

1. For 2 saved careers read the Education & training section and review the list of Related courses on the career profile.
2. Save at least 2 courses for each career (4 total) that you think are a good fit.
3. Reflect on why you chose each course or apprenticeship. In the text box below share:
   • What 2 saved careers did you explore the education and training for?
   • What 4 courses or apprenticeships did you save? Why are each of these a good fit for you?

When you’ve shared your reflections for each course or apprenticeship, click Turn in.

Career area of interest

ENG: 10-13

NI: 11-14

• Matchmaker
• 1 favourite cluster

As part of this lesson, complete Matchmaker and favourite a career cluster.

After completing the first phase of Matchmaker, you'll not only be assigned a strength of match for every career in the database, but also suggested career clusters. To help you identify a career area of interest, take some time to learn more about your suggested career clusters.

1. Access Explore careers and click on More filters. Beside Career clusters you’ll see those that are suggested for you. You can also expand the list to Show more clusters. Select and apply one suggested cluster at a time to explore your career matches in this area.
2. Head over to your About Me section and locate the Favourite clusters card to select the career clusters that interest you. Scroll down to read more about each cluster before you select at least one career area of interest.
3. Return to this assignment to reflect on your career area of interest.

In the text box below, identify your career areas of interest and reflect on what aspects of this career cluster appeal to you and why. Why do you believe it's a good fit?

Click Turn in when complete.

Building career connections

ENG: 11

NI: 12

3 saved careers

An information interview is like a behind-the-scenes tour of someone’s career. It’s a conversation with someone to learn more about what they do and how they got there. In this assignment you will come up with 3 people to ask for information interviews. Complete the following reflections and actions for 3 saved careers:

1. Identify someone you could ask for an information interview for any 3 of your saved careers. Starting with friends and family, do you already know people who work in any of your saved careers?
2. If nobody comes to mind or you can’t think of 3 people, identify a few people you could share 3 of your saved careers with and ask if they know anyone working in any of these careers. While you’re at it, ask them a few questions about their career, too! You never know what might spark a new interest!
3. To help prepare you for your information interview, check out the article What is an informational interview? from Indeed.com.
4. Share the names and professional titles of the people you have identified, a question you would like to ask them, and your next steps in the text box below. 

Click Turn in when complete.

ENG: 7-13

NI: 8-14

1 saved goal(s)

Identify a goal you would like to achieve by the end of this school year. This can be a personal goal, a goal related to your high school education, part-time work, or volunteering.

• Once you have a goal in mind, it’s time to set a goal in Xello.
• You’ll need to enter a title for your goal, choose a category, add a timeframe, and select one task for your to-do list. See the example below:
  • Title: Read one book over the next 2 months just for fun.
  • Category: Personal
  • Timeframe: Short-term
  • Task: Choose a book that interests me.
• Once you have set your goal in Xello, answer the following question:
  • When will you complete your first task?

Give yourself a deadline and share it in the text box below. Once completed, click Turn in.

Starting a new helpful habit

ENG: 8

NI: 9

• 1 saved goal(s)
• 1 saved skill(s)

Habits are things you do without thinking too much, like brushing your teeth. You can build new habits, too! Follow the steps below to start creating a new helpful habit.

• Step 1: Pick a habit: Choose a habit you want to develop by the end of the school year. It can be something related to school or outside of school. Example: Doing homework right after school.
• Step 2: Set a goal: Make a clear and doable goal. For example, I will start my homework right after school every day.
  • Once you have chosen your goal, it’s time to set a goal in Xello.
  • You’ll need to enter a title for your goal, choose a category, add a timeframe and a task for your to-do list. See the example below:
    • Title: Start my homework right after school every day.
    • Category: Academic
    • Timeframe: Short-term
    • Task: Tidy up my desk to make it more welcoming
• Step 3: Answer the following question:
  • What skill(s) might you also be developing by creating this habit? For example: time management and organization skills.
• Step 4: Add any skills you identify to your About me section under Skills in Xello. Rate each skill (1 star = beginner, 2 stars = rising star, or 3 stars = master).
• Step 5: Track your progress: An easy way to track your progress as you start a new habit is to create a habit calendar. You can use a physical calendar or a digital one. Every day you successfully complete your new habit, give yourself a star. Remember, habits take time and effort to develop. If you miss a day, try again the next day.

Finally, in the text box below, complete the following:

• My new helpful habit:
• My goal:
• Skills added to Xello (include ratings):
• How I will track my habit:
• Start date: 

Click Turn in when complete.

Create a plan

ENG: 10-13

NI: 11-14

1 Saved plan

You will create an actionable plan to help you learn more about the different pathways to a career that interests you.

1. In Xello, navigate to Plans.
2. Next to Make future plans, click on Add plan.
   
   Step 1: Add a title.
   
   Step 2: Pick the option your plan is based on. For this example, you'll be creating a plan based on A career choice, so select that option (or modify as necessary based on the option you are choosing). To learn about the different options, click on Not sure? Learn about these options underneath.
   
   Step 3: Add a career or choose a career that you'd like to learn more about from your list of saved careers.
   
   Step 4: Add/review tasks on your to-do list. After clicking Done, review the plan. Update the commitment level. You can also add new tasks.
   
   Step 5: Under Pathways, add a pathway. Spend some time exploring the different pathways that could lead to this career by clicking on the different links. When finished, use the back arrow to return to the list of pathways, add a pathway to your plan then select Next step.
   
   
3. Return to your plan any time to add additional tasks to your to-do list or to explore, update, or add more pathways or careers.
4. Once you have saved your plan in Xello, answer the following question in the text box:
   • What steps can I take now to prepare for the future?

Click Turn in when complete.

ENG: 7-13

NI: 8-14

1 Portfolio(s)

You will create a portfolio to present your information, artefacts, and resources you’ve gathered and created for this project.

• On your student dashboard, click View Portfolios, then click Add Portfolio. You can also view sample portfolios for ideas on how to set up your portfolio.
• You’ll need to enter a title and a description for your Portfolio. Your first section will be an introduction to your Portfolio, so add a section, give your Step 1 a title, and select Text Entry for Step 2. See the example below:
  • Title: The Ottoman Empire
  • Description: My project on one of the most powerful empires in world history.
  • Section Step 1: Introduction
  • Section Step 2: Project overview
• Once you have completed the introduction section of your portfolio, add a second and third section. You will choose the topics of these sections. See the ideas below to help you get started:
  • Related videos
  • Articles used for research
  • Related Xello activities if applicable
• Once you have created your Portfolio in Xello, answer the following question in the text box below:
  • How could a portfolio displaying my project research and findings help me in the future?

Once completed, click Turn in.

ENG: 7-13

NI: 8-14

• Complete Matchmaker
• Save 1 Career
• 1 Portfolio(s)

Choose one of your saved Careers to be the topic of your Portfolio.

• Once you have chosen your career, it’s time to create your portfolio. On your student dashboard, click View Portfolios, then click Add Portfolio.
• You’ll need to enter a title and a description for your Portfolio. Your first section will be an introduction to your Portfolio, so add a section, give your Step 1 a title, and select Text Entry for Step 2. See the example below:
  • Title: Becoming a Teacher
  • Description: Exploring a career path to teaching.
  • Section Step 1: Introduction
  • Section Step 2: Explanation of why I’m interested in becoming a teacher.
• Once you have completed the introduction section of your portfolio, add a second and third section. You will choose the topics of these sections. See the ideas below to help you get started:
  • Saved colleges and universities - what kind of education will you need to pursue this career?
  • Saved courses and apprenticeships - which courses or apprenticeships might prepare you for this career?
  • Additional Research - include related articles or videos about the career.
  • List of pros and cons for these courses or apprenticeships
• Once you have created your Portfolio in Xello, answer the following question in the text box below:
  • How could a portfolio displaying my career research and findings help me in the future?

Once completed, click Turn in.

Student finance

ENG: 11-13

NI: 12-14

None

Student finance is money from the government to help you pay for education after school or college. Check out the Student finance page from the GOV.UK website (or Student finance NI) to explore some of their student finance resources. Answer the following questions in the text box below:

• List 3 types of student finance.
• List 5 things that mean you are eligible for student finance.

Click Turn in when complete.

Cost of university education

ENG: 11-12

NI: 12-13

3 saved undergraduate courses

If you’re considering university education after college, having a plan to pay for it is important. Part of this plan is knowing how much it will cost. Tuition is a big part of this. Let’s look at some tuition costs in Xello!

1. Head to your Saved options in Xello. Select Courses & apprenticeships on the far right to view the undergraduate courses you have saved. Select the one you’re most interested in to start with. You will repeat this process for 3 saved courses.
2. On the undergraduate course profile, scroll down to find applying information and tuition fees. If no tuition information is provided, check out other courses under Similar courses to get an approximate idea of tuition costs. University websites also provide tuition information.
3. Answer the following questions in the text box below:
   • What are the tuition fees listed for each of your saved courses?
   • What are 2 examples of other university education costs to consider?

Click Turn in when complete.