7 Engaging Vocational Skills Activities For Adults

Vocational skills are practical abilities that people learn in a particular field of interest. These are the practical abilities that a person needs to acquire in order to select a job path. When people obtain vocational training in college or another educational setting, they are not merely being prepared to study for exams and graduate from the institution. However, they are also getting ready to find employment in the future. 

The panorama of education has traditionally included a significant role in vocational education. It gives professionals a chance to obtain the skills they need to enter the workforce and gives them a chance to explore various career options. In this case, vocational activities also help individuals enhance their skills, understand the basic requirements of any job and align their actions accordingly. Activities also make learning interesting with inclusivity and diversity.

Interesting vocational activities for adults

Vocational activities offer a diversified learning platform as adults get a variety of tasks to perform. With certain activities, grown-ups can also get a deeper sense of understanding different vocations and their basic requirements. Check the following vocational activities for individuals that are easy to conduct. 

1. What’s that Special Ingredient?

 What's that Special Ingredient?

Cooking is an important life skill and for some, it also happens to be a great profession. Cooking workshops and activities often engage people in brainstorming about flavors and ingredients.

  • To conduct this activity, give similar ingredients to all adults
  • Now, with those ingredients, ask them to create something unique on their own
  • Let’s assume if the ingredients are mostly used in baking, they can make their own cake, brownie, chocolate bar or a mousse 
  • Once done, ask them to share their experience while performing the job of a chef

With this activity, individuals get an opportunity to experiment with their creativity. They also learn to mix and match ingredients for the final dish preparation.

2. Write Your Resume

Write Your Resume

Grown-ups often engage in various activities and workshops during the span of learning. However, it is crucial to note them in a presentable format. This activity highlights the importance of creating a resume.

  • To conduct this activity, give a sheet of paper to all participants 
  • Now, ask them to list their hobbies, education and strengths 
  • Show them the right resume format and ask them to fill in as many details as possible
  • Once done, ask them to share their insights about the resume
  • Also, invite an open discussion where participants suggest desired jobs for each other 

Resume writing enables people to understand the strengths and weaknesses in various aspects of life. It stands as a document that reflects an individual’s skill set, hobbies, and areas of interest.

3. Sort the Mails

Sort the Mails

Mails are important aspects of adult life as most professional communications happen via emails. In this activity, adults are given an opportunity to channel their knowledge about emails.

  • To conduct this activity, print different types of emails and distribute these papers among all participants 
  • Now, give them categories of emails – Email Campaigns, Newsletters, Announcement Emails, Promotional Emails, and Lead Nurturing Emails
  • Based on these categories, ask individuals to sort the printouts into different boxes
  • Once they are done sorting, invite an open discussion as to why they think a certain email belongs to a certain category

The identification of emails is a crucial way to make individuals understand the significance of each. It also helps them understand the importance level of emails thereby minimizing efforts in opening all of them. Such an activity boosts their corporate understanding no matter their vocation.

4. What’s in your store?

Sales are one of the important functions in the career phase. Whether grown-ups are involved in a job or their own business, they should know effective sale strategies to market products and services.

  • To conduct this unique activity, ask all participants to set their unique stores
  • They can decide the product or service they would like to sell to the customers out there
  • Each participant sets his/her own store with unique marketing strategies 
  • After this, move to all stores and hear the sales pitch of adults
  • Ask participants to check other stores and unique ways of selling 
  • The activity ends with an open discussion about each one’s experiences

Selling is crucial in adult life as they get an opportunity to comprehend the reasons behind an idea, action, or their suggestion. Such an activity promotes critical thinking and builds imagination skills. It is helpful in marketing jobs as well as teaching. 

5. Sort the Stationary 

Sort the Stationary 

Any vocation requires the correct placement of different raw materials. Whether it is a department store, a teaching job, or a manufacturing business, it is crucial for grown individuals to understand the department of materials. This activity focuses on sorting elements into correct places.

  • To conduct this activity, take 15-20 pencils, 10-12 erasers, 10-12 paper clips, 10-15 rubber bands, 5-7 normal clips, and 5-7 sharpeners.
  • Put all these materials in a box and mix them well
  • Now, create a DIY box that has different compartments of all these products 
  • After this, give 3-4 minutes to all participants and ask them to quickly sort products
  • They are supposed to sort the products in their given compartments only

Most professions require the skill to identify which product falls where. Such an activity helps adults decide the placement and also be quick in setting them into compartments. It is an essential skill for jobs in departmental and retail stores. 

6. The Interview Saga

 The Interview Saga

Interviews are an important part of any job. Mature people need to understand the significance of Interview questions along with the skill to answer them. 

  • To conduct this activity, ask adults to dress appropriately for an interview 
  • They need to decide on their clothing, grooming and resume presentation techniques 
  • Once done, ask different interview-related questions to them
  • These are the following questions can be asked:
    • Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
    • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
    • What inspires you?
  • The activity ends when everyone is done with their mock interviews 

As individuals go on building their vocational skills, this activity helps them furnish their communication skills. They also gain confidence with public speaking. Another way around, adults get a live experience of interviews thereby eliminating the nervousness.

7. Order Order!

Order Order!

Many professions around the world require the analysis of written and verbal communication. With any departmental store or retail market, a person analyzes the order and then gets the desired products and services. This activity also focuses on comprehending information in a quick manner.

  • To conduct this activity, set up a mini store for adults 
  • This store should include too many products to make it even more intriguing 
  • Do not show this store outlet to adults in the beginning as the activity requires prompt decision making 
  • For example, it can be a baking store that includes 3 different types of chocolates, 6 artificial flavors, 3-4 silicone molds, baking powder, whipped and 7-8 different toppings
  • Now, create different order lists on flashcards and distribute them to other participants 
  • Other participants need to go and collect their order from the store owner within 2 minutes
  • The owner needs to be quick in delivering all orders within a set time limit

As adults deal with finding materials and completing orders, they also understand the importance of communication skills with customers. The activity allows them to understand different types of customers, their perspectives, and their buying patterns.

Strategies for grown-ups to ace up their vocational skills

Vocational activities are a good way to inculcate job skills. Along with this, individuals also get an opportunity to build basic life skills that are impactful in everyday living. Check how important skills are motivated through vocational activities.

1. Patience

With these activities, adults learn to be patient with their work. Most activities follow a pattern and have a set procedure thereby allowing adults to achieve patience in each step.

2. Determination 

Each vocational activity is goal-oriented wherein adults need to complete the task, a transaction, or the assigned work. Here, they learn to be determined in completing the required work to understand the job cycle.

3. Communication 

Most of the activities require individuals to interact with other participants. They may also be required to communicate with strangers. In every given situation, they learn to strike up a conversation and provide value to the other person.

4. Team Building 

Team building is an important life skill as adults need to adjust and work with teams in the future. Hence, some team-building activities too can help absorb this skill. Through vocational activities, they learn to build teams, manage people, accept different perspectives and modify their personal opinions.

5. Brainstorming 

It takes creativity and critical thinking skills to brainstorm and work on problem-solving. Each vocational activity comes as a challenge for individuals. Only after brainstorming can they mutually arrive at the conclusion. 

Wrapping up…

Vocational activities act as a base for brushing skills needed for a job. Such activities not only help grown-ups understand the job market but also enable them to make job-related decisions. At the same time, many people with learning disabilities also have a varied number of job options available in today’s date and era. As vocational activities are designed for students, these activities fit perfectly for individuals, professionals, and old-age adults too. Furthermore, these activities can also be conducted as brain-break activities for adults and mature individuals. It is always said that there is no age for learning hence, adults should constantly be upgraded with much-needed skills.

Leave a Comment