Fun Employed

Fun Employed - Practice thinking on your feet

Do you work with individuals who are preparing to look for a job? Are you planning mock interviews? Preparing for and participating in job interviews is intimidating to many, the fear often compounded by not knowing what questions may be thrown at you. Interviewers tend to use many of the same common questions, which you can find online and use to practice. However, it couldn't hurt to get a little practice thinking on your feet. That's where Fun Employed comes in. The creators of this game state that Fun Employed is "the interview game of actual jobs and absurd qualifications".

What you get is a box of 488 cards - 89 job cards and 359 qualification cards. Here are examples of each:

• Job cards 
• Game show host
• Nanny
• Blogger
• Private detective
• Professional athlete
• Professional thief
• Televangelist
• School nurse
• Super hero
• Travel writer
• Qualification cards
• Hipster
• Furry
• Lives with parents
• X-ray vision
• Million dollar smile
• Indecisive
• Heights
• No sense of humor
• Patient
• Plenty of pockets

During the game, a job card will be revealed and each player will get a chance to pitch themselves as the best candidate for the job. How would heights and living with your parents qualify you to be the best game show host candidate? It will be up to you to figure it out and then be persuasive as you explain, as you will be up against all other players for the job.

I need to note that there are cards that would not be appropriate for a therapy setting, and maybe for your family setting. Examples of cards that I have removed are hungover, pimp, porn star, organic meth and nude selfies. Go through the cards before you play and remove any cards that you feel would be offensive or inappropriate for your audience.

In addition to the Build Your Resume version of the game, there are also two additional variations for play: Late to the Interview and With Friends Like These.

Build Your Resume

Object:

Get hired for as many jobs as possible. Have the most job cards at the end of the game.

Set up:

Shuffle each deck of cards and place the decks face-down by the play area. Choose the first employer. The rest of the players are applicants. Deal each applicant four qualification cards. Deal the employer one job card for each person that is playing. For example, if there are four applicants the employer will get four job cards. The employer gets one qualification card for each applicant. Deal 10 qualification cards face-up in the middle of the players.

Play:

The employer will flip over the top job card and each player will get a chance to interview for that job. After the card is flipped, all players have a chance to trade any cards in their hand for any of the face-up cards on the table. All players trade at the same time. Choose cards that you feel will be easy to defend in a job interview for that particular job. Trade as many times as you want, but once the interviews begin, no more trading.

Starting at the left of the employer, each applicant must reveal their four qualification cards, one at a time, and explain how each one would help them be the best candidate for the job. The employer then reveals one of his qualification cards as an unknown and the applicant must explain that card also. After interviewing each applicant this way, the employer chooses the person they feel is the best match for the job and gives the job card to that person. Discard all the qualification cards in use and re-deal following the instructions in set-up above. Continue this, giving each player a chance to be the employer. This is one round. Play two rounds. The person with the most job cards wins the game. 

Late to the Interview

Play as instructed above with the exception that you get four qualification cards that you cannot look at and do not put 10 in the middle for trading. Players are late for the interview so they have not had time to prepare, so cannot look at their qualification cards until they flip each one during the interview. You will need to think on your feet.

With Friends Like These

Use the same set up as for Build Your Resume. After card trading is done, every player passes his hand to the player on his left. That is now their hand to defend. Will you choose cards that will be easy to defend or difficult? Play two rounds and the person with the most jobs cards wins the game.

In the box: 89 job cards and 359 qualification cards

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.

Boochie

Boochie - A whole new ball game

Many, but not all of the games in the toy department are table top. Boochie will get you up and moving, motor planning and using those big muscles.

Boochie is played over a number of rounds. You will be throwing your bean ball and ring, trying to be the closest to the boochie ball. You will also receive bonus points if you reach the objective printed on the boochie ball. Keep score on your wrist tracker.

The game can be played by four and there are four colors. Each player will choose a color and get a bean ball, ring and tracker of that color. The bean balls in the image above are round, where mine are a little more football shaped and about 2 3/4" wide at the widest point. They are solid and not floppy like you might think about bean bags. The plastic rings are 9.5" in diameter. The 12-sided orange boochie ball is hard foam. There is something different printed on each side. Examples:

• +1 players with balls closest together
• +2 ball furthest away
• +3 third closest object
• instant win if your hoop lands around this ball

The wrist tracker are plastic and have a velcro loop that you have to put your hand through it get it on. I got mine through, but someone with big hands might not make it. But you can just carry it or probably put it in your pocket. There is a dial on the tracker that goes from 0 to 11. Each number has a different throwing challenge written on it. Examples:

• hook shot
• make sound effect
• toss both at once
• kick objects
• sit backwards
• head touching the ground

Object:
Be the first player to reach 11 points.

Set up:
Let each player choose a color and take the ball, ring and tracker of that color. Throw the boochie ball about 12 feet away (longer distance for better players). You may not approach the boochie ball until the round is over.

Play:
Players take turns. Establish a throwing line near from where the ball had been thrown. Each player steps up and throws one of the items, trying to make it land as close to the boochie ball as possible. Now each player steps up again and throws their second item, trying to get it as close as possible to the boochie ball. The round is over. Players approach the boochie ball, but don't touch or move anything yet. The player who got an item closest to the boochie ball gets two points. The second closest player gets one point. Now read what is printed on top of the boochie ball. Award points for the winner(s) who met the challenge. Advance your tracker one number for each point you scored. The person with the most points will throw out the next ball. Each person that comes up to the line to throw must look at their tracker and throw with whatever challenge is showing, for instance make a sound effect as your throw or throw both objects at once. Keep playing rounds until someone scores 11 points.

Try this:

• Skip the game. Place the four rings on the ground and throw each ball into the same colored ring. As you are successful, push the ring back a few inches and try again.
• Use a hula hoop. Place it 10 or twelve feet away. Practice throwing your objects into the hoop using the throwing challenges on the wrist tracker.
• Place the four balls on the ground. Try to throw the colored rings around them.
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, gross motor skills, aim, socialization skills,process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 

In the box: 4 rings, 4 bean balls, 4 wrist trackers, 1 boochie ball

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.