How To Start A Resume For A Teenager

Here Are Some Tips For Writing A Good Resume:

• Keep your format simple and easy to read

• Make sure your contact details are up-to-date

• Tailor your resume to suit the job youre applying for

• Focus on the positives your strengths, abilities and achievements

• Include licence and transport if you have these

• Proofread check your spelling and grammar

Contact Details At The Top

The standard resume format includes a clear heading at the top with the applicants name. Just under that youll include the applicants contact details: Mobile Email Location

Dont get fancy make it super easy for the hiring manager to find the information theyre looking for.

Just a note on contact details. If your child has their own email address, make sure its something sensible. Ideally, it should resemble their name and not include any words that might give the wrong impression. If not, have them set up a professional email address through a free host like Gmail. And ask them to consider what might happen if they miss a call. Do they have a sensible voicemail message set up? If not, theyll need to fix that too.

Tip: You dont need as much contact info on your resume as you used to a few years ago. Date of birth, marital status, fax number, multiple phone numbers, and street numbers arent really necessary. Oh and while Im at it leave your photo off as well!

How To Highlight Skills On A Resume With No Work Experience

The goal of a first job resume is to demonstrate your value as an employee and show employers why hiring you would benefit their company. The first thing you need to do is carefully review the job description and note any specific skills you have or requirements you can fulfill.

Keep in mind employers are looking for a combination of soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are abilities you can apply to almost any position, such as team leadership, verbal communication or self-management. Hard skills are typically things you learn through specialized education or on-the-job training like proficiency in industry-related software or fluency in a foreign language.

When hiring for entry-level jobs, most employers value soft skills over hard skills because soft skills are harder to teach. It’s acceptable if you havent yet cultivated all the hard skills you need for a positionby sharing youre capable of building new skills and learning new processes, employers will see your value as a potential new employee.

Make sure you include only the information most relevant to the job. For example, if youre applying for a job as an administrative assistant, you dont need to discuss how your role as a babysitter helped improve your childcare skills, but you could share how the experience helped you cultivate time management skills and the ability to juggle multiple tasks at once.

• Time management

Related: Best Skills to Include on a Resume

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How To Write A Resume For Teens

Here a few steps you can follow when crafting your teen resume:

The Layout For A Teen Resume

The layout of a resume is how you align your text and use colors. You need to make it visually appealing, as thats what grabs the attention of anyone. Well, even recruiters attention! Well help you make a good first impression with your resume layout here:

Use numbers and bullet points

Resume for teens with pointers are easy to read, and its easy for recruiters to scan. Since recruiters dont spend much time reading every resume, having bullet points would be best for your future employers.

Dont make the following mistakes:

• Adding sentences with more than two lines.
• Keeping the font size too small or too big.
• Not using numbers or numbering the lists wrong

Using flashy colors

Use subtle colors and standard font size so that it doesnt strain the eyes of hiring managers. Dont use flashy colors like red and neon as they may not look professional. Give attention to these little details to make them appealing.

A well-structured resume will make you stand out of the crowd.

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Teen Resume Key Sections

The second last thing that you will write in your resume for teens is your skills section. This is because once you are done with the rest of the resume for teens, you can go through it and pick your skills accordingly.

Skills will be written with a bullet before each word. Few skills section resume examples for teens are – * Business Development * KPI management * Data analysis and so on.

Your skills section should not exceed more than three lines. That’s the maximum limit of it. Once you’re done with the skills section, bold the whole section.

This will attract the recruiter directly towards your skills section and as soon as he will read it, he will get a broad idea of your skills and proficiencies.

Also, if you hold some technical skills like R, Linear Regression, Python, etc. Don’t include them in the skills section itself.

Within the skills section make a subsection named ‘TECHNICAL SKILLS’. Under this section include all your technical skills.

This section should not exceed more than two lines. Two lines are the maximum limit of this section.

Once done, bold this section as well and italicize this section. Italicizing this section will separate it from the hard skills section above.

To get a better idea, refer the teen resume example given above.

Writing Your First Resume

To get started, review information on the different parts of a resume and what is included in each element. It’s a good idea to review high school resume examples to get an idea of what is appropriate. Even if you’ve never held a formal job, you still have important life experience that’s applicable to the job search.

Don’t forget to look at volunteer work, civic groups, and youth organizations . The skills you have developed doing these things have given you valuable experience that will impress employers.

The bottom line is that you actually have a lot more experience than you think you have.

Writing your first resume can seem intimidating, but if you take it step-by-step, you will be able to put together a document that will highlight your abilities and show the hiring manager that youre worth calling for an interview.

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How To Format Your Resume

A resume format is the layout of your resume.

The ideal resume format usually depends on how much work experience you have.

But what happens when you have none?

For a no-experience resume, we recommend that you use the reverse-chronological format.

Its the most popular format amongst applicants and a recruiter favorite.

The sections in your reverse-chronological resume will be:

In this article, well walk you through each of these sections, and explain how to write them in a way that you stand out from the crowd.

Ready?

Your resume header includes your contact information and your resume statement.

Below, well show you how to write both of these elements and how to include them in your header section.

Customizing Your Objective Section

Once, you’re done with the rest of the resume for teens, the last thing that you will write is your objective section. This is because when writing it, you can refer the rest of the resume for teens and pick sentences to rephrase them and include them into your objective section.

You will write an objective section because you don’t have any prior work experience and you are still to get your first job. A summary section is for those who already have prior work experience and are looking for a new job.

When writing your objective section, don’t write what you expect from a company, instead, write what you can provide to the organization as an ideal candidate.

See the teen resume example above to get an idea of how to write the objective section.

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Top Resume Examples For Teens

If you’re a teen looking for your first job, you may need to create a professional resume. To make a good first impression on a potential employer, your resume should be well organized and include details of your most relevant skills. Writing a resume is much easier when you have a template and some ideas to help you get started. In this article, we provide tips and advice on how to write your resume and some examples to inspire you.

Create An Infographics Resume

You might also consider creating an infographics resume if you have some related job experience under your belt.Creating this kind of graphic not only makes your resume stand out, it will also be much more interesting to scan and read.Hiring managers appreciate this, especially if they have to read a large amount of resumes each day.Tools for this areVisualize.meandKinzaa.com.

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Resume For College Applications

Some colleges may ask applicants to provide a resume during the admissions process. It is therefore essential to be able to distinguish between a resume to apply for a job and one for entering college.

The main differences lie in the fact that a resume for a college application is highly focused on achievements and accomplishments throughout your academic career whereas resumes for jobs also include much information about your skills and experience in other areas.

In both a student resume for a job and for a college application, it is vital to include your work experience, whether through paid work or voluntary positions or perhaps tutoring or coaching, detailing responsibilities and accomplished objectives as well as your personal and professional skills, any projects or community service youve undertaken, any organizational or even managerial roles you may have had in societies or events.

College application resumes also often include a cover letter or letter of recommendation, scholarship applications or portfolios to give evidence of a students accomplishments.

And, remember to edit and review your polished college admission resume to avoid any silly mistakes that could cause your resume to be rejected.

Brag About Your Activities And Awards

Breaking out your participation in extracurricular activities is an excellent way to demonstrate you can handle the demands of school and outside interests. If you participate in a number of clubs or groups, list them individually under the “Activities” section of your resume. For example, highlight Future Business Leaders of America followed by the years you were active in the club. Underneath the heading, use bullet points to highlight the skills you learned in the club or leadership positions you held.

Make the points active by focusing on what you did instead of using a straight list. Try sentences like “Managed finances for a 300-member FBLA club at Town High School as club treasurer.” Specify any awards won at district or state conferences under each listing. Athletic activities can be listed using the same structure.

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Building A Resume Using Your Strengths And Achievements

You might worry you fall short of the job criteria, but don’t let that stop you! Try turning a weakness into a strength.

Here’s some examples:

I’m keen to work, willing to learn and looking for an entry-level position.

I just finished school and dont have any experience

I did woodwork at school and I know how to use power tools safely.

I did a work experience placement at school and really enjoyed it.

I’ve never had a proper job

I did babysitting for friends and family to earn pocket money while I was still at school.

I dont have any skills

I’ve played a lot of sport and have great teamwork skills.

I dont have qualifications

I’m really good with computers and I’d like to do a traineeship in IT.

I didnt do well at some of the theory-based subjects at school

I’m a hands on learner who loves practical jobs.

I dont know what I have to offer

I’m a reliable young person with a positive attitude and I’m available to start work immediately.

“Combine your strengths and achievements with a willingness to learn and a positive attitude!”

This content was last reviewed 15/02/2018

How To Write A Resume For A Teenager With No Job Experience

Related

• Rules for Adding Education on a Resume

A lack of job experience doesn’t mean a lack of work experience. If you are a teenager looking for your first payroll job, punch up your resume by focusing on your strengths, whatever they may be. Plenty of your high school experiences, from academic achievements to volunteer work to extracurricular activities, offer opportunities to highlight the qualities you can bring to the workplace.

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Including A Profile Title

Adding a title is important as it will tell the recruiter for which profile you are applying for.

The profile title should be able to communicate your field of efficiency and your level of efficiency.

Few title resume examples for teens are – Industrial Relations Counsellor, Criminologist, Dietician, etc.

Your title should be the second largest text in your resume for teens, written between 12-14 point size.

Our teen resume example above will give a clear idea about how to write a professional title.

Tips For Effective Resumes

The following tips will help guide you in writing your resume:

Also Check: What To Put On Resume If No Experience

Template For A Teen Resume

When you’re writing your resume, you can use this template to help you organize your personal details, experience and qualifications into a format that is easy to read:

Contact Details

Skills

Awards and achievements

Hobbies and interests

To upload the template into Google Docs, go to File > Open > and select the correct downloaded file.

Perfect Work Experience On Resumes For Teens

• A short list of interests

Expert Hint: Should you send a cover letter for teenage resumes? If you want to double your chance of getting hired, yes. Talk up your best accomplishments that fit the job.

Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Follow our guide on how to write a cover letter with no experience, use our cover letter builder and make your application documents pop out.

Want to try a different look? Theres 18 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.

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What To Include In Your Resume

When you are writing a high school resume, its important to make sure you include all the pertinent information in an acceptable standard format. At a bare minimum, your resume should include your contact information along with your experience and education.

Beyond that, most sections are optionalyou can include a skills section or objective, but it’s not required.

Highlight academic accomplishments. As a student, a lot of your experiences are in the classroom. Emphasize achievements like a high GPA or any academic awards.

Success in the classroom is a good indicator of success on the job, and hiring managers know this.

If you have taken courses related to the job youre applying for, list those as well.

Emphasize extracurricular activities. Since you likely have limited work experience, emphasize your non-work activities. These might include clubs, sports, babysitting, or volunteer work. All of these activities can show your skills and abilities.

Note any leadership experience. Have you held a position in a club or student government, or been a captain on a sports team? Be sure to list this experience, as it highlights your leadership ability.

Why Are Resume Examples For Teens Important

Looking at examples can give you ideas for your own resume, including:

• Formatting help
• Ideas for describing your skills
• Suggestions for relevant experience
• Achievements to include
• Language and tone

Looking at resume examples specifically suited to your stage in life can give you ideas of how to use the experience you do have to prove your appeal to a recruiter. There are many jobs where being able to follow instructions and exhibit enthusiasm for the role will be the most important requirements, and a well-written resume can help you to demonstrate these qualities.

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