Take Stock Of Your Achievements And Activities
Make a list of absolutely everything you’ve done that might be useful on a resume. From this list, you’ll then need to narrow down what to actually include on your resume. Different things might be relevant to different jobs you apply for, so keep a full list and pick the most relevant things from it to include on your resume when you send it out.
Highlight Your Attitude And Personality
Noticed how so many job descriptions talk about having a positive attitude or a strong work ethic or being a team player? Thats because these traits are universally tied to being a fantastic employee. Hiring managers are often looking for someone with a great personality that they can then train up in the relevant skills.
Use your resume and cover letter to shine a light on the personality traits that would make you a great coworker and employee. This could be by including personal achievements that illustrate your drive and willingness.
Make Your Contact Details Obvious
You want it to be easy for a recruiter to get in touch with you by ensuring that your contact details are clear. Include your name, address, phone number and email address. You only need to include your town and state if you don’t want to use your full street address. You should also make sure your email address is professional and includes your name if possible. If you have your own website or online portfolio, you can put those details on your resume as well if they include relevant information.
You don’t have to put any information on your resume that isn’t relevant, so there is no need to mention your age, social security number or anything else that isn’t directly related to the job. An employer will ask for more detail if you are hired for the role, so there is no need to volunteer it at the application stage.
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Highlight Your Relevant Job Skills
Hiring managers are on the lookout for candidates who have relevant, job-specific skills. While listing a heap of skills on your resume doesnt actually prove youre skilled, incorporating your various skills into different sections will catch the eye of whoever is vetting your application.
For instance, you can showcase your hard and soft skills in your introduction and work experience section. And of course, you should also list your most valuable abilities in your resumes skills section.
What Makes A Teens Resume Different
Lets state the obvious for a sec. It can feel like catch-22 for your teen when it comes to applying for a job. You need a job to get experience. But you need experience to get a job. A well-written resume bridges the gap so that a school-leaver or student whos never worked before can demonstrate enough experience and value to secure a paid job.
Bridging this gap means writing their resume a little differently than, say, your own since youve probably got a couple of decades of professional experience to talk about! Youll have to think outside the box about what counts as work experience.
To make it super easy for you, Ive created a basic layout for a teens resume below. Ill walk you through it with instructions on what to write under each heading.
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Include Any Relevant Employment History
As a teen, you most likely wont have a long list of meaningful work experience, but any experience that you have had will count for something! Even if its a job like babysitting, dog-walking or lawn-mowing, each position is valuable in its own right.
When listing these jobs, be sure to expand on the skills that you developed during your employment. For example, underneath mowing the lawn, you could say: Established a small lawn-mowing business and learnt how to work towards tight deadlines.
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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Tips For Writing A Resume For Teenagers
You want your resume to clearly show the employer what kind of employee youll be. You dont want them to have to waste their time deciphering your experiences. Here’s how to do that:
Use a simple format and font. Use a resume template to guide your writing. Looking at examples can help you decide what kind of content you should include, as well as how to format your resume.
Choose a simple, standard format. It should be easy to read and look like a professional document.
A font like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri looks good and will make your information stand out to the hiring manager.
Think about what the employer wants. Make sure to tailor your resume to fit your own experiences, and the requirements of the position youre seeking. For example, if you are applying for a job as a camp counselor, highlight any experience you have working with children. If you are applying to be a waiter, emphasize experience in customer service, or working on a team.
Use action words. When describing your achievements, use action words. Words like led, researched, tutored, and emphasize the value of your experiences rather than just listing what you did.
Proofread and edit. Proofread your resume carefully before submitting it. A clean, error-free resume will show you off as a polished candidate. Ask a friend or family member to read the resume for you as well. It can be tough to spot your own typos and grammatical errors.
How To Write A Resume With No Experience
Are you looking for your first job in high school, or entering the workforce for the first time? Heres exactly how to write a compelling resume as a high school student without any work experience.
The catch-22 of applying for jobs as a young person is that in order to score a job, you need experience, but in order to get experience, you need to have had a job! Follow the points in this resume template to craft the perfect resume and get closer to landing your first job, even as a young person with minimal experience.
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Include Any Extracurricular Activities Or Volunteer Work
When surveyed, the majority of employers say that they take volunteer experience, such as being a soup kitchen volunteer, into consideration alongside paid work experience. So any volunteer work that highlights your talents or where you learned a new skill should be put on your resume. Only include extracurricular activities and hobbies if they are relevant to the position and have equipped you with transferable skills that would be useful for the job role.
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Make Sure You Fill The Page
With barely any job experience, filling up the entire page may seem challenging at first. However, you can add in your academic achievements, certifications, extracurricular activities, involvement in clubs, or even your hobbies and interests.
For example, you can include any honors or awards received in the education section of your resume. Academic achievements can be a good reflection of your work ethic.
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Correctly Writing Your Personal Information
Personal information is the second section of the resume. It consists of your phone number, e-mail ID and current location.
Phone number: Always remember to write a phone number on which you are available 24×7. Include only one phone number and not multiple phone numbers.
Write the International Subscriber Dialing code of your country first with a plus sign before it. Then give space and write your personal mobile number. In your personal mobile number, give space after the first five digits.
E-mail ID: Second thing to write in your personal information section is your e-mail address. Write a professional looking personal e-mail address that you use regularly.
Apart from this, you can also provide a hyperlink to other social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram if they are relevant. When adding these, make sure they are up-to-date and coincide with each other in terms of information.
Location: Third thing that you will write is your current location, and not where your hometown is in case you live far from home. The format for writing your current location will be your city name followed by country pin code.
Look at the teenage resume example above to see how to write the personal information section.
Fill Out An Experience Section
If you have any work experience, be sure to include it in this section. If you dont, you can fill this section with any other experiences that show employers you possess the right skills for the role.
On a resume for teenagers with no experience, you can fill your work experience with:
If youre writing a college freshman resume, you can also include details about your time in school, such as involvement in clubs and the relevant coursework you completed. For instance, if youre applying for a hotel front desk position, you can mention the skills you developed while studying hospitality in school.
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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.
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.
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How To Write Your First Resume
So, its time to write your first resume! Youre nervous and excited and probably asking yourself questions like how do I write my first resume?, what do I include on my resume? or even what should a resume look like?
Luckily for you, weve got this ultimate guide to writing your first resume so you can go out and nail your job hunting!
So, what are you waiting for? Lets dive in!
According To Deb Hornell
Business consultant, career coach, and founder and president of Hornell Partners.
Employers primarily want to know what differentiates you from other candidates, and you dont necessarily need work experience to convey this.
Reflect on the experiences youve had internships, volunteer work, entrepreneur activities, awards and honours, Hornell says.
What have you learned about yourself? What sets you apart and how would you bring value to a potential employer? These descriptors can be woven into the resume, cover letter or email, she explains.
If applicable, include a thesis or dissertation title GPA and extracurricular activities like internships or roles which require you to apply and be selected, such as teaching assistant, resident hall assistant, or other paid work on campus.
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How To Write A Resume For A Teenager: Top Tips
As a teen, you may need to create a resume to apply to jobs. It is important to create a professional resume, even if you do not have experience, that includes your most relevant skills. Understanding how to write your first resume and the components of a resume can help you improve your chances of getting a job. In this article, we discuss how to write a resume for a teenager and include a template with some examples to help you write a successful resume.
Resume For A Teenager
Most employers require you to have a resume to apply for a job. It describes about who you are, your background and skills. Résumé means summary in French. It is curriculum vitae or CV but shorter. You must only write what is true in your resume without exaggerating words. Your resume should be brief, clear and concise with the last date the resume was modified.
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Tips Preparing Your First Resume
- Don’t lie. No matter how tempting it might be to stretch the truth, lying on your resume is always a bad idea. You might make it through this round of interviews and even get the job, but you won’t be able to deliver on the promises your resume offered. Plus, you’ll probably be caughtand fired.
- Don’t pad. You don’t need to include the line “references upon request,” or personal information beyond your contact information, or a bunch of unrelated hobbies. In fact, there’s a lot of stuff you don’t need to put on your resume, even when it’s your first one.
- Proofread. Nothing is less persuasive than a resume full of typos and inconsistencies. Have a trusted friend or family member proofread your resume before you submit it.
How To Write A High School Resume
Start with the job search.
Determine if you want a part-time job, an internship, a seasonal job or a trade job. This will help you determine what work experiences and skills you need to highlight in your resume. Remember that theres no one-size-fits-all resume each one should be tailored to the specific job youre applying for.
Establish your strengths.
Think of your participation in clubs, teams, associations or even hobbies. Make a list of these activities and what youve learned in them it could be teamwork, self-discipline, creativity, communication. You will use these qualities to write your resumes skills section.
Choose the right format.
The same way one resume wont work for every job application one resume wont work for every candidate. The following three resume formats help present you in the most flattering way while downplaying any potential weaknesses you may have like, say, lack of extensive work experience.
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Tip #: Tailor Your Resume To The Type Of Job You Are Going For
While its easy to have a generic resume that you can submit for any job application, hiring managers would rather see experiences relevant and specific to the job theyve advertised.
So, if youre looking for a job in food service, highlight any previous experience or skills which would convey why you would be great in such a role! For a role that involves working with children, highlight previous experiences such as babysitting you get the gist.
My friend was applying for a job at Smiggle and used a rainbow design for her resume, in an attempt to cater to the organisation and it worked! However, most stores wont love your rainbow resume and you should stick to just one colour .
Find Examples Of Relevant Experience
Of course, the biggest dilemma young people have when writing their first resume is figuring out what to include in the experience section of their resumes when they dont have traditional work experience. But when you dig deep, youll realise that you do have plenty of life experience to draw on. This could be:
- Informal jobs youve worked like mowing the lawn for a neighbour or babysitting for a family member
- Completing extracurricular activities at school or through a sports club
- Completing an internship or apprenticeship
- Participating in volunteer work
- Any relevant coursework, especially if it involved leading a team or a project, or if the subject you studied relates to the job you are applying for
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Highlight Your Relevant Work Experience
Your work experience section is the most essential part of your resume because its the best representation of your qualifications.
If you lack formal work experience, however, dont worry. Simply title this section Relevant Experience and use it to highlight details about your volunteer work, extracurriculars, or relevant school coursework.
To create a logical and informative work experience section, list your relevant experience from most recent to least recent . For each job, list the following information:
- Your title
- Company location
- Dates of employment
If youre still currently working at a company, you can simply write , present for the employment dates.
A general rule is that each job title includes about 35 bullet points of your main duties and achievements working in that role.
3 parts of a strong bullet point:
- 1st: Action verb
- 2nd: Quantifiable point
- 3rd: Specific and relevant job duty
Example 1:
Trained5+ cashiers, managing their cash limits and guaranteeing quality customer service at all times.
Example 2:
Spearheadedthe development of the first media kit amalgamation for all company projects, increasing national sales by 8%.
One reason the above bullet points are effective is that they use action verbs to grab the attention of hiring managers. Describing your experience using strong action verbs helps illustrate to employers what youve accomplished and what kind of skills you have.