RESUME WRITING TIPS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

High School Students Compete with Adults for Jobs

Preparing for a presentation to 60 high school instructors, I pretended I was a high school student looking for a job. I then read hundreds of help wanted ads and employer job postings. To my surprise, I found that many of the "entry level" jobs high school students are qualified for also attract a large number of adult applicants. This makes it imperative that high school students learn how to market themselves at the same level as adults.

With this in mind I gave a presentation to a class of Redmond High School students in my home state of Washington.

Below you'll see a before resume example that was typical of what many of the students were creating. It is followed by an after example which shows how much the high school student resumes were improved by using my booklet, 6 Easy Steps to Create Resumes and Cover Letters for High School Students.

Working with the students, it was very apparent that their levels of job experience varied widely. Some hadn't really worked at all while some had already assumed differing levels of supervisory experience.

High School Students Don't Know How To Describe Their Skills

In working with the students after my presentation, two of the biggest obstacles they faced were not knowing the business terms to describe their skills and not feeling confident in marketing or accepting the skills they did actually possess.

To help students deal with both of these issues I compiled 15 lists of about 800 skills and 400 sample sentences for the most popular jobs students are employed in - such as babysitting, lawn mowing and school receptionist. Students can read these lists, check them off, edit them and include them in their resumes.

Take a look at the body of Terry's resume below. It looks like his work experience and skills are pretty minimal. Then, scroll down and take a look at the body of Terry's after resume. Terry was amazed when he started reading and checking off the skill lists and sample sentences in the high school booklet. He said, "Gee, I've done all this stuff. But, I sure didn't know what to say about it."