Some of you are still having problems with your resume. That's OK. This is a tough assignment. Knowing that this is a real document, that it is holding your information, past and present is kind of making life "real".
We are coming to the end of the semester, which means that some of you will be leaving for good. When you take your tests, what then? Most of you will be seeking employment, and as we have discussed in class, there is a need for keeping up with your past education, employment, all of your skills, and there is no better place for that than a resume.
As discussed, the cover letter is to grab the attention of the Personnel Director. Who ever it is that is going to look at your resume. Sometimes, especially in since larger companies receive large volumes of resumes, a computer will 'read' the document. There is a good article about how to send your resume at the Susan Ireland page.
This is why using a format, with simple font, font sizes, colors, and wording is rather important. You do not want to have the computer skipping or missing something that you want to be noticed.
I have gathered some tips, some of my own, some from different articles (*I will give links to those articles as well as paste bits here, so you can visit them yourself), and will try to share as many as possible.
Visit this "RESUME TIPS" page often, I will keep adding to it as time permits.
First of all,
Your Cover Letter is important.
This document needs to be neat, tidy, and grab the attention of the prospective employer. It should be rather formal, block, and aligned to the left.
This is my opinion. This does not mean that it must always be this way. But from experience, talking to others, and many examples, this is a really helpful hint.
This is a good example:
Janice Job Searcher
732 Ready-to-Work Blvd.
Any Town, USA 11111
Home: (777) 777-7777
Cell: (222) 222-2222
janicejobsearcher@jobworthy.com
February 1, 20--
Mr. Martin Burgstrom
Hiring Manager, Student Employment
Any Town Junior College
400 Collegetown Way
Any Town, USA 11111
Dear Mr. Burgstrom:
I saw your posting for student employment on the job search boards at school last week. Currently I'm a freshman with a half-time course load so I'm available for work from 1:00 pm till 8:00 pm. I noticed your need for a server in the Student Union Café during late afternoons and evenings. With this cover letter, I'm introducing myself and asking for the chance to bid for that job.
I was very excited when I saw the listing because all through high school I worked part-time at Lana's Café in Big Town—bussing tables and then as a waitress. So I have the experience you are looking for and the interest in serving the public—which seems to come naturally. In fact, I am majoring in restaurant management, which ties in with the kind of part-time job I'd like to have.
If you're available to meet with me I'd be glad to come to your office any afternoon. You name the day and time and I'll be there. You can reach me at my home phone or on my cell at the numbers above.
Thank you for the chance to introduce myself through this letter. I hope to meet with you soon.
Sincerely,
Janice Job Searcher
A good tip: Your own student cover letter should be personal in style, as the one here displays, but true to you and your personality. Include any details that seem to you to help interest the hiring manager in calling you for an interview where you can meet and talk eye to eye.
This is from the site: Job Search Jimmy, which has many, many examples to look at. Please, if you visit this site, don't get bogged down, and don't feel like you have to give ANY information. Just go, scroll down, look around and leave...
Susan Ireland has a great site, in it, you will find many examples of cover letters, resumes, and some great tips on writing out your resume. She has a downloadable resume template that is good.
One of the articles from this page is:
Please visit this page! It is one of the better pages for templates, cover letter templates, examples and helps.. Just don't get bogged down on it either.
Sometimes, you start looking and forget what you were looking for, or you get overwhelmed at the abundance of information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What should a resume include?
The only “must” on a resume is your name and contact information. Everything else is optional. For example, your resume could include any of the following:
Even if you were not officially employed, you probably have more work experience to put on your resume than you think. Part-time work like babysitting, lawn mowing, tutoring, and even volunteer experience and community service count are all good examples of professional experience on a high school student resume.
If you do have work experience, and especially if it is a job similar to the one you are applying for, it’s very important to mention it in this section. Simply list the name of the company you worked for, your job title, dates of employment. It is also advised that you list your responsibilities, duties, and accomplishments, as this makes it clear what kind of experience you gained from work.
Odessa High School- Odessa, Texas 2011-2013
Odessa College, Texas Certificate of High School Equivalency Program 2016-2017
Expected graduation date: June 2017
If you have already made plans about your future education, write that down as well. For example:
If you have no work experience, this section is extremely important and will demonstrate whether you are a good fit for position. What are some key skills employers are looking for?
Think of extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, sports, and clubs you have been participating in during high school. What an activity could tell about your character? Taking a lead role in a school play? You are probably creative. Playing football? You are probably a team player, and in a good physical shape.
Just like with skills, only list relevant activities here. Write down the activity, dates, and your role / position. For example:
If possible, avoid writing “reference available on request” because this could greatly reduce your chance of getting a job. Remember that by making a hiring manager to request your reference you are creating some extra work for him or her, and, if there are hundreds of similar resumes from high school students, you can simply fall out of candidates.
We are coming to the end of the semester, which means that some of you will be leaving for good. When you take your tests, what then? Most of you will be seeking employment, and as we have discussed in class, there is a need for keeping up with your past education, employment, all of your skills, and there is no better place for that than a resume.
As discussed, the cover letter is to grab the attention of the Personnel Director. Who ever it is that is going to look at your resume. Sometimes, especially in since larger companies receive large volumes of resumes, a computer will 'read' the document. There is a good article about how to send your resume at the Susan Ireland page.
This is why using a format, with simple font, font sizes, colors, and wording is rather important. You do not want to have the computer skipping or missing something that you want to be noticed.
I have gathered some tips, some of my own, some from different articles (*I will give links to those articles as well as paste bits here, so you can visit them yourself), and will try to share as many as possible.
Visit this "RESUME TIPS" page often, I will keep adding to it as time permits.
First of all,
Your Cover Letter is important.
This document needs to be neat, tidy, and grab the attention of the prospective employer. It should be rather formal, block, and aligned to the left.
This is my opinion. This does not mean that it must always be this way. But from experience, talking to others, and many examples, this is a really helpful hint.
This is a good example:
Janice Job Searcher
732 Ready-to-Work Blvd.
Any Town, USA 11111
Home: (777) 777-7777
Cell: (222) 222-2222
janicejobsearcher@jobworthy.com
February 1, 20--
Mr. Martin Burgstrom
Hiring Manager, Student Employment
Any Town Junior College
400 Collegetown Way
Any Town, USA 11111
Dear Mr. Burgstrom:
I saw your posting for student employment on the job search boards at school last week. Currently I'm a freshman with a half-time course load so I'm available for work from 1:00 pm till 8:00 pm. I noticed your need for a server in the Student Union Café during late afternoons and evenings. With this cover letter, I'm introducing myself and asking for the chance to bid for that job.
I was very excited when I saw the listing because all through high school I worked part-time at Lana's Café in Big Town—bussing tables and then as a waitress. So I have the experience you are looking for and the interest in serving the public—which seems to come naturally. In fact, I am majoring in restaurant management, which ties in with the kind of part-time job I'd like to have.
If you're available to meet with me I'd be glad to come to your office any afternoon. You name the day and time and I'll be there. You can reach me at my home phone or on my cell at the numbers above.
Thank you for the chance to introduce myself through this letter. I hope to meet with you soon.
Sincerely,
Janice Job Searcher
A good tip: Your own student cover letter should be personal in style, as the one here displays, but true to you and your personality. Include any details that seem to you to help interest the hiring manager in calling you for an interview where you can meet and talk eye to eye.
This is from the site: Job Search Jimmy, which has many, many examples to look at. Please, if you visit this site, don't get bogged down, and don't feel like you have to give ANY information. Just go, scroll down, look around and leave...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan Ireland has a great site, in it, you will find many examples of cover letters, resumes, and some great tips on writing out your resume. She has a downloadable resume template that is good.
One of the articles from this page is:
"No More Rambling Cover Letters"
I've noticed many job seekers have trouble keeping their cover letters short and targeted. It's almost as if they're trying so hard to impress their readers that they ramble on and on, hoping they'll say what the employers wants to hear. And sometimes, despite having way too many words on the page, they don't say the things that will get them job interviews...Please visit this page! It is one of the better pages for templates, cover letter templates, examples and helps.. Just don't get bogged down on it either.
Sometimes, you start looking and forget what you were looking for, or you get overwhelmed at the abundance of information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What should a resume include?
The only “must” on a resume is your name and contact information. Everything else is optional. For example, your resume could include any of the following:
- Contact Information (your name, phone number, email address)
- Career Objective (or a Summary)
- Education
- Work Experience (also called Job History)
- Professional Skills
- Personal Skills
- Other skills
- Hobbies and Interests
- Achievements, awards, and distinctions
- References
Work experience
This is the most dreadful section for a high school resume, since, most often, there is no job history. But don’t worry, everyone has been in this position, and it is perfectly normal not to have any work experience. Simply omit this section if you don’t have any experience.Even if you were not officially employed, you probably have more work experience to put on your resume than you think. Part-time work like babysitting, lawn mowing, tutoring, and even volunteer experience and community service count are all good examples of professional experience on a high school student resume.
If you do have work experience, and especially if it is a job similar to the one you are applying for, it’s very important to mention it in this section. Simply list the name of the company you worked for, your job title, dates of employment. It is also advised that you list your responsibilities, duties, and accomplishments, as this makes it clear what kind of experience you gained from work.
Education
State the high school you attend, and the year. If there are some important classes or courses you have taken that are relevant to the job you seek, you can also list them here. Some examples:Odessa High School- Odessa, Texas 2011-2013
Odessa College, Texas Certificate of High School Equivalency Program 2016-2017
Expected graduation date: June 2017
If you have already made plans about your future education, write that down as well. For example:
- I have been accepted to Odessa College, and I am planning to major in Accounting
- I will be taking my AP classes next month to prepare for college
- I will begin attending Odessa College this fall
Career Objective
This is the section that many employers find very important because it shows what you are expecting from a position. Use this section to define the position you seek, for example:- Offer excellent hostess service in a busy local restaurant
- Enhance my computer skills by applying them to practical work
- Apply my people skills for working in a grocery store
- Provide quality delivery for local food business
- Sofia is a young energetic, enthusiastic, and active individual with a strong knowledge of grocery items and their usage by people from different economical and social backgrounds. She has a business mindset and willing to apply her gifted skills to work as a helper to a grocer in a grocery store in his / her day-to-day business.
Key Skills
Think of some skills that could be relevant to a particular position you are applying for. For example if you are applying for a gardener job, no need to mention “Ability to handle cash register” as your skill because it does not make you any better in mowing a lawn. Babysitting? Responsible, caring, mature. Customer service? Polite, friendly, excellent communication skills.If you have no work experience, this section is extremely important and will demonstrate whether you are a good fit for position. What are some key skills employers are looking for?
- Creative
- Leader
- Adaptive
- Flexible
- Positive attitude
- Energetic
- Good people and communication skills
- Team-player
- Independent
- Self-motivating
- Proactive
- Ability to work under pressure
Activities
This section gives an employer an insight about your leadership and social skills, your character, and your energy / health.Think of extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, sports, and clubs you have been participating in during high school. What an activity could tell about your character? Taking a lead role in a school play? You are probably creative. Playing football? You are probably a team player, and in a good physical shape.
Just like with skills, only list relevant activities here. Write down the activity, dates, and your role / position. For example:
- Medical Center Hospital, Volunteer, summer 2012
- Odessa High SchoolVollyball Team, Captain, 2005 – 2013
- Stage Drama Festival, Lead Role, summer 2011
Hobbies and Interests
This section is similar to activities, as it tells an employer more about your character. Simply make a list of hobbies that are relevant to your job. For example:- Reading books
- Playing Tennis
Achievements, awards, honors
If you have some achievements, awards, etc. from your school life do mention those. For example:- Student of the month, March 2013
- Perfect Attendance Award, September 2012
- Honor Roll, Fall 2012
References
First of all, remember that you must ask a person to serve as a reference before you can list him or her as one. It should be someone who can vouch for your knowledge and skills, or who can confirm your work experience. Your teachers, supervisors, and ex-employers could be your reference. Listing your friends or family as your reference is not recommended but acceptable if you worked for them.If possible, avoid writing “reference available on request” because this could greatly reduce your chance of getting a job. Remember that by making a hiring manager to request your reference you are creating some extra work for him or her, and, if there are hundreds of similar resumes from high school students, you can simply fall out of candidates.
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