How to build your resume as a teen

Need help building your resume as a teen?

Are you a teen that wants to kick start their career?

Are you someone that needs to build a resume to qualify for a job??

Are you always stuck when it comes to writing your resume?

I went through the same thing at a very young age, when I first thought of making a career for myself. The first thing I came across was the value of building a good resume. The first and utmost thought that came into my mind was what will I write on it?

I do not have any experience, nor do I have an idea about where do I even start?

I sat in front of my laptop for hours researching about it but frankly, it made me more confused. But in the end, I made it, I took a little information from here and a little from there, it was a task and took long hours but in the end, it was worth it. I know how exhausting it can be, which is why I knew I had to write about it.

Building a resume is a tough task but don’t worry I got your back!

Here are steps that will help you build a resume as a teen!

1. Contact information

In the header of your resume add your contact information. When you share your resume with your employer they should know how to reach you.

Your contact information should include

1. Your full name

2. Your phone number

3. Your email address

Additionally, you can also include your social media pages that can help you highlight specific skills relevant to the job. For example, if you are applying for the job of a social media manager or graphic designer it can help you highlight your keys skills and also play the role of a mini portfolio

2. Resume Objectives

Your resume objective plays one of the most crucial roles, it is like a brief introduction about you. You should summarise your skills and qualifications in one small paragraph, this is where you can actually use the opportunity and explain to the employer the reason why you are the perfect fit for the job.

Some tips that you should always remember are

1. Do not write in the first person

2. Do not make it too long, let it be precise

3. Include all the skills you want to highlight

4. State your career and professional growth goals

3. Education

One issue that every teen might face is that our education is the highest qualification we have. Just list your school name your grade level and any other accomplishments that you have achieved academically or in co-curricular activities. For example, If you participated in a MUN club and won a letter of recommendation or if you got an A in one of the most toughest papers of business studies.

4. Work experience (Do not worry if you do not have one)

If you have any work experience, make sure you include it in this section, if you don't then you can add any other experience you have that shows the employer that you have the right skills for the job. You can include things like

• Co-curricular activities

• Volunteer work

• Course work or course experience

• Hobbies

• You can also include your academic achievements like involvement in clubs

Always write your experience in bullet points and use strong action verbs like streamlined, improved, assisted, facilitated, collaborated e.t.c

Using action verbs can help you build your resume and give out a good impression if you do not have any experience it can also help you qualify for high-paying teen jobs.

5. Skills

As discussed above, as a teen since we do not have much work experience, your skills section should be the strongest section on your resume.

It is not impossible to write a great high school student for your first-time teen job just make sure you highlight hard and soft skills ‘

Here is a list of skills you can use for your resume

• Leadership skills

• Time management

• Teamwork

• Communication skills

• Organizational skills

Giving a little emphasis on these skills could also help, for example, if you mention leadership you can always mention how in school you collaborated on a group task and led the group and got great marks altogether.

6. Proof-read

Lastly, always double-check or even triple-check your resume for mistakes or grammatical errors, you might be excited to send in your resume as soon as you complete it but read it over a couple of times and make sure everything is in place.

A helpful way to get opinions on your resume is to share it with your family especially professionals in your family, it is always great to invite opinions, you should know how it looks from the eyes of a viewer, and even if there is criticism remember it will help you stand out better and fix your mistakes

For reference, you can refer to this resume template added below.

Author: Sumati Grover