Make Your High School Resume Shine

Learn how to make your high school resume shine so that employers are eager to bring you in for an interview.

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Do you need a job? Do you think you will ever need a job? Unless you are one of the very few lucky enough to be independently wealthy, you will need to prepare for your work life.

What, you ask? Now? Yes, now.

As a high schooler, you're in a good position for starting your career planning and this means writing your first resume. Things will go a lot more easily if you start now, as you don't currently have as much to keep track of. Trust me, it only gets more confusing the longer you wait, but with a little bit of preparation, making a high school resume (and thus getting a job) can be almost painless.

To start with, you want to keep track of all your past employment history, be it babysitting, working part time at UPS or a fast food place, or even raking the lawn for old Mrs. Snyder down the street. What employers are looking for here is evidence that you have experience doing a job, working for and with others, and that you are responsible enough to keep that job. Make a list of everywhere you've ever worked complete with the addresses of where you worked, and the names and contact information of all your bosses. Type it up and keep it up to date.

You also need to keep a list of all your extra-curricular activities, awards you've won, work you have done as a volunteer and anything else that makes you stand out from the crowd. Remember, you want to make your resume memorable and fill it with things that make your future boss think you're interesting and worth calling back for that interview.

You'll also want to start keeping track of everything related to your education. Your high school resume will focus pretty heavily on your education as you likely won't have a lot of work experience yet. Note your GPA and the names and addresses of all the schools you've attended, starting with middle school. Later on when you go to college, this will get more complicated, so it's good to start now.

Once you have everything typed up (don't forget to keep a hard copy at all times!) you're ready to start getting that resume into its final format. You've already done most of the work; the rest is simply moving things around and tailoring your information to the job you're applying for. Not applying for any jobs right now? Well then, you're all set for when you do as long - as you keep your information up to date!

There is another reason that having all of this information is valuable. When it comes time to fill out a job application, and some places will require you to do that even if you have a resume, you'll have everything you need at your fingertips. Of course, a resume just looks more professional, and the kinds of jobs that don't involve asking if the customer wants fries with that will almost always require one. No worries, though. A high school resume is just all the information in your lists, arranged in an easy to read, aesthetically pleasing format on one (preferably) or two pages.

Being prepared is something you will find benefits you now and down the road. Sure, it takes a little time, but once you've done it, you don't have to do it again as long as you always keep your information up-to-date. That way, when you DO need a job, you can just do a little tweaking for the specific job you want, print it out, and provide it to the employer. It takes a couple minutes at most to update your information, so just take the time to do it as things change. This way, you can spend your time panicking about that interview instead. (big smile)

Here is an additional article about high school resumes that you might also find interesting:

• High School Student Resume Example