You are ready to start job searching and know that one of the first steps is to put together a resume. The question is how exactly do you put a resume together?

This blog post will cover:

• What you should include on your resume
• How to highlight the experience, skills and abilities you have
• Key things to watch out for when proof-reading your resume

A template will also be provided that you can use as a guide when creating your own resume. This will make the process of resume building straightforward and seem less daunting.

What you should include on your Resume

There are several categories you will want to be sure to include when building your resume. Those categories include:

• Education
• Experience
• Skills/Abilities

When talking about your education, you can list the school you attend and any coursework that is relevant to the job you are applying for. If you have graduated from high school, you may put your graduation date. If you have started taking college courses you can note that in the “education” section of your resume as well. Should you still be attending high school you may put an anticipated graduation date.

When you are young, it may seem that you don’t have any work experience. If you give it some thought you will realize that is not necessarily true. If you have paid work experience, include it in the “experience” section.

You can also include any volunteer work you may have performed, chores you completed at home, or any help that you gave to neighbors or relatives. A great example of this is helping neighbors with yard work. This will make you attractive for landscaping work.

There are many skills and abilities that are a benefit to the workplace. Consider those that you have. This is where you can showcase your excellent communication skills, proficiency with Microsoft Office, etc.

How to Highlight the Experience, Skills and Abilities that you have.

When you are putting together your resume it may seem overwhelming to think about how to highlight your experience, skills and abilities. A way to get started is to write down on a notepad the experience, skills and abilities that you have, along with some details below in bullet points.

For example:

Experience: Babysitting

• Responsible for providing childcare for up to three children from age 3 months to 10 years old.
• Prepare meals and snacks for children
• Assist children with homework assignments and craft projects

Skill/Ability: Customer Service Skills

• Responsible for interacting with over 100 customers at school band car wash every semester
• Make sure that customers were satisfied with their car wash
• Help to resolve any issues that come up.

These notes will give you a starting point for what you will put on your resume. Write as much as you can; you can revise your experience, skills and abilities when you are putting the resume together.

Key Things to Watch Out for When Proof-Reading Your Resume

It is important that you proof-read your resume once you put it together. The resume will give a potential employer an impression of you as a potential employee. Proof-reading your resume and correcting any errors will help the impression be a positive one.

When proof-reading your resume, look for the following:

• Spelling or grammatical errors
• Use the correct tense; if you are currently doing the work/job you will use present tense. For a prior experience, use past tense.
• Be consistent; make sure the formatting and spacing is the same throughout your resume.
• Proper nouns should be capitalized while common nouns should not be capitalized.
• Keep your resume to one page; as you become more experienced, it is okay for your resume to increase in length. For a young person, one page is preferable.

Most hiring managers will not spend a ton of time looking at your resume. However if they glance at it and immediately notice errors, they will have concerns about your attention to detail at a minimum. A resume free of errors will help you get in the door rather than keep you out.

Focusing on a few key areas will help you to build a resume that will help you to obtain employment. Below is a template that you can use as you work on building your resume.

First Last Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Email Address

Education: In this section, you will want to provide the information of the school you attend, your anticipated graduation date, any awards you have received, your GPA (if it is high), and any training or coursework outside of a typical high school. For example:

ABC High School, Los Angeles, CA

Anticipated graduation: 2017 

Awards/Honors: National Honor Society

Experience
Include experience that is paid and unpaid, both formal and informal. Consider volunteer work, as well as work you have done with organizations or clubs that you participate in.

The Smith Family
Los Angeles, CA
June 2015-Current
Babysitter

• Responsibility 1
• Responsibility 2
• Responsibility 3

ABC Food Bank
Los Angeles, CA
September 2015-Current
Volunteer

• Responsibility 1
• Responsibility 2
• Responsibility 3

Activities
If you have participated in any sports or clubs or been involved with volunteer work that you have not listed above and which would be relevant to the job, include it here.

Skills/Abilities
Use this space to highlight skills relevant to the job you are applying for (computer skills, language skills, certifications, etc.

So, what do you think about creating a resume for a summer job?  Do you agree with what was said above?  Comment below to let us know!