Resume Building for High School Seniors

Most high school seniors are counting down the months until graduation and making their mark in the real world as adults working for a living. Longing to be less dependent on parents for money, and hoping to land a great job that will afford them the keys to an apartment of their own, this transition marks a leap from needy teenager to adult.

The reality is many won't go to college, and that's not all together a bad thing. There are many successful adults with no college degree or college credits on their resumes. The one thing seniors must keep in mind is that even if they have never held a job, they still need to put together a resume that includes any and all clubs, activities, and sports they participated in during high school.

Sports, Future Farmers of America (FFA), and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) clubs, for example, show potential employers teamwork, active participation, commitment, and ability to take instruction. Actual work experience is a plus, but not necessary considering interviewers will often chalk up a cheerleader, for example, having no job through high school as someone who focused on his or her studies and spent their time away from the books at practices and games - marking a commitment to his or her team. This commitment will tell the employer that this cheerleader is likely someone who will see his or her job through, and represent their company well.

Some high schools have mentoring programs that pair high school seniors with elementary and middle school aged at-risk youth. Programs such as these look excellent on a resume to potential employers. Interviewers and executives will see community involvement and the desire to make a difference in someone else's life. This type of club will be a plus especially on a resume submitted for non-profit charitable organizations that typically pay quite well. For example, I worked as a data entry clerk at a non-profit organization almost 10 years ago and made $9 per hour just keying in contributions into the database.

The key to a fresh-from-high-school resume is to include all school and community involved clubs and teams. No matter how small or insignificant the activity, employers will take them into consideration. Include the years participated, and any position held in the activity. For example, if Jane Smith was treasurer of the prom committee, she should include that title. To her it may just be a fancy way of saying she bought the balloons and streamers for the gym, but to an employer it shows trust and active participation.

Keep the resume simple, and don't use a lot of long words in effort to "punch up" what may be seen to the writer as boring. Employers receive many resumes per day on open positions, and would like to be able to read them without use of a dictionary. Use fonts that are standard such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Tahoma, and make them no smaller than size 12. These three fonts are clear and easy to read, even for people with poor eyesight.

Try not to be so wordy as to drag your resume on for three to four pages. The shorter the resume, the more likely it will be read start to finish. A resume longer than two pages may not be read at all, and is more likely to end up in the shredder. Microsoft Word has templates for resumes that have all the fields you will need already headed. All you have to do is fill in your information. If you have never held a job before, then just use your clubs, community activities and sports in place of work. The headers can be changed to titles such as Sports, Community Activities, and Youth Organizations.

Don't be afraid to ask your teachers if they can serve as references. Teachers have been with you all year, and can offer information that will make a positive impact. Your high school football coach, for example, can give a potential employer insight to more than you think. Teamwork, participation, ability to follow direction, and character can make all the difference.

When using classmates and other club members as personal references, select only those that may be helpful. Employers usually do call personal references, and you wouldn't want a fellow club member to say "Susie is a great person and she, like, totally has great taste in music." This won't tell an interviewer what they want to know. Select people that would have something profound to say about your character and the type of asset you might be in their company. Try to select a classmate that is likely to say "Susie was the treasurer of the prom committee and she not only got us great decorations at discount, but she even managed to get the best DJ in the city, and stayed within the budget."

When your resume is written, ask a parent or someone whose opinion you value to proofread it for you before you begin submitting it. A small spelling or grammar error you overlooked may be caught this way. Also, the proofreader may have some suggestions you hadn't thought of to make your resume a bit more professional or clear. Don't take the suggestions as criticism, instead, pretend your father is an interviewer and he is reading your resume, but you spelled "committee" wrong. An interviewer may see this as weak attention to detail, whereas you see it as just a typo.

When searching for companies to submit your resume to, a great place to start would be your local newspaper classified section, and temporary agencies. Some agencies have the option of "temp-to-hire." You may be a temporary employee for a while, but these agencies can help you get job experience that can lead you to permanent job placement. The plus to a temporary job is that you will have time to decide if that job is something you want long term, while making money at the same time. If you decide that particular job placement is not a good fit, notifying the agency and allowing them to find you something else will benefit you in your quest to find a job you like, and will want long term. Keep in mind temporary agencies only get paid if they place applicants, so be patient, and let them work for you.

If your local newspaper seems to have slim picking, online resume posting sites are also a good way to get noticed. With posting resumes online, also comes emails that are too good to be true, and are usually scams. Before divulging private information to potential employers via email, have a parent or trusted adult read over the email, and offer their opinion. Often times scams are masked as career opportunities. If you receive an email stating you are "perfect for an executive position," but you've never even had a job before, chances are it's a scam. A few good rules of thumb for knowing what emails to delete are:

• A legitimate employer will not require you to pay them to work for their company.

• Businesses will have no use for your social security number, birth date, or banking information (for direct depositing your paychecks) until they have interviewed you, hired you, and you are filling out tax withholding forms and direct deposit forms if that company offers such a payment option. These emails are not even worthy of a reply. Simply delete them and save yourself time.

• Emails full of spelling and grammar errors from foreign businesses are not legitimate. A reputable company will use Microsoft Word, or the built-in email program spell check tool. Also, ponder why a company from Nigeria, for example, would be contacting you in small town America to work for them - considering they would have to pay an American a considerable amount more money than they would pay their own country's natives.

• Companies that promise a top executive position, with corner office and a list of benefits via email are not legitimate. Most people don't make those ranks after 10 plus years on their current job, so it's unrealistic someone will offer you, a new graduate, and those perks without so much as a face-to-face interview.

Be weary, but don't let a few scams deter you from using online venues all together. Many people have landed great jobs using these free services. Only send resumes for positions you have a chance of landing an interview for. Read over the job descriptions and make sure you meet the minimum requirements for consideration. Applying for entry-level openings will help you get your foot in the door, how successful you become is up to you.