Resume Writing for Teens

Today we have a guest post from myfirstpaycheck.com, a teen job search site founded by the brother-sister team of Austin and Celeste Lavin, pictured.

I wouldn’t have found the subject of teen jobs that pertinent now, in the middle of the school year, but Austin makes a good point: the holiday season opens up lots of opportunities. And today he tackles an important topic: what do you do for a resume if you’ve never had a job?

Although Austin addresses teens, some of what he says may apply to other difficult resume situations, such as parents returning to the workforce after years at home with children, and people seeking to make major career shifts.

As one of the co-founders of myfirstpaycheck.com, an employment site for high school and college students, I often hear that teenagers these days are not interested in working, but this is a misconception.

Every day our site is overwhelmed by local teenagers looking for jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities. And they’re not just looking for online job listings. Many come to our teen job search site for employment advice, specifically to learn how to apply for jobs.

There are two great times to apply for part-time jobs, at the beginning of summer, and right now, before the holiday season. Every major retailer, restaurant, and entertainment center is looking for part-time help, and as a teen applicant you can be the one they decide to hire.

The Resume is Key

Once you decide to seek a job, the first thing you need to do is create a resume. Resumes can always be challenging to create, but can be often be even more challenging for teens who lack job experience.

There are plenty of places for teens to learn how to make resumes; school guidance departments often have books full of examples, many colleges have great career websites, and our site myfirstpaycheck.com provides general resume advice along with a resume builder geared towards teens.

No Job Experience? Don’t Worry

When writing your first resume, you cannot let yourself get discouraged by your lack of job experience. Instead of the employment experience you don’t have, focus on activities such as athletics and school clubs that emphasize your responsibility and maturity. Special skills and interests, even if they don’t seem that relevant, may help fill out a picture of who you are.

If you depict your activities specifically, you can better sell yourself. For example, if you babysat, list how many families, how many kids, how many hours, etc. If you mowed lawns, list how many lawns you mowed a week. The details will distinguish you from everyone else.

Similarly, with activities, saying you were on the high school football team is not as effective as saying you played two years on JV and one on varsity, for a state championship team. This shows progress and determination and will set you apart.

Proofread!

However, the most important thing to remember when preparing a resume is to proofread. A great list of experiences is easily overwhelmed by poor formatting and grammatical errors.

It is always advisable to seek help with proofreading from others you trust; also ask them for suggested improvements.

The Cover Letter

You generally need only one resume for your job application process, but you should submit a personalized cover letter for each job to which you apply. You should not simply create a template and change the name of the company. Rather, your cover letter should be targeted to match the specific company and position for which you are applying.

This requires careful attention to the advertised job description and perhaps even some research about the business. It also helps if you can address the letter to a specific person instead of “To Whom it May Concern.”

Applying in Person

Once you’ve decided where to apply, it’s important to make a good first impression. Dress up, make eye contact, and bring a resume. Oftentimes the decision maker will be out, or will forget about your conversation, so it’s effective to leave them with something to remind them why they should hire you.

This is why it’s so important to spend time on your resume and cover letter. These two pieces of paper are often what convinces an employer to hire you.

For more advice, and for lists of job openings in the New York, Philadelphia, and DC areas, check myfirstpaycheck.com today.

Austin Lavin is the CEO and a co-founder of myfirstpaycheck.com, a newly created
job posting site for teens by teens in the Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. areas. Along with job and volunteer opportunities, myfirstpaycheck.com has job advice and resources to help young people have more success in the job application process. For more information, or to contact Austin please email him at Austin@myfirstpaycheck.com.

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