It’s Never Too Early to Draft a Resume
Resumes provide a focused summary of a person and aren’t just for adults in the workforce. Developing a resume early in high school provides a strong foundation for your student’s future, during and after high school, and is relevant to a college or career search.
Why It Matters
- It’s a historical timeline.
Listing activities, accomplishments and skills will pinpoint your student’s successes or any gaps that may need filling, increasing your student’s confidence and encouraging additional interests that can then be added to the resume. - It’s necessary.
Most part-time and full-time employers request that a resume be submitted, in addition to a job application. A resume is usually required for scholarship applications or volunteer positions your student may be considering. It can be the valuable edge needed for selection into a summer program or job shadowing experience.
What Your Student Can Do Now
- Make a list.
Have your student list every job where any money was earned — pet-sitting, lawn-mowing, babysitting —and then create a list of duties that were a part of it. Help your student define skills that were needed or developed for each job, such as timeliness, basic cooking skills or conflict management. - Use a template.
There are a variety of resume templates available online, but your student’s should include these five components: work experience, activities, skills, achievements and honors, and online presence. - Review social media accounts.
Your student’s social media accounts are snapshots of your student’s daily activities. Employers and college admissions officers frequently review them. If your student doesn’t have an online presence, a LinkedIn profile is a good way to highlight skills and accomplishments in addition to showing that your student is serious about a professional future.
What Your Student Can Do Later
- Add to the resume.
As your student progresses through high school, update the resume with additional experiences and accomplishments. - Discover the benefits of volunteering.
Your student shouldn’t overlook how beneficial volunteer work can be. Volunteering provides new insights into other peoples’ lives and gives the volunteer a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that they’re making a difference in the world. It can also create a career pathway and build relationships that enhance your student’s resume and the college admissions process.
What You Can Do
- Share your insights.
If you have a professional resume, share it with your student and explain why you chose the particular template you used, since it can vary by work experience and career. - Review your and your student’s online presence.
Take a critical look at your student’s and your own social media accounts to see if some cleanup might be necessary. Update your LinkedIn profile if there are gaps. - Invite your student.
If you volunteer in your community, invite your student along and be prepared to share how your life is enhanced because of it.
Registration is open now for a scholarship for Iowa high school students, not just seniors. The scholarship awards $1,000 College Savings Iowa deposits, which can be used when your student is ready to pay educational expenses. Register at www.IowaStudentLoan.org/ScholarshipSignUp.
Next Steps
Be sure to complete the survey questions at the end of this article to be entered into the 529 deposit giveaway!
Additional references, handouts and talking points are available in the right sidebar to use at your leisure. They may prove beneficial to reference now or after receiving future emails – we’ll leave it completely up to you. Use our emails like a recipe for a successful outcome — assemble the recommended ingredients and then follow accompanying directions to add flavor and depth.