A resume is a short page (or digital document) that tells people about you when you're trying to get something—like a job, an internship, a scholarship, or even a special program at school. It can show:
Who you are
What school you go to
What skills you have
What activities you're in (like sports, clubs, or volunteering)
Honestly, anyone can help you, whether it be a friend, family member, teacher, etc. However at Johnson, you can go to these people/classes to get your resume started:
Freshman FOCUS - There is a unit in this class where you will be creating a resume, and yes, you can use this for real life opportunities, like getting your first job!
Connect with Mr. Billy or Ms. Voigt in the CCRC
A good and strong resume is usually only one-page. A little over one-page is okay, but it should not be more than that.
A strong and concise resume usually has the following information:
Your Contact Info
Full Name
Email & Phone Number
Home Address (you can also just include the city and state to avoid giving out sensitive info)
Your Education
School Name, Grade Level, and Graduation Year
Weighted GPA
Any notable achievements
A-Honor Roll, Student of the Month, etc.
Employment History
Provide at least 2-3 places you've worked in the past.
Include your job title, how long you've been employed there, and list at least 3 things you did in this job.
If you have never worked anywhere before, you can skip this section.
Volunteer Experience
Provide at least 2-3 places/events that you've volunteered for.
Include your volunteer title, or the event that you volunteered for. Also include when you volunteered for this, and list 3 things you did in this job.
This section can include, but are not limited to, the following things:
Student clubs/groups that you are part of
Sports teams that you are part of
Extracurricular things that you are part of
Community and personal events you've helped with
Babysitting, church youth group, fundraising to help a family in need, etc.
References
This section provides at least 2-3 individuals who you have identified can help advocate for you and explain why you are qualified for the opportunity that you are sending this resume in for.
Your references should not be any family members. Appropriate references are usually teachers, counselors, coaches, managers, bosses, mentors, etc.
Make sure to ask and request for someone to be a reference for you and get their approval before actually putting them down on your resume.
Also, if you are asking them to do this in regards to a specific opportunity, make sure to tell them what that opportunity is.
This section should include the following information for the references:
Their full name
Their email and/or phone number
How you are connected to them and how long you have know them
Example:
Tony Thompson
tonythompson123@example.com
651-123-4567
Tony is my math teacher who I have known since my Freshman year of high school.
If you need to add more to your resume, you can also include these sections; however, these sections are not extremely required if you've filled up the one-page already:
Your Soft and Technical Skills
This section can include 5-10 skills that you have that may help the reader understand who you are as a person.
Examples include: Detail-Oriented, Bilingual, Great Communication Skills, Strong Leadership,
Objective
This section includes your goal in submitting this resume to whatever the opportunity is. Thois should be short and concise, at least 1-2 sentences.
Example: To obtain a position for Right Track in the Educational career path.
You should be updating your resume yearly, or whenever you feel the need to.
When you are going to job fairs or networking events, it would be a good idea to have at least 3-5 physical resumes on hand.
Save your resume as a PDF document, this way if others receive your resume, they cannot make edits to it.
Try your best to not repeat the same words or phrases. Google and look up "terms to use on your resume" to get the best form of words to use to describe something on your resume!
Keep your resume simple and straightforward. If it is too detailed or too fancy, that could take away from the purpose of the resume.
However for some jobs, it would be appropriate to have a fancy resume! For example, a graphic designer or animation artist would make sense to have a very extravagant resume!
Resumes could also be helpful to give to your references so they could see in case they need more information on you to get you the opportunity you are applying for.
The same goes for if they are writing a Letter of Recommendation for you!