How to Build Your High School Resume and Turn It into a Golden Ticket

Believe it or not, a resume is the first step into a job, scholarship, or internship hunting. A well-planned resume might become your “golden” ticket into your next academic or life experience. If you are thinking that you are just a high-school student with no experience or skills – wrong! This blog post will show you how your plentiful experiences and varied skills qualify you for many opportunities.

by Jesus L. Ulloa-Higuera, Ed.D., Launch Virtual Academy’s Principal / Sweetwater Union High School District

The next step is to identify your skills and abilities. This is where most high-school students face a brick wall. Do not panic! Focus your attention on relevant and related experiences. Let’s assume that the objective of your resume is to apply for a scholarship. Whether you are applying for a private, public or college-specific scholarship, most likely a resume is required by the scholarship selection committee. For this purpose, your resume needs to highlight your education experiences, relevant extracurricular activities, awards, honors, and volunteer experiences. You might not be in the top one percent of your class, however, at this point you can emphasize the classes that you have taken (such as accelerated, honors, advanced placement, or electives) and educational experiences (summer school acceleration or career exploration) that match the scholarship requirements. For example, let’s say the scholarship is for students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Your resume needs to emphasize your academic experiences related to STEM. It is not necessary to include your grades but it is extremely important to expand on learning experiences derived from such courses.

Now let’s explore untapped opportunities such as internships, which are work-like experiences, unpaid or paid, that offer excellent opportunities to practice working, explore careers, and gain new skills. Internship selection committees look for candidates with well-rounded experiences (academic, extracurricular, and potentiality) related to the opportunity. Pay close attention to potentiality, which is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness.” Grades and awards matter but individuality matters the most. Make it personal! Expand on the qualities that make you the perfect fit for the opportunity. Be relatable, be curious, be brave, and show you are and can be a leader. Everything counts, like the time you helped your neighbor troubleshoot their non-working Wi-Fi network, or when you helped your uncle create a Facebook profile, or when you assisted your teacher and your classmates with the resolution of a conflict in class. Bring your potentiality to life on a resume created specifically for internship opportunities.

Here are a few last words of guidance to help you create your own golden ticket: select the best resume structure according to the opportunity and do not use an online resume builder. Ask your teachers, counselor, assistant principal, principal, parents, and trusted adults for feedback and take their advice with a grain of salt. Be comfortable with rejection. As Albert Einstein said, “Failure is success in progress.” If crafted with purpose and passion, your resume will turn into a golden ticket for entering your next life experience. Best of luck!