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Helping Your Kids with the Perfect Resume for Summer Jobs

Get the Content Right

To help you create a perfect resume for your kids, begin by explaining to them what content should always be included on a resume. That includes past work experience, but if your kids have not had any previous jobs or work experience, it is fine to exclude that on a first resume.

Make sure your children include all of the following sections.

Personal Information and Contact Details

Start by advising your kids to include basic contact information, such as their name, email address, and phone number in their resume. This information must be accurate and professional.

Also, outlandish email addresses can leave a bad impression on potential employers. So, encourage your kid to set up another email address if applicable.

A Personal Statement

Next, advise your kid to write a personal statement. This is a way for them to introduce themselves to a prospective employer. But a personal statement should only be two or three sentences long, so it should be both professional and snappy.

Education Details

The next section should highlight your kids’ education. Make sure your kids pinpoint any special projects or grades that they are proud of, or subjects that they excel in. This shows their potential employers that they are committed and motivated towards their learning. 

Achievements and Awards

Your child might have won a science fair, been elected class president, or led a sports team to victory. Including these accomplishments gives a glimpse into your kids’ tenacity and willingness to go the extra mile. 

Skills

Instead of focusing on job experiences they might not have yet, encourage your children to concentrate on their skills instead. For example, great teamwork from sports activities or leadership roles in school clubs can genuinely impress employers.

References

It will be helpful to include references if the children have any. If your kid has no previous employer, a teacher could be a reference. But remember to tell your children that they must ask permission from the individual they are planning on referencing before adding their name and contact details to their resumes.

Create a Clear and Professional-looking Layout

Ensure your kids know that presentability matters a lot. Clear headings, consistent font size and style, and bullet points to list details, for instance, can greatly enhance readability. Therefore, a clean layout can help your child’s resume stand out in a pile.

Use Brief but Impactful Descriptions

Encourage your kids to cut the fluff and stick to concise descriptions of their experiences, skills, and achievements. An employer’s decision can often hinge on how clear and straightforward the content is.

Customize Resumes for Each Job

Every job is different. Therefore, each application should reflect that fact. Make sure your kids know that. Help them to tailor their resume for each specific summer job by emphasizing relevant skills or experiences in that field. A generic resume will not stand out among countless others. 

Showcase Personality

While resumes should be professional, your kids should also inject a little of their personality into them. Otherwise, the resumes could come across to employers like every other resume in the pile.

So, encourage your kids to pepper some appropriate personal touches and a section about hobbies and interests to make their resumes more individual.

Look at Things from the Employers’ Perspective

Encourage your children to consider their desired role from the employers’ view. When they ask questions like “What skills or traits would the employer value most in a candidate?”, your kids can craft their resumes in ways that connect better with the prospective employers.

Proofread

Finally, but importantly, ensure your children understand the critical importance of proofreading before sending out their resumes. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors can easily damage their chances of landing the job.

Attention to detail goes a long way in leaving a positive impression on the recruiter. So, never overlook or skip this essential step in resume writing.

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