
Think because you lack experience means you can’t make a resume? Not true! If you are a teenager looking for your first paying job, here are some ways to add experience and create your very first resume!
1- Emphasize your education As a current student (or even just out of high school), you want to emphasize your education. Place your education information at the very top of your resume. If you have a strong GPA, be sure to include this and list any academic awards, honors, or other achievements.
2- Include informal work, volunteer, and extracurricular experiences. Since your work experience is somewhat limited, focus on emphasizing any other forms of work, including volunteer experience or any extracurricular activities you participated in, including clubs, sports, and other organizations. If you happened to do some tutoring, babysitting, gardening, or dog walking for example include those as well. Even if these are jobs that don’t require a large skill set, the fact you performed them on a somewhat regular basis shows you have a strong work ethic!
3- Emphasize leadership experience. Employers are always looking for job applicants with leadership experience and qualities. If you were a captain for your sports team, or the vice president of your student council, be sure to list these positions! You should feel proud of them.
4- List your skills. Consider including a skills section on your resume to include any skills you have that are related to the job you are applying for. For example, you might list your computer, language, or other applicable skills here.
5- Connect your resume to the job. Review the job posting before creating your resume! Circle any key qualifications or requirements of the job and determine how YOU are a good match and what you can bring. Then be sure to include any experiences and skills in your resume that highlight how you are an ideal fit for that specific job.
6- Edit your resume! Make sure to proofread your resume before submitting it to an employer! Your format needs to remain consistent and easy to follow, and spelling or grammatical errors are a big no, no. ALWAYS ask a friend, family member, school guidance counselor, or teacher to read through your resume to catch any mistakes before you submit it to a potential employer!
Lastly, check out this [sample resume] (http://www.mass.edu/gearup/documents/WritingaResume.pdf) and some action words you can add into your resume to make it stand out to employers.
Best of luck with your first resume you’ll do great. Please reach out to the [community here] (https://www.jobcase.com/community) if you have any questions!

Great advice!

i always find it amusing when an employer demands an applicant have job related experience but they never say where to go get this experience. i have never committed a crime so by that logic if i go out and commit a crime [even murder ] then i shouldn't be going to jail for i don't have EXPERIENCE with getting in trouble with the law

Great post, Ashley! Some of these also apply to not-so-new-comers to the workforce as well. Thanks for posting this! Have a Merry Christmas!!
AWESOME!!!