Resumes

BRIEF SUMMARY

Resume writing is often taught as a classroom guidance lesson, sometimes in coordination with Language Arts courses.  The lesson is to explain what a resume is, its purpose and importance, and how to create one for a specific opportunity. When creating a resume, the most important thing to remember is context – why am I creating/using this resume? What am I trying to convey to my readers? Helping students get clear and specific on these points will not only create stronger resumes, it will foster a strength-based conversation of self-awareness and future planning that incorporates an awareness of others’ values and perspectives. All students have marketable traits, skills, talents, and experiences; the best thing a counselor can do for a student is help him/her see this for himself/herself.

KEY POINTS

• A resume is a brief representation of your personal, academic, and professional qualifications.
• To effectively create a resume you must first take a personal inventory of your characteristics, skills, and achievements.

SHARED WISDOM

• Responses from Counselor Talk (December 2107):

IPFW and UNOH are two local colleges that send admission reps in to do lessons to do lessons and this is one of the lessons they represent.  Perhaps your teachers would allow a guest speaker to come in and speak on this?  Or you can do it and  during a zero time.  The only thing is it is usually a one-time lesson, maybe two, and really you should do it over a week to revise and such.  Perhaps your principal can step in and say English teachers have to integrate it as long as you get someone to present the original lesson?

Our senior English teacher helps and thinks it is relevant. We then hold mock interviews with our seniors. Do your teachers just not want to do it or are they not willing to give up the class time? Do all of your seniors take Economics, all people need a job to contribute to the economy…maybe they would see it as relevant.

Is there a day/s that your English teachers will be out to a conference?  Can you go in then?

Is there someone from your local WorkOne office who might be willing to help? Or someone from a local college employment services office?

There is a basic fill in the info resume on Indiana Career Explorer, could you use that?

Do any of your vocational programs require resumes for their students, example work-based learning students?

We do this at the end of English 11 classroom by stating that letters of recommendation senior year would only be written when a senior resume was received.

Could you get those English teacher’s to agree to let you into the classroom for a period or two so that it can be done under their supervision.

RESOURCES

• Indiana Career Explorer has a very easy to use resume function built into the system. Every student in Indiana can sign into the system for free and use the resume and cover letter features. Students can create multiple versions, save them and  print them. Also, parents can view them as well via parent accounts students can enable.  While it would be best if an educator could walk them through this process, at least all students have a way of creating resumes as they need. Also, an Indiana Career Explorer account does not expire, so they can continue to use this in whatever path they follow beyond school.
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