Resume 101
Resumes are an important way of marketing and highlighting who you are to prospective employers. In high school it may seem weird or pointless to have a resume or to even worry about this skill. I can tell you it is not. Organizing resumes and understanding how to create one is one of the most important parts of finding a job. This is the first way an employer will come to know you. Recruiters have tons of resumes presented to them and often times will use software to find the ones that will produce the best likely candidate. This is why it is vital that you understand all parts of composing a resume how to tailor them to land an interview.
It is true that your resume will grow over time, yet it is still critical that you start working on yours now.
High school resumes can include things like:
It is true that your resume will grow over time, yet it is still critical that you start working on yours now.
High school resumes can include things like:
- Education (HS), including GPA
- Jobs
- Clubs/Activities
- Achievements/Awards/Honors
- Projects
- Volunteer Work
- Additional Skills
- * There are resources out there that will assist in composing your resume
- * There are resources that will provide resume templates i.e using Microsoft Word you can start a document using a resume template.
- * There are resources that will proofread your resumes for you
Ace The Interview
An interview is another component of the job seeking process and it is the step that will likely land you the job or not. There are different types of job interviews. Let's discuss
Phone Interview- This interview is normally a pre-screen of some sort. The interview is trying to get a feel of who you are. Phone interviews are general mixed in style there may be more unstructured parts with some behavioral questions added. This is normally the first interview in about 2 or 3. This pre-screen will determine if you move on in the funnel.
Skype Interview- This interview is exactly as it says done over Skype or some other video chatting service. This interview, like a phone interview, is normally a pre-screen to see if you advance. Skype interviews could be used because of location barrier or just simply protocol.
Behavioral Interview- Employers have come to understand that the biggest prediction of future behavior is past behavior and this is why behavioral interviews ask behavioral questions. These are questions ask in a way to understand how you have dealt with situations in the past. Interviewers are looking for your answers to follow a process, this process being the S.T.A.R. method (see below).
Panel Interview- Employers often like to gather the opinions of several members of their staff prior to deciding which candidate to hire. In order to do this, panel interviews are used. This is where one candidate may be interviewed by a few people at once. Normally panel interviews are more formal in style and include behavioral based questions (see behavioral interview above and the S.T.A.R method below)
Unstructured Interview- This interview is where the interviewer wants to hear from you. There is no real structure. This type of interview is more conversational and less formal.
Many More
S.T.A.R Method
What is STAR? - this interview technique offers a straightforward format you can use to answer behavioral interview questions. S.T.A.R stands for: Situation-Task-Action-Resolution
What is a Behavioral Question?- as discussed above employers know that future behaviors are based on past behaviors and that is why in an interview you will hear a lot of questions phrased as "Tell me about a time when"
or "what do you do when". The interviewer does not want to hear what you would do in the situation, they want to see what you have done in this instance in the past. and then follow STAR:
The Interviewer Says: “Tell me about a time when you had to be very strategic in order to meet all of your top priorities.”
Your Response:
Situation: “In my previous sales role, I was put in charge of the transfer to an entirely new customer relationship management (CRM) system—on top of handling my daily sales calls and responsibilities.”
Task: “The goal was to have the migration to the new CRM database completed by Q3, without letting any of my own sales numbers slip below my targets.”
Action: “In order to do that, I had to be very careful about how I managed all of my time. So, I blocked off an hour each day on my calendar to dedicate solely to the CRM migration. During that time, I worked on transferring the data, as well as cleaning out old contacts and updating outdated information. Doing this gave me enough time to chip away at that project, while still handling my normal tasks.”
Result: “As a result, the transfer was completed two weeks ahead of deadline and I finished the quarter 10% ahead of my sales goal.”
RESOURCES
The Star Method
Job Seeker Resources
Phone Interview- This interview is normally a pre-screen of some sort. The interview is trying to get a feel of who you are. Phone interviews are general mixed in style there may be more unstructured parts with some behavioral questions added. This is normally the first interview in about 2 or 3. This pre-screen will determine if you move on in the funnel.
Skype Interview- This interview is exactly as it says done over Skype or some other video chatting service. This interview, like a phone interview, is normally a pre-screen to see if you advance. Skype interviews could be used because of location barrier or just simply protocol.
Behavioral Interview- Employers have come to understand that the biggest prediction of future behavior is past behavior and this is why behavioral interviews ask behavioral questions. These are questions ask in a way to understand how you have dealt with situations in the past. Interviewers are looking for your answers to follow a process, this process being the S.T.A.R. method (see below).
Panel Interview- Employers often like to gather the opinions of several members of their staff prior to deciding which candidate to hire. In order to do this, panel interviews are used. This is where one candidate may be interviewed by a few people at once. Normally panel interviews are more formal in style and include behavioral based questions (see behavioral interview above and the S.T.A.R method below)
Unstructured Interview- This interview is where the interviewer wants to hear from you. There is no real structure. This type of interview is more conversational and less formal.
Many More
S.T.A.R Method
What is STAR? - this interview technique offers a straightforward format you can use to answer behavioral interview questions. S.T.A.R stands for: Situation-Task-Action-Resolution
What is a Behavioral Question?- as discussed above employers know that future behaviors are based on past behaviors and that is why in an interview you will hear a lot of questions phrased as "Tell me about a time when"
or "what do you do when". The interviewer does not want to hear what you would do in the situation, they want to see what you have done in this instance in the past. and then follow STAR:
- Situation: set the scene and give the necessary details of your example
- Task: Describe what you responsibilities were in that situation
- Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
- Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved
The Interviewer Says: “Tell me about a time when you had to be very strategic in order to meet all of your top priorities.”
Your Response:
Situation: “In my previous sales role, I was put in charge of the transfer to an entirely new customer relationship management (CRM) system—on top of handling my daily sales calls and responsibilities.”
Task: “The goal was to have the migration to the new CRM database completed by Q3, without letting any of my own sales numbers slip below my targets.”
Action: “In order to do that, I had to be very careful about how I managed all of my time. So, I blocked off an hour each day on my calendar to dedicate solely to the CRM migration. During that time, I worked on transferring the data, as well as cleaning out old contacts and updating outdated information. Doing this gave me enough time to chip away at that project, while still handling my normal tasks.”
Result: “As a result, the transfer was completed two weeks ahead of deadline and I finished the quarter 10% ahead of my sales goal.”
RESOURCES
The Star Method
Job Seeker Resources