Keeping Track of Details: Why Your Teen Needs a Resume just as Much as You

The US Department of Labor reports that “individuals born in the latter years of the baby boom (1957-1964) held an average of 12.9 jobs.”

If you’re a Boomer, does that sound right? I’ve got to admit I was a bit surprised!

How about your parents? Do you remember what jobs (and how many?) your parents had? I think I could name every job my mama has ever had (but maybe not in order…)

Here’s another statistic from Monster.com: "The median number of years US workers have been with their current employers is 4.6.”

Not very long … Is your resume up to date? If it is, give yourself a pat on the back. But, what if I asked you to remember EVERY job you’ve ever had since high school? Suddenly a lot harder, right?!

Our lives are busy, and it can be difficult to keep track of what we’ve done. But if we don’t, when we have to put it together for a new job, a loan application, or a background check, it can be quite the project.

Another reason to have a current resume is to show it to your teen. It’s good for your teen to know what you do now and have done for a living. If you keep that part of your life away from your teen, he may never realize that there really isn’t a money tree in the backyard.

Sharing your resume gives your teen a chance to know you better, to know what’s out there, and to learn about skills they didn’t know you have and ones they may need. Resumes are also the perfect starting place to discuss hard skills and soft skills, terms likely not taught in any of your teen’s classes.

A great example of a hard skill to bring up with your teen might be typing or keyboarding.

My mama’s resume used to list her typing speed, and yes, she learned to type on a typewriter. Have you ever used a typewriter? I have! Has your teen even seen one?

Anyway, my mama typed around 50 WPM. Before graduating high school, both my sister and I could type over 100 WPM. Yet today, I’m encountering teens who don’t know how to type at all. They use the traditional “hunt and peck” method for non-typers.

Even with AI, typing is essential. Every day, you type on a computer, a cellphone, or other digital device. Being able to type with speed and accuracy demonstrates a person’s digital skills and potential productivity. Voice to text isn’t always accurate or the best choice…

Typing is known as a hard skill. It can be learned and measured. What other hard skills are on your resume? Talk to your teen about other ones you have and ones she may already have. In today’s technological world, your teen may have coding experience. Ask her what skills she has and have her start making a list. They will go on the resume your teen needs to start building the summer between 8th and 9th grades.

Let your teen know that there are all sorts of hard skills. My sister has done many different things and ended up being a certified forklift operator at one point. What skill do you have that your teen could never imagine? Skills are something that can be learned, and it is why learning should never stop. It’s why having study skills now can make such a difference in a teen’s life.

In addition to hard skills, talk to your teen about soft skills. Most teens I tutor can’t define what a soft skill is, let alone practice them in school outside of group projects. Soft skills can be learned, but they aren’t nearly as measurable. I walked into a store to send a package today, and the woman behind the counter took the time to glare at me, but she didn’t speak. There was no, “How may I help you?” or even a smile.

I placed my package on the counter and asked if she could help me send it. After some weighing, verifying addresses, and data entry, she accepted my package.

It didn’t take long. The woman appeared to understand what was required, so she had the hard skills to complete the transaction. However, customer service, which is a soft skill, wasn’t well developed. A greeting, not a glare, and a thank you after the transaction could have been automatic. A smile and friendly body language would have made the encounter better as well. She could definitely use some help developing her customer service soft skill!

Does your teen have soft skills like customer service, self advocacy (I might still be in the store if I hadn’t explained what I needed), and public speaking?

Talk with your teen about soft skills and the soft skills that you have and use every day. Employers expect teens and adults to have soft skills no matter if it’s a first job at a fast food restaurant or a corporate job, but they aren’t taught like hard skills.

Sharing your resume with your teen may be an eye opening experience for both of you. You’ll probably learn things you don’t know about each other but don’t stop there.

It’s time to help your teen start putting his own resume together. Every semester in high school your child needs to update his resume. His first resume won’t be like your current resume. It won’t be packed with employment experience, but it may include job skills from student activities and volunteering, and it will definitely contain all of the classes he’s taken and is currently taking.

Like we discussed earlier, your teen may have some coding skills. Has she helped someone set up a website? In volunteering, has your teen gained money handling experience? What class has your teen taken that has given him job skills?

More than one high school offers computer programming, medical assisting, and construction skill opportunities, let alone the chance to earn certain certifications.

In addition to skills, a section for awards and honors needs to be included. Don’t forget about leadership roles held in clubs, organizations, and athletics. Most college counselors would likely tell you it’s not the number of activities your teen is involved in that matters but your teen’s dedication and participation to the club/sport/activity. Have your teen highlight that on his resume.

A section on volunteering can also be included on your teen’s resume. If you have a Boy or Girl Scout, both organizations offer scholarship opportunities. The backbone of both organizations is to serve their communities. Volunteering is great for the community, and it’s a great chance for your teen to learn new skills that may even turn into a career.

While your teen’s high school resume may only reflect one or two paying jobs, it will be full of information for future job applications and college applications. In one place your teen will have a list of activities and skills that she may have forgotten if she hadn’t recorded them. MANY juniors and seniors I’ve tutored have struggled to fill out scholarship, internship, college, job, summer camp, and more applications because they didn’t ever create a resume or keep track of the things we’ve talked about in this article.

Helping your teen create a resume will help you both discover strengths and weaknesses in the skills your teen possesses. Together, you can decide what can be done.

As a study skills tutor, I help teens develop skills that can be used today and in the future. One of the 12 study skills I teach in my Love to Learn program is soft skills. Skills like organization and time management are also a part of my program because they’re always needed. And surprise, surprise, they are also often mentioned in job listings. Study skills like soft skills are life skills.

You and your teen have some homework. Share your resume with your teen today. Then, help your teen create his own resume. Or better yet, reach out to me and let me help your teen! Click here to get started.

It’s a lot easier to know where you’re going when you know where you’ve been.