STUDENT ENGAGEMENT:

First impressions are important. They’re not always fair or accurate, but they are definitely important. A resume is the ultimate example of a time when it is of utmost importance to put in the work to make the best first impression that you can. To begin, students are going to play a kind of guessing game that revolves around the idea of “first impressions.”

 

Show students the “First Impressions” slideshow. Ask students to get out a sheet of paper and for each photo of a young person that you show, ask them to list two pieces of information. First, ask them to list the first adjective that comes to mind to describe the young person in the photo. Second, ask students to list what career the young person might grow up to do.

 

Once the students make it through the full set of photos, they repeat again, but for this rotation a second “click” will reveal a current photo of the young person. You can find notes about the young person’s name and profession in the notes section should you need them. Feel free to add/subtract photos from the slideshow to meet your own needs.

 

You can find this slideshow here: intoolkit.com/firstimpressions (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16_eHbwbyJmvW6qxgM7L_FqtW_sjrxUkcwJ_GiLXnU8M/edit?usp=sharing)

 

DIGGING IN:

Explain to the students that it’s easy for someone to make the wrong first impression in meeting for the first time. Unfortunately, studies show that it is takes a significant amount of work to change these initial impressions.

 

The class is going to begin working on building a basic, professional resume. A resume will often be the first opportunity that students will have to make an impression on a potential employer. Because of this, it is important that students always take the time to make sure that their resumes are as thoughtful, engaging and error-free as they possibly can be.

 

As the students work on developing the basis for their resumes it will be important to encourage them to “think outside of the box” as much as they possibly can. As students are working to list their experiences, responsibilities and recognitions, they may be quick to tell you that they don’t have any of those yet. Assist them in working to identify where they have encountered those in their daily life. Have you ever had to babysit a younger sibling? That’s a pretty big responsibility. Weren’t you the Language Arts student of the month for April last year? That’s a recognition. Remember that big group project that you put together in Social Studies last year? That was experience. Students may also need assistance in appropriately expressing these in their resumes.

 

To begin with, students will complete a Resume Planning Sheet. They can begin this during the first class session, but may need to take the form home in order to complete everything that is asked for. Make sure to assist all students with exploring at least some of the experiences, responsibilities and recognition before the end of the first session.

 

Once students have had time to list their skills, abilities, knowledge, etc., ask students to share both their desired career and what they listed as skills, abilities or knowledge that they may currently bring to the table.

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Students should enter the second class session with their planners complete. If they do not, some additional time and assistance can be offered to get everyone to the same place.

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INTO ACTION:

Share the Google resume template with the students and explain that the class is going to work to use this framework and their planning sheets to build their final resumes.

 

The Google resume template can be found here: intoolkit.com/muncieresume (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d_XJ8uOfaxvoJm8K7rvFnU--1wsHNJFNu11S_o83mMs/edit?usp=sharing)

 

Students should feel that they have some rein to make visual and design changes to the document, but it is also probably important to touch on the fact that employers have certain expectations for a resume. For example, employers won’t usually spend longer than 30 seconds reading a resume. Therefore it is expected that a resume not be longer than a single, one-sided page in length. Also, it is standard that experiences, awards and such are listed in reverse chronological order. This means that your most current experience should be at the top of the list. Finally, there are instances where a pop of color or a graphic is appropriate and might make you stand apart from other resumes. More often, though, these things can make resumes look unprofessional and cluttered. Students should use color and graphics sparingly and at their own risk.

 

This may also be a good time to share the Resume Rubric with the class as well.

 

Allow students time to begin building their digital resumes using the planner. Use this time as an additional opportunity to assist students in identifying meaningful experiences, responsibilities and recognitions that they can include.

 

As students begin to complete inputting their information into their resume, encourage them to begin the first of at least three rounds of editing that they will do for the document. The first round should be a “big picture” edit where they look at the organization and design to make sure that the layout and structure make sense. The second edit should be a line-by-line edit to ensure that the content makes sense and is presented in a clear manner. Their final edit should be a fine-detail proofread looking for spelling errors, typos and grammar/punctuation issues.

 

Students may not finish the full edit process during the second session. The third session can begin with a set amount of time to complete these edits. After this, students should bring a physical copy of their resumes and partner with a classmate. Partners should exchange resumes and take time to read. Afterward, the partners should share their edits, notes and suggestions with one another focusing on how the resumes might be made stronger. If time allows, students can do multiple rounds of these peer-editing partnerships.

 

Following these peer-edits, students should be given time to make changes to their resume before printing it out and turning it in by the end of the third session.