Resume with no Job Experience?

[LW4E]

Hey,

 

I'm looking into getting a job this summer, I've already applied at an amusement park, I did that because you don't need a resume as you apply online for that job, and I've been a bit wary of resumes because I have no job experience, I am forced to stay in highschool an exta year (That doesn't look good) and I have very minimal volunteer experience.

 

I was wondering how I would go about making myself look impressive on a resume if I have no job experience or anything.

 

Thanks.

[greensleeves]

I see you're from Ontario, so you must have done your 40 hours? Put whatever you did for it in your resume. Staying in school the extra year since they dropped grade 13 isn't something that is unusual, my son just finished 12 and probably more than a third of his friends are going back. He has his credits, but he's still going back because he's not financially ready for university or college yet and wants take a specific course that he couldn't get last year. It's nothing that's looked down on, so don't worry about that.

 

Also, put in any accomplishments or awards, extra curricular activities, sports teams etc., anything that you can think of. Even hobbies are okay to add to a first resume.

 

You probably have nothing to worry about. When my son went looking for his first part-time job, he spent about an hour dropping off resumes with no job experience on it and got three job offers. Just be prepared to accept something that doesn't pay much at first. Good luck!

[FortunateOne]

What position did you apply to work?

[xXPusHedAsiDeXx]

It shouldn't be a problem, my first job was a dishwashing at a restaurant for minimum wage. I did 50 hours a week when I was working there, so be prepared for a crappy wage until you get some job experience to put on your resume.

[Roasted Carrots]

Did you win any awards or participate in any sports/after-school activities? Babysit younger sibilings? Pet-sit neighbors dogs? Put those down!

 

There are lots of jobs you can get without work experience. My first job was a Hostess at an Irish bar/restaurant at the age of 18. I had zero work experience and they were looking for someone with restaurent experience.

 

The amusement park near us regularly hires 15,16,17 year olds with no work experience.

 

Now I work at a movie theater with only that hostess job under my belt. They trained me, too.

 

There are lots of jobs you can get. Keep applying.

[LW4E]

I do not have my 40 hours of community service, I have about five hours, if that and that's from helping out arround the school on occasion.

 

 

 

At the Amusement park, I applied for a cashier position, then at the interview they told me that I wasn't a good candidate for the job.

 

 

 

I'm not looking much into the wage, I just need something to do with my time, right now, all I really need money for is a few birthday presents.

 

 

 

I've babysat, but that's about it, I wasn't much into sports teams or anything like that.

 

thanks for all the advice and input, It's much appreciated.

[greensleeves]

You could still put together a resume or just keep applying at places that don't ask for one until you find something. I'm pretty sure Loblaws and No Frills don't take resumes, just applicaitons, same with Home Depot (I think).

[GettingBetter]

We were all there at one point; wanting a job for the experience, but no one would give us one because we didn't have any experience.

 

I was lucky. I was seen working very hard in college, and so I've had jobs offers coming to me. I also spent hundreds of hours working on this one large project, completely unpaid and moreover at the expense of about everything else in my life to get noticed. That's one route. For that, I'd suggest picking up a really constructive hobby, like learning computer programming or carpentry or metallurgy.

 

Another option is to volunteer for activities. Go sign up for Habitat for Humanity, or something. Do that for a year, and then when you're 18 you'll have some good experience under your belt.

 

It's not at all uncommon to have to volunteer at first. You're at an advantage because you realize this while you're still young, so go ahead and volunteer now. My cousin was in the army, and now he wants to be a firefighter. The only way you can be a firefighter is to volunteer at first. But he can't volunteer his time because he has a wife and kid to take care of, so he's trapped.

 

Of course, some of us are lucky and get hired right away. But as a general rule, the only one's I know of like that were hired by family or friends of family. We're not all that fortunate.

[correspondent08]

If you don't have job experience the usual resume writing advice is to write a skills based resume. At the top of the resume you describe what you CAN do- if you've got computer skillz put them down- if you are good at math, tell them, if you are patient/personable put this down. This can work even if you are just at the end of highschool, never really had a job before, and you are looking for that basic min-wage job for the summer or part-time. There are lots of examples on the web.

 

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Don't worry about making yourself look impressive- a resume is just a big calling card that has your name and address on it and lets somebody know a little about you and that you are looking for work and how to get a hold of you. There are certainly people out there who want to hire somebody young, usually the pay won't be too great, or the job might only be for 6 months, but in exchange they'll be willing to teach you the job.

 

Good Luck