Your résumé, also known as curriculum vitae (CV) is a BRIEF summary of your education, experiences, and qualifications. Every student who is nearing the end of high school, meaning if you happen to be in grade 11 or approaching the end of grade 10, should take the time to put together a résumé. This is best done when you have more time to spend on this rather than when you are in a crunch applying for a job/internship or completing university applications which sometimes allow (or even require) the uploading of a résumé.
Few will disagree that it is easier to begin with a nice ready-made template. Free templates are easily accessible through Microsoft Word, through Apple Pages, and even in Google Docs. Nobody enjoys spending time formatting a résumé, choosing fonts, and spending hours on making sure the margins are all uniform. So, what templates do is to make your life easy. The trick is to go with a résumé that is relatively simple (no fancy graphics, no bold designs, no photos, and using minimal colors) – unless you’re an artist and want to showcase your artistic ability. If that’s the case, then you can experiment with designs, colors, graphics, charts, etc.
In general, a résumé with a simple format, narrow margins and small font (size 10 except for your name or titles of sections which can be slightly larger at 11-12) is ideal. Choose a template that does not waste a lot of space. You are a high school student with a relatively short résumé with 1-2 educational institutions, a half dozen activities including some community service/volunteering, maybe one work/internship experience and a few skills (including language proficiency or programming skills) so you want to be able to fit everything you have onto one page, if possible. At age seventeen, your résumé should not exceed two pages – at least in most instances. Over time, as you add your university education, more activities and skills, and maybe even publications, the résumé may expand.
The résumé is more about the quality of the content than its design. When it comes to the content of your résumé, make sure your résumé includes your name and contact information (email, address, and phone number). You do not need to include personal pronouns (I, me, we) in your entries as your reader knows the résumé is about you. Focus on your accomplishments, including descriptions of your responsibilities using action verbs. Examples would be ‘spearheaded’, ‘managed’, ‘engineered’, ‘facilitated’, ‘directed’, ‘co-founded’ and ‘initiated’. Indicate what skills you used, including your leadership and collaborative skills. You can include any special academic research as well as projects you have engaged in. Volunteer experience and community service are always good items to include. Awards and honors can go in the section relevant to the activity. It is best not to include personal information such as birth date, age, photos, marital status, or religion on a résumé. For education, include the name of institutions attended, dates (month & year) and location. Do the same for jobs, but also include your job title and responsibilities. Any relevant certifications can be included as well. Your content should be displayed in reverse-chronological order; in other words, if you are listing 2 internships, the most recent one will be on top.
If you’re submitting your résumé electronically, then convert it to the PDF format. Name the résumé file so the person on the receiving end can identify it is from you. Using a ready-made résumé template will save you lots of time and effort!