Résumé Lesson Plans and Resources for the K-12 Classroom
Lesson Plans by Jacci Howard Bear, Your Mining Co. Guide to Desktop Publishing
Copyright 1997-98, JBdesigns, Freely distributed for school use.
http://desktoppub.miningco.com
Author email: desktoppub.guide@miningco.com
Notes to the Instructor:
Résumés
A life’s worth of experience and education summarized in a single page—that’s a
résumé. Lesson 1 has the student writing and designing a résumé for themselves—to
secure a job (paid or volunteer) or a promotion (at current job or from one grade level to
another). In Lesson 2 the students must create a résumé for a historical, fictional, or
literary character (assigned or chosen by the student). Lessons can be applied to a variety
of ages and subject areas including Language Arts, History, Social Studies, and
Vocational Training/Studies.
Lesson 1: Create a Résumé for Yourself
In the case of Vocational Training/Studies, this lesson could be evaluated in connection with real
or mock job interviews conducted in or out of the classroom. For younger students writing a
“résumé to get promoted to the next grade level” you might enlist the aid of students and
teachers from the next higher grade to provide feedback to your students.
Lesson 2: Create a Résumé for a Historical, Fictional, or Literary Character
This project could be assigned to individual students or to teams of 2 or more students. You may
want to assign a specific person or provide the class with a list of approved or suggested names.
It would also be desirable (or interesting) to tell the student what job or type of job their person is
seeking. You might make that position something related to the individual’s “real” job or
something entirely different—giving the student an opportunity to write a change of career
résumé.
Both Lessons:
In evaluating the résumés, you may want to enlist the aid of a professional résumé consultant or
the personnel director of your school district or of a local business. For younger students you
may want to prepare a “fill-in-the-blank” form for the required information or for the résumé
itself.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Attachments:
A - Résumé Checklist: List of items that may be included in a résumé. Not all items will apply in
all situations. You may wish to modify this checklist to include only the items you want the
students to include.
B - Writing Tips: Suggestions on what to include or not include (and why) as well as formatting
tips. You may wish to add your own suggestions as well.
The Word Résumé:
The word résumé is commonly found written with none, one, or two accented e’s (é). No single
form is absolutely correct (resume, resumé, résumé). A general rule of thumb is to select one
form and use it consistently. At least one é is desirable if, for no other reason, than to
differentiate it from the word resume (continue). Some businesses or other organizations may
have a style guide that specifies a preferred form.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Lesson 1:
Create a Résumé for Yourself
Introduction
Can you put everything about yourself—your life story—on a single sheet of paper? You
probably will have to do that at some point in your life.
A résumé is a piece of paper that tells a prospective employer who you are, what you’ve
done, and why they should hire you. If you want to get a job, you’ll probably need a
résumé.
But an employer doesn’t need to know absolutely all there is to know about you. They
need to know that you have the skills, knowledge, and personality traits needed for a
particular job. Can you pick out which of your many skills are most important for
different positions? Can you present them in such a way that the prospective employer
can quickly and easily evaluate your qualifications?
Task
Write your own résumé. Put everything you have learned (in school, in extracurricular
activities, in volunteer or paid jobs) into a few short paragraphs that would convince a
prospective employer to hire you (or convince your teacher to promote you to the next
higher grade).
Resources
Résumé Checklist (attachment A).
Writing Tips (attachment B.)
Suggested Minimum Resources
Collection of résumés from family and friends.
Résumé books with samples (optional but highly desirable).
Classroom or Library Reference Materials.
Access to Internet Resources (optional).
Page Layout Software (with Résumé Templates if possible).
Plain or color paper.
Laser or inkjet printer able to handle chosen paper stock.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Steps
1. First, decide what kind of “job” you are seeking. It could be a real job that
interests you or simply the “job” of reaching the next grade level in school.
2. Write down everything you can think of about yourself. List every job you’ve
ever done (real jobs, household chores, extra jobs at school such as hall monitor,
line leader, or crossing guard). List your education—schools, grades, special
classes (such as a basket weaving class or a karate class). List your extracurricular
school activities (football, band, chess club, debate team). List your activities
outside of school (camping, skateboarding, raising chickens). List any awards
you’ve won, honors you have received, or special recognition.
3. Research résumé writing. Use the materials provided in the classroom or from
other sources to gather more details about the different types of résumés. Choose
one or more formats that you feel will work for you.
4. Look at sample résumés you or your class have collected. Identify those that have
a style or format you might like to imitate or borrow. See how much detail each
type of résumé includes.
5. Using the Résumé Checklist, list the major components of your résumé. Mark out
any components you wish to omit from your résumé. Arrange your personal
information in chronological, functional, or other appropriate form.
6. Write an objective for your résumé (based on #1 above). Even if you do not plan
to use a Job Objective in your résumé it will help you decide what information is
needed and what can be safely omitted based on what you hope to achieve.
7. Sketch out some rough ideas of how you want your résumé to look. Try out
different formats to fit your text. Edit your text to fit your layout. Experiment.
8. Using the page layout software available to you, transfer your rough sketches to
the computer. Your software may have templates or wizards that will provide you
with even more ideas.
9. Print your final design.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Evaluation
Your teacher will use the criteria listed in the Résumé Checklist to see how well you have
presented yourself and your experience. Be prepared to explain why you made certain
choices concerning your job objective, how you chose your format, and why you used
certain words and phrases to describe your experience. Your teacher may enlist the
assistance of a professional résumé consultant or personnel director to evaluate your
résumé.
Conclusion
“A good résumé predicts how you might perform in that desired future
job.”—Yana Parker, author of Résumé Pro: The Professional’s Guide
Describing yourself is not as easy as you might think. Writing your résumé helps you to
see yourself and your personal experience in new ways. Certain parts of your education
or skills take on a different level of importance when you attempt to use that education or
skills to support your stated job objective. A properly researched and written résumé not
only helps to show prospective employers (or teachers) how you might perform at a new
job but it also helps you see your own strengths more clearly.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Lesson 2:
Create a Résumé for a Historical or Literary Character
Introduction
Can you put the entire life of __________________________________________________ (FILL IN NAME OF
ASSIGNED OR SELECTED PERSON)
on a single sheet of paper? Can you write it in a way that
makes someone who doesn’t know (SELECTED PERSON) want to give them a job?
A résumé is a piece of paper that tells a prospective employer about a job-seeker—who
they are, what experience they have, and why the employer should hire this person. If
someone wants to get a job, they’ll probably need a résumé.
What if (SELECTED PERSON) came to you and asked you to help write a résumé to get a job
as a __________________________________________________(FILL IN NEW JOB TITLE). The employer needs
to know if (SELECTED PERSON) has the skills, knowledge, and personality traits needed for a
particular job. Can you pick out which of (SELECTED PERSON’S) many skills are most
important for different positions? Can you present them in such a way that the
prospective employer can quickly and easily evaluate (SELECTED PERSON’S) qualifications?
Task
Write a résumé for (SELECTED PERSON). Put everything you know about (SELECTED PERSON)
into a few short paragraphs that would convince a prospective employer to hire (SELECTED
PERSON) for a job as __________________________________________________(DESIRED POSITION).
Resources
Résumé Checklist (attachment A).
Writing Tips (attachment B).
Suggested Minimum Resources
Collection of résumés from family and friends.
Résumé books with samples (optional but highly desirable).
Classroom or Library Reference Materials.
Access to Internet Resources (optional).
Page Layout Software (with Résumé Templates if possible).
Plain or color paper.
Laser or inkjet printer able to handle chosen paper stock.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Steps
1. First, decide what kind of job (selected person) is seeking. (Unless the type of
job has been pre-selected by your teacher.)
2. Write down everything you already know about this person.
3. Use all the resources provided by your teacher or other resources available to you
to learn as much as you can about (selected person) -- jobs, important
achievements, skills, interests, etc. Depending on your assigned person and the
information available, you may have to make up fictional job titles or use
approximate dates and locations.
4. Research résumé writing. Use the materials provided in the classroom or from
other sources to gather more details about the different types of résumés. Choose
one or more formats that you feel will work for (selected person).
5. Look at sample résumés you or your class have collected. Identify those that have
a style or format you might like to imitate or borrow. See how much detail each
type of résumé includes.
6. Using the Résumé Checklist, list the major components of the résumé. Mark out
any components you wish to omit from your résumé. Arrange your personal
information in chronological, functional, or other appropriate form.
7. Write an objective for the résumé (based on #1 above). Even if you do not plan to
use a Job Objective in the résumé it will help you decide what information is
needed and what can be safely omitted based on what you hope to achieve.
8. Sketch out some rough ideas of how you want the résumé to look. Try out
different formats to fit your text. Edit your text to fit your layout. Experiment.
9. Using the page layout software available to you, transfer your rough sketches to
the computer. Your software may have templates or wizards that will provide you
with even more ideas.
10. Print your final design.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Evaluation
Your teacher will use the criteria listed in the Résumé Checklist to see how well you have
presented (selected person’s) experience. Be prepared to explain why you made
certain choices concerning the job objective, how you chose your format, and why you
used certain words and phrases to describe (selected person’s) experience. Your
teacher may enlist the assistance of a professional résumé consultant or personnel director
to evaluate your résumé. You may be asked to exchange résumés with classmates—but
with the name omitted to see if others can identify your character based entirely on the
contents of the résumé.
Conclusion
Writing a résumé helps you to see a person—historical, fictional, or even yourself—in
new ways. Certain parts of someone’s education or skills take on a different level of
importance when you attempt to use that education or skills to support particular job
objectives. A properly researched and written résumé can highlight someone’s strengths
and can show that people are potentially capable of much more than we might have
expected.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
Attachment A
Résumé Checklist
Many of the items in this list are optional. You must decide which ones are appropriate
for your résumé.
Your Name.
Address.
Phone Number.
Fax Number.
Email Address.
Web Page Address.
Job Objective or Career Goal.
Education.
Employment History.
Professional Societies and Organizations.
Personal Data (if pertinent to job).
Hobbies and Leisure Activities.
Military Service.
Personal History.
Biography (of business owner, key members of organization, officers, etc.).
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB
ATTACHMENT B
Writing Tips
Some tips may not apply to all résumé formats or styles.
Generally start with work history unless you have none, then start with
educational background.
Start with present or most recent experience (job or education) and work back.
Don’t write in the third person but don’t overuse “I”.
Include dates.
Keep personal data to the minimum.
Do not include your age.
If hobbies or leisure activities enhance your image, consider using them. If they
can be directly tied into your job objective, do use them.
Do not include personal references directly in the résumé.
Do not tell why you left previous jobs (that discussion, if pertinent, is best
covered in the job interview).
Do not discuss salary in the résumé.
Be honest.
Brief is best. Try to keep your résumé to one page (front only) and not too
crowded.
Leave adequate margins (space around the edges).
Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!
Make the résumé pleasing to look at but don’t let it become so elaborate that its
appearance overshadows the content.
Résumé Lesson Plans - JHB