Resources For Students
It’s really hard to apply for work around school, especially when you’re young and have relatively little experience. Many employers will request in their job descriptions that you be at least 16 or at least 18 and/or have a high school degree or GED. However, companies that are willing to hire young people know that most students won’t have a lot of work history. Instead, they’re looking for adaptability and the willingness to learn new things. Have you helped your friends repair a roof? Do you know how to repair a bike? Things that are generically useful can be turned into stories that make you seem like a good employee. Sometimes, simply having grown up with technology can be an asset.
know where you want to look
As a student, you’ll be looking mostly for entry-level jobs. Industries such as hospitality, food service, retail, and landscaping are usually much more likely to hire young people—they are used to training people to do their jobs and usually have a fairly robust system in place to onboard you. It’ll be hard to get work as a receptionist until you’ve done a little more customer service, for example. This makes job seeking for young people with chronic pain or other disabilities especially difficult. You’ll want to try:
Restaurants and food carts
Grocery stores
Hotels
Swimming pools
Landscaping companies
Bookstores
Seasonal employers (Halloween shops, pumpkin patches, companies hiring for the holiday season, landscapers, summer camps, etc.)
Internships for high school students (these are not too common, but SummerWorks PDX is a great program that offers paid summer opportunities)
Think about how each of these might help you where you eventually want to go. Customer service is almost always useful in the long term, as is anything where you had the ability to demonstrate some form of management. However, if there are jobs in these areas that might suit you and your career path more specifically, consider them. There are lots of ways to make a survival job look good on a resume.
know what you have to offer
It might be experience, and that’s great. For example, if you’ve grown up working as part of your family’s business, that’s absolutely something you should mention. If you have exposure to an industry because you’ve been around it, mention that. This is all great cover letter material and can help show employers that you are serious and have some experience doing, well, work.
That said, even if you don’t, you’ve done things for fun or for school that have helped make you into a good employee - and enthusiasm counts. For example, if you’re a soccer player, you’re probably driven, competitive, and you know how to work hard. If you’re applying to a restaurant, spend some time there so you can mention how nice the food and atmosphere are.
references are adults you trust
When you’re getting your references, you might not have former employers to ask to vouch for you, and immediate family members are generally frowned upon. However, you can ask a teacher, coach, mentor, or service worker you’re close to for a “personal reference” or academic letter of recommendation.
your resume can be full of school accomplishments
Building your resume as a student doesn’t include professional development, but it does definitely include volunteer and community service and club programs. When you can, try to get involved in a sport or an academic club. Community service is extremely valuable to employers, since especially when you’re young it demonstrates forethought and a willingness to work.
Generally, you want to include only things you’ve done in high school.
An academic resume works if you can’t provide a professional one, or you can make a hybrid of the two. Below is template resume that includes both professional experience and school activities, but the professional experience section can be omitted entirely or replaced with an “awards” or “honors” section if applicable.
play up any technological experience
Seriously, if you’re applying for a job that requires any base level of technological competence, even knowing how to use Google suite or Word and Excel is going to be desirable to employers. That’s one less thing they have to train you on.
In the skills section of your resume, that should be either the first thing you mention or come immediately after your languages. This includes cashiering and other retail positions—often they have technological components to their checkout processes that you’ll have an easier time picking up than other people. Employers might know this, but it’s good to give them a reminder.
external resources
Workforce Talent Development Board : Resources for Students : Students : State of Oregon
State of Oregon: Vocational Rehabilitation - Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)
About PYB: Portland Youth Building Non-Profit (pybpdx.org)
For Students - Portland Workforce Alliance
final remarks
Our template cover letter, reference sheet, and thank-you email documents will all still be useful to you, as will most of the advice on the rest of this site. You do have some additional barriers to overcome, though. Remember to work together when you can, and the process will be much easier. And good luck!