lesson plans on resume writing

Help Wanted: Writing Professional Resumes

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

In this series of seven class sessions, students will work through the process of creating a professional resume. With a special emphasis on helping students learn about resumes as professional documents, this lesson will discuss why writers create resumes, why they must consider the rhetorical situation of the resume, and why both content and presentation are so important in this type of writing. Students will analyze and critique existing resumes, create their own resume and tailor it to a real job posting, peer review resumes for content and presentation, and then present their resumes as professional documents to the class.

Featured Resources

ReadWriteThink NoteTaker : Students can use this online tool to take notes and organize them into an outline format.

From Theory to Practice

Creating a resume is one of the first steps students take to prepare them for their future roles as professionals who know how to communicate in multiple contexts. The process of creating a resume asks students to begin envisioning themselves as professionals and calls upon them to understand a new audience for their writing: employers and other business professionals (see Dean 55-61). In her book Genre Theory: Teaching, Writing, Being , NCTE author and consultant Deborah Dean notes the need for educators to help students "understand the need to adapt writing to situations," and the complex tasks involved in responding to a job posting with a professional resume provide such a teaching and learning opportunity (5). As they learn about the dimensions of resumes, including their purpose, format, and language, students gain greater insight into the social dimensions of writing and have the opportunity to explore the "implications of choosing to follow or resist the expectations associated with [various] situations" (7). Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Suggested Online Student Resume Resources
• Resume Writing Resources  
• Resume Action Words  
• Resume Peer Review Guide  
• Using ReadWriteThink Notetaker to Draft Resumes  
• Analyzing Your Writing Process Assignment  
• Professional Resume Rubric

Preparation

• Collect resumes and resume resources for students to explore and critique. (See Resources section .) Collect both effective and ineffective examples and prepare several to be shown on an overhead, LCD projector, or document camera.  
• Collect back issues of classified ads/job postings prior to Session Four to ensure that all students have a job listing from which to work.  
• Make sure students have access to computer labs for Sessions One through Six .  
• Bookmark the Suggested Online Student Resume Resources .  
• Prepare copies of all handouts for distribution in class.  
• Test the Venn Diagram tool and the ReadWriteThink NoteTaker on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools.  
• Bookmark the ReadWriteThink NoteTaker for student use in Session Three .

Student Objectives

Students will

• analyze professional resumes to learn what makes them effective or ineffective for an audience.  
• analyze and describe the audience for a resume, noting its purpose and how the audience responds to the document.  
• create a professional resume of their own using document and audience analysis, drafting, peer response, and revision.  
• reflect on their writing process, noting how this assignment will be useful to them in their future writing responsibilities.

Session One

• Ask students to engage in a Think-Pair-Share activity by spending five minutes freewriting about resumes. They may write about their experiences with resumes and their perceptions of resumes, including resumes they have written, friends'/family members' resumes they have seen, what they know about them, why they are important, how they look, and what they say about the writer.  
• Ask students to get into small groups to share their freewriting. Select a recorder for each group to take notes about what the group discusses to share with the whole class.  
• Bring students together as a class and ask them to share each group's notes about resumes. The teacher or a class volunteer should make a list on the overhead or board for use later in the lesson process, especially as students are writing their reflective essays in Session Six .  
• Project for students two or three sample effective resumes. Discuss the main parts of each. Explain that while each resume meets generally accepted criteria that suggest it is "effective," the effectiveness of any resume is situated within the context of the job posting and the demands of the given job or career. You will discuss this issue in more detail in sessions to come.  
• Why do we need resumes?  
• Do all jobs require a resume?  
• Why do some jobs ask for a resume and others do not?  
• What does a resume say about a person?
• Ask students to shift to their own search for guidance on resume writing by looking at available resources on the Internet. Direct students to the Suggested Online Student Resume Resources and give each student a copy of the Resume Writing Resources handout and go over its requirements. Students should review each site or resource by taking note of the kinds of help offered for beginning resume writers and keeping track of specific information they think will be important as they create their own resumes.  
• For the next session, ask each student to find one additional resume help resource and bring it to class. Students should add this resource to their Resume Writing Resources handout. They may find this by going online to a search engine such as Google or Ask.com , by going to a career center and getting a pamphlet or booklet, or by going to a library and finding a book or article on resume writing.

Session Two

• Build from the work of the previous session by showing students a few more effective sample resumes as well as some samples that are clearly problematic. Lead a brief discussion about the strengths and weaknesses students perceive in the various samples.  
• Elicit from students the basic required sections of a resume: Objective, Education, and Work Experience. Ask students to brainstorm other sections that may also be important to include on a resume (Volunteer Experience, Special Skills, Awards Received, Certifications or Licenses, Involvement in Clubs or Societies, etc.).  
• Ask students to consider the extent to which having the expected headings and format is enough to make a resume effective. While projecting an accepted "effective" resume, have half of the students quickwrite a job listing for which the resume is well-suited; the other half should compose a job listing for which the resume is ill-suited.  
• Have students share these divergent job descriptions and facilitate a brief discussion on the central importance of the job listing in assessing a resume's overall effectiveness.  
• Inform students that they will now be forming professional writing groups of three or four students. Tell students they will work with these groups for the duration of the lesson, serving as professional reviewers and helping each other with writing and reviewing their resumes. (Teachers may choose to divide students into groups based on their career interests.)  
• Ask students to go to their groups and, with reference to the sample resumes from this session and last, produce a list what makes a resume different from other types of writing they have seen or used in the past. Ask them to consider abstract issues such as audience and purpose as well as concrete issues such as content and form.  
• Ask students to share their lists with the class. Discuss how resumes are a genre of writing known as professional writing. Make a list on the board or overhead listing the differences between professional writing (including resumes) and other types of writing. You may wish to use the Venn Diagram tool to facilitate this process. Share with students that these are elements they will need to know when creating their own resumes.  
• Now ask students to get out their new resume help resources and Resume Writing Resources handout they were assigned to bring. Ask them to compare their resources, noting what each source says that is similar to or different from the other sources. Ask groups to create a list of their own resume-writing tips and share these with the class.  
• Collect the Resume Writing Resources handout and tell students that for Session Four , they need to search newspapers, local career sites, Monster.com , or Careerbuilder.com for job listings that interest them. They need to bring three potential job listings to class with them for the that session.

Session Three

• Inform students that during this session they will begin drafting the outline of their own professional resume. While the specifics of the resume will be tailored to the job posting (see Session Four), students will create the basis for the more specific resume in this session.  
• Remind students of the typical sections of a resume from the previous session and share with them the importance of descriptive action words in these sections of a resume. Give them the Resume Action Words handout and ask them to add to it as they review various resume resources.
• Use the  Resume Action Words handout as a segue to the overall requirements for the resume assignment. Distribute the sample Professional Resume Rubric and discuss the requirements for a strong resume. For now, focus on the elements that the group has already discussed, but assure students that other elements will be covered in the rest of the process.  
• Direct students to the ReadWriteThink NoteTaker where they can begin typing the sections of their resume, including bulleted lists of the tasks/actions they did while in the jobs they have had. Show students the Using ReadWriteThink Notetaker to Draft Resumes handout and ask them to refer to their  Resume Action Words handout as they draft. Stress to students that they cannot save their work in this interactive tool.  
• Using ReadWriteThink NoteTaker , they should include all major section headers and then list information within these. Emphasize to students that the resumes they create may have fewer items in the Work Experience section at this time because they are new to the job search. Instead of focusing on what experience they do not yet have, students should try to think about all the special skills or volunteer experiences they have had and include those.  
• At the end of class, have students print their progress so far, as work cannot be saved with the ReadWriteThink NoteTaker .  
• Students should continue drafting their resume sections at home, adding notes to the printout from the ReadWriteThink NoteTaker .  
• Remind students that for the next session, they need to search newspapers, local career sites, Monster.com , or Careerbuilder.com for job listings that interest them. They need to bring three potential job listings to class with them for the next session.

Session Four

• Ask students to get into their professional writing groups and share the job postings they brought to class. Have back issues of job listings on hand for students who do not come prepared; forgetful students can also engage through the additional listings group members brought.  
• Students should describe their posting and share why they chose those job listings, what qualifications the jobs require, and for which they are most qualified at this time.  
• Remind students of the importance of the job posting by referring to the activity from Session Two. Project a sample job listing that might appeal to the students in your classroom. Walk students through the parts of the posting, including the ways in which it describes the company or organization, the position, and the qualifications a person needs to have.  
• Share with students the importance of addressing these items in their resumes as much as possible and provide examples of how students can do this based on the sample job listing you post.  
• Remind students about the importance of audience in writing a resume and that the job posting essentially tells the writer what the audience/potential employer wants to see in the resume. Their task is to match their experiences to the listing, using language precisely and honestly.  
• Place students back into their professional writing groups and ask them to review their job postings carefully, highlighting information that will be important for them to include. Ask students to find and highlight key words and ideas that their job postings state are important (for example, themes such as good communication skills, working as a team, good organization skills, etc.).  
• At this point, ask students to choose the job posting that is best suited to their current experiences and most closely matches their interests and goals.  
• Students should return to the printed resume drafts they created using ReadWriteThink NoteTaker and look for ways to blend the employer-desired skills with their own experiences. Encourage them to add action words and specific phrasing from the job posting and/or to include a section on special skills or activities they have that reflect what the employer wants. This will help them tailor their resumes to that audience. (Students may need additional help from the instructor in order to see how their experiences can be made to accommodate an employer's wording.)  
• For the next session, students should have all major sections of their resume completed (including bulleted action items) using the draft from ReadWriteThink NoteTaker . They should bring them to class along with their printed job description.

Session Five

• Students should get out their printed sections of their resume and bulleted action lists as created in ReadWriteThink NoteTaker . In their professional writing groups, students will exchange their resume draft notes and their job posting with the others. Students will review each group member's resume draft notes, asking questions that will help their classmate revise. Use the Resume Peer Review Guide to facilitate this process.  
• Give students time on the computers to work with their resume notes in a word processing program such as Microsoft Word. Students may choose to use a resume template available on Word, or they may choose to create their own format for their resumes. Teachers may need to spend time showing students how to use templates or help them create a resume format without a template.  
• As students revise and organize this draft of their resumes, the teacher should move around the room, conferring with them individually about the changes they are making and asking them to describe how their resume is tailored to their professional audience.  
• For the next session, students should complete typing their resumes and bring a printed copy to class for a visual analysis day.

Session Six

• Begin the class by asking students to freewrite for five minutes, reflecting on their experience so far drafting their resumes, finding a job posting, and tailoring their resume to that job.  
• Following that, ask them to find a partner who is not from their professional writing group and share with that student the experiences they wrote about. Each student should ask their partner at least two questions about their experiences. Students should write these questions down on their freewriting note pages and then respond to them in writing. These notes will be used by students when they draft their Analyzing Your Writing Process Assignment to accompany their final resume.  
• Bring the class back together and begin a discussion about the visual design aspect of resumes. Reconnect with students' earlier comments about how resumes are different from other types of writing. It may be helpful to refer to the list students made in Session One .  
• Discuss the importance of the visual layout of resumes and how the look of a resume works in conjunction with its purpose, to provide employers a quick impression of the author and his/her ability to perform the duties and succeed in the job. Also discuss how students can make their own resumes stand out while still working within traditional resume format guidelines.  
• Ask students to return to various resume resources, including books, articles, or online sites and find two additional resume writing sites and gather ideas about the visual presentation of resumes. Refer them to the Suggested Online Student Resume Resources if necessary. After reviewing this information, students should return to their professional writing groups with at least three ideas for how to design the layout of their own resumes.  
• Bring the class back together and ask students to share what they learned about the visual design of resumes. Ask other students to act as recorders for the class.  
• Give students time to return to the computers and work on the design of their resumes using what they learned from the class discussion.  
• At the end of the session, introduce the Analyzing Your Writing Process Assignment , telling students that in addition to submitting their finished professional resumes and job postings, they will also write a reflective essay documenting their writing process and explain what they learned about creating a professional resume . See the Analyzing Your Writing Process Assignment . This assignment should be completed after the presentation.  
• For the next session, students should bring their completed resumes to class.

Session Seven

• Students should take out their finished resumes. Allow students about 5 minutes to review their resume so that the information is fresh in their minds for their presentation to the class.  
• Each student will come to the front of the class and share his/her resume, describing his/her process for creating it, what job it is tailored for and how it is tailored for that job, what he/she likes about the resume, and how he/she might continue to revise it. (The student should be able to show the resume to the class using a computer [for an electronic version], a document camera [paper version], or an overhead projector [transparency version]. If only an overhead is available, the teacher may need to allow extra time for preparing resumes as overheads to show the class.)  
• Following each student's presentation, the class will be allowed time to ask the presenter any questions and present their suggestions for revision. The number of days devoted to presentations will depend on the size of the class.  
• Remind students to complete the Analyzing Your Writing Process Assignment for submission at the next class meeting.
• This lesson can be extended and enhanced by inviting local business owners or human resource representatives to the classroom to discuss their experiences in writing job listings and reading/reviewing resumes.
• Partner with other teachers or departments in your school and arrange a job fair in your gymnasium or auditorium. Invite local businesses to send representatives to serve as resume reviewers and mock interviewers.
• This lesson can be extended to include more time spent on resume design, including designing scannable resumes.
• Some entry-level jobs require the completion of an application but not the submission of a resume. Acquire applications for jobs in your area and share these with students, noting how having their resume makes for easy completion of most applications. Further stress how the resume writing process prepares students for interviews by getting them to think about their experiences, skills, and strengths.  
• Students can visit these Web resources to learn more about writing a resume: Writing Your First Resume , General Technical Writing Guidelines , Monster.com Student Resume Tips , and Resumes—What Not to Do .

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Make sure that students are making adequate progress on the project by checking work completed at the end of each session and offering additional guidance or support when necessary.
• Use the sample Professional Resume Rubric to assess finished resumes and reflections.
• Calendar Activities
• Professional Library
• Student Interactives

Students examine the different ways that they write and think about the role writing plays in life.

Useful for a wide variety of reading and writing activities, this outlining tool allows students to organize up to five levels of information.

This tool guides students through the creation of a resume that can be saved and edited. Written and audio tips provide extra support.

Add new comment

• Print this resource

Explore Resources by Grade

• Kindergarten K

Lesson Plan for Writing a Resume

• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

I try to be a source of inspiration for my students. In the rural area where I teach, a lot of my students can’t imagine themselves doing anything spectacular with their lives and many seem content to seek mediocrity rather than greatness. My job as their educator is to inspire them to climb mountains, both literally and figuratively. Every year my students create a resume where they must identify specific goals and the methods they intend to employ to reach said goals.

Inspire Your Students

It is important to set a good example in your classroom and show your students that you not only believe what you are telling them, but that you yourself have done what you are asking them to do. The other day I was speaking with my juniors about Europe and I mentioned the last time I was in Paris. Someone raised his hand and said, “Mrs. T, you are unlike anyone I’ve ever known, you actually do the things you say you are going to. No one I know ever fulfills his dreams.” I told him the difference between me and whomever he is talking about is not that I could do it and they couldn’t, but that instead of simply talking about doing it, I did it. Something as simple and straightforward as that can blow the minds of children used to living amongst naysayers. Be a positive influence in your students’ lives and you will teach them to believe in themselves.

Before taking my students to the computer lab, I tell them to clear their minds and give me their attention. I want them to think about the endless possibilities that fill this world of ours. I direct their eyes to the poster next to my white board with the heading “You never know what you can do until you try.” Underneath that heading is a picture of a skydiver. I ask them look a little closer at the picture to see if they notice something. This is when my astute observers incredulously ask, “Mrs. T is that you?!” Several years ago I went sky diving and I enlarged the photo of myself and pasted it over the picture on the poster. I tell them it is me and that if I can jump out of a plane, they can think outside the box and imagine the infinite amount of opportunities they have.

Now I’ve lit a fire, and I need to fan the flames. I give them the handout below along with instructions regarding Microsoft Word for those students who are not familiar with it. This resume isn’t just a list of their accomplishments thus far – it is also a proposal for who they will become.

Include with the following directions for your students a sample resume for them to use.

Resume Instructions

Directions: You will create two resumes this week. One will be for use in future and present endeavors, the other will be a reflective resume to help you focus on long-term goals. Both will be completed for a grade for this class. Use Microsoft Word templates to build a resume. Your resume should be properly formatted, proofread, and without error.

This process should help you learn more about yourself and what you have to offer, and should also help you in the future when you begin distributing resumes to universities and potential employers. A resume helps you present your accomplishments, talents, and skills.

Create your own reflective resume. The purpose of this assignment is to pinpoint both your achievements and your goals. Think about which skills you have and which ones you need to further develop. What are your long-term goals? What skills will you need to achieve those goals?

How to teach resume writing to your high school students

If we are teaching our students how to write literary analysis essays about the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby, then we also should be teaching our students how to write effective resumes that will get them jobs. In fact, I think the latter is more important, and I say this as a teacher who is obsessed with Gatsby. (Just stalk my Instagram.) But I’m not trying to call you out or shame you for not teaching resume writing in your English class. I actually never taught resumes until this year, when I was tasked with the responsibility of teaching a new senior English Elective, “Technical Communication.” After taking on this class and teaching resumes, I am wholeheartedly convinced that every single student should be required to create a resume before graduating high school.

Teaching resume writing was not an easy task for me or my students, but we learned a lot in the process. Drafting a resume is about more than practicing “real life” writing or becoming an employable job candidate. It’s about growing as a human being. Writing a resume requires introspection, self-awareness, and reflection. Throughout the process, students wrestled with the questions “Who am I?” and “How can I represent what I have to offer on a mere piece of paper?” This unit was challenging but rewarding, for me and my students.

Initially, I was intimidated by teaching resumes, because unlike the Gatsby essay that would be turned in and graded by me, these resumes would be printed out and sent off into the “real world” someday. The thought of teaching students how to write and design a document that could end up on the desk…or in the paper shredder…of a hiring manager was a bit daunting. Although I was nervous, I was excited about empowering my students and teaching what I knew would be one of the most relevant and valuable units I’ve ever taught.

Thankfully, I was right. By the end of our resume writing unit, I was so proud of how much my students had grown as writers, future job candidates, and most importantly, human beings. If you’re hoping to implement the same kind of learning experience for your students, check out my resume writing unit, which contains editable versions of all of my mini-lessons and resources. Here’s everything I learned about how to structure a helpful resume writing unit for your students:

1. Expose the students to lots of resumes: the good, the bad, and the ugly

At first, I didn’t know how to start our resume writing unit. Jump in to the writing process and revise later? Start with a mini-lesson? Honestly, I was stressed out and doubting my ability to teach resumes. I hadn’t interviewed for a job or touched my resume in 5 years. I felt like I was in over my head. What did I know?

In an effort to begin my unit and lesson planning, I started researching resumes. I found myself searching examples and taking mental note of what I noticed. Then it hit me: That’s what my students needed to do! Like me, they would be overwhelmed with the daunting task of creating an appealing, modern resume. Suddenly, my lesson plan for the next day was simple: Find tons of examples: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let students sift through them and record their observations about what makes an effective resume–student-centered, inquiry-based learning!

I quickly rounded up sample resumes from Google, pulled up my old (and ugly) resume, and asked friends on Facebook to share their resumes. Within 20 minutes, I had a nice collection of over 20 resumes to share with my students. I printed off a few copies of each and arranged them on the counter in the back of my classroom.

Then, I created a worksheet where students simply recorded what they noticed about each resume. I gave them a few categories to focus on and asked them to critique each resume. I told students to pretend they were hiring managers going through stacks of resumes, deciding which candidates deserved an interview. After examining multiple resumes, students had to synthesize what they noticed about the most effective resumes. Finally, they reflected on what they already knew about resumes and what they wanted to learn and focus on throughout our mini unit.

This lesson was so simple, but so valuable. Some of them were harsh critics, which was great! Afterwards, I told them, “Gotcha! Now I have higher expectations because now you KNOW what to do! The only excuse is laziness!” If they critiqued the ugly fonts on the sample resumes…I could critic their font choice when I graded their final resumes with my rubrics. Mission accomplished!

2. Model the process with your own resume

After the results of the resume critique activity, I knew I needed to model the resume writing and design process by updating my own resume. My students were right. My resume was 2 pages long, filled with way too much text, and just plain ugly and uninspiring.

So before I began my mini-lessons on resume writing, I sat down to “teach myself” before I taught my students. I redesigned my entire resume, deleted irrelevant jobs, cut the fluff, and improved my word choice. This process gave me some confidence about teaching resumes for the first time, and it helped me realize what I should focus on during writing workshop with my students. During mini-lessons, I used my resume as an example. My students appreciated my transparency and learned a lot from my “before and after.”

Even though you might not need to update your resume, it’s a great exercise that will help you better understand the process and allow your students to see an “expert” model revision.

3. Scaffold the writing process with mini-lessons & a resume outline

When I revised and redesigned my own resume, I remembered how laborious it is to create an effective, visually-appealing resume. To make the resume writing process less daunting for my students, I broke up the different sections of the resume into different mini-lessons. I also created a resume outline on Google docs, and I required students to draft everything in the outline before they even touched a template. Students drafted and revised multiple times until I “approved” their working outline and allowed them to begin their final draft. This outline document scaffolded the structure and formatting of the resume, and it also helped me break down my mini-lessons. Here’s how I set up my mini-lessons during writing workshop:

• Writing a Professional Profile (If you’re new to the resume writing game, this is what has taken the place of the “Objective” section).
• Outlining Employment & Using Powerful Action Verbs
• Listing Skills & Using Strong Adjectives

I also incorporated peer feedback and teacher feedback activities in addition to the above mini-lessons.

4. Provide resources and support throughout the process

Since all of my students were creating resumes for different types of jobs, I knew I needed to offer even more scaffolding and support. A resume for an aspiring esthetician is going to look a lot different from a resume for an automotive technician! To support students and give them access to even more resources and examples, I created a hyperdoc of resources and links. Some of these resources were my own, but others were links from helpful websites that provided samples of resumes for different careers! If you want more information on creating your own hyperdocs for your students, check out this blog post.

Another way I provided support throughout the writing process was by checking in with every student, every day. On most days, I was able to walk around the room and physically check in with each student, but on days when I ended up helping a handful of students for a while, I didn’t make it to everyone. To make sure that I had a way of checking in on every student, no matter what, I had students submit an exit ticket at the end of each day. Each exit ticket was the same: “What did you accomplish today? What questions do you have and how can I help you?” I did this through Google Classroom’s “question” feature, so I was able to respond to students’ questions and see what everyone needed during the next day of writing workshop.

5. Incorporate multiple opportunities for peer feedback

Here’s the way I see peer feedback: The more you can train your students to provide feedback, the more efficient you can be with your teacher feedback. During our resume writing unit, I incorporated peer feedback in a variety of ways. First, I had students “turn and talk” to each other to give a “personal sales pitch” that would then become their professional profile at the top of their resume. Then, once they had drafted their profile and posted it on Google Classroom, I asked them to provide feedback to 3 of their peers. That way, once I looked at their professional profile drafts, their peers had already addressed a lot of what I would have commented, anyways! This allowed me to give my students more specific, focused feedback (and it saved me time, too).

The writing process can feel time-consuming, tedious, and boring for students. Mixing it up with opportunities for them to talk about their writing helps with engagement, too.

6. Emphasize the process of revision

It’s important to emphasize the process of revision and how it’s different from proofreading and editing. Some of them wanted to crank out their resumes, click “Turn in,” and then cheerfully shout, “I’m done!” when they hadn’t taken the time to genuinely revise. Other students argued that their resumes were “good enough” because they had successfully used them when applying for their current jobs. It was difficult to convince some students to invest time in the revision and editing.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret: Some of the students who struggled or complained the most were the very same ones who thanked me later in their learning reflections. Here’s what one student said: “The resume unit was the most helpful because I was too lazy to write one on my own. Miss G, you’re killing it.” At least they’re honest.

By structuring the resume-writing process with step-by-step lessons, modeling my own revision, and incorporating lots of peer and teacher feedback and subsequent revision, I forced my students to revise. I demonstrated the value of revision and purposefully integrated revision in my mini-lessons. I even included a category titled “Evidence of Revision” on my final rubric, and I asked students to explicitly tell me (through Google docs comments) what they revised and why. The end result? Better resumes, but more importantly, better writers who finally valued the process of revision.

7. Provide templates to help your students create a visually appealing, modern resume

It’s easy to let your students create the standard text-on-a-page resume, but it’s 2019, and those resumes are ancient! There are tons of options and templates available online, but my favorite resource for visually appealing resumes is Canva, a online graphic-design tool with many free templates. You can also search on Pinterest for more inspiration!

I designed two of my own templates and provided them to students, but I also linked up a few templates I found online. Most of my students used my templates or the ones from Canva, but I did have a few students who used other sources. I would recommend assessing how much structure your students need and then recommending different templates and/or websites. For example, for my ELL students, my pre-made template was especially helpful. I didn’t want them to be overwhelmed by the process of creatively designing a resume, because the process of writing was already challenging enough. Meet your students where they are, but use templates to help them create a visually appealing resume!

8. Make it meaningful & “publish” students’ final resumes!

English teachers know that one of the most important but often ignored parts of the writing process is the final phase: Publishing! When your students are finished, print their resumes out and celebrate their hard work in an authentic way. Here are a few ideas:

• Facilitate a “gallery walk” or “exhibit hall” where students “network” with their peers, exchange resumes, and discuss their experiences and skills.
• Facilitate mock interviews where students must discuss their resume and answer other common interview questions. (We did this & it was a hit with students!)
• Send off the resumes to administration or an hiring manager (if you can find one) and ask them to provide realistic feedback.
• Encourage students to use their new resumes to apply for a job, and then celebrate when they are successful!

I was so proud of my students’ final resumes and how much they grew during the writing process. The unit was not without its challenges, but it was so rewarding to end it with physical proof that students were one step closer to being “college and career ready.” If you’re interested in preparing your students for life after graduation, check out my Career Readiness Growing Bundle, which currently contains a career research project and this resume writing unit. (Cover letters and mock interviews are coming soon.)

Do you teach resume writing to your students? If so, what grade level and class? What other ideas or tips do you have? I would love to hear more in the comments!

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

You may also enjoy:

How to use the “what do you …, 10 activities for teaching the hunger games, 10 activities for any dystopian novel.

Thanks for the great resources. I plan on beginning my employment package assignment in April and this will come in handy. However, there is something that I want to point out. As a business professor who teaches business classes and resume writing, I would suggest telling your students that creative and fun resumes are only appropriate in that type of field such as graphic designs, creative writing, art, etc. In fields such as marketing, medicine, engineering, management, etc., creative resumes with various designs is a no-no. Granted these are high school students, but what we teach them now as a foundation on what they need to know should be practical for future referencing. Yes, the resume is a boring looking document, but how you teach it can be the creative and exciting part!

I will definitely be using these resources this year. Thank you for all you do.

Hi there, Thanks for your feedback. I do teach them about that. However, even the “boring” resumes look more professional with some fonts/lines/boxes/formatting/etc.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Check out my most popular posts!

August 5, 2018: why i don’t review the syllabus on the first day …, december 16, 2018: 10 ideas for planning engaging novel units, december 11, 2017: comfort in the classroom with flexible seating, july 21, 2018: teaching american literature: my units & favorite lessons.

• Achievement Gap
• Alternative Education
• American Education Awards
• Assessment & Evaluation
• Education during COVID-19
• Education Economics
• Education Environment
• Education in the United States during COVID-19
• Education Issues
• Education Policy
• Education Psychology
• Education Scandals and Controversies
• Education Reform
• Education Theory
• Education Worldwide
• Educational Leadership
• Educational Philosophy
• Educational Research
• Educational Technology
• Federal Education Legislation
• Higher Education Worldwide
• Homeless Education
• Homeschooling in the United States
• Migrant Education
• Neglected/Deliquent Students
• Sociology of Education
• Bipolar Disorder
• Cerebral Palsy
• Down Syndrome
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Social Anxiety
• Special Needs Services
• Tourette Syndrome (TS)
• View all Special Needs Topics
• After School Programs
• Alternative Schools
• At-Risk Students
• Camp Services
• Colleges & Universities
• Driving Schools
• Educational Businesses
• Financial Aid
• Higher Education
• International Programs
• Jewish Community Centers
• K-12 Schools
• Language Studies
• Organizations
• Professional Development
• Prom Services
• School Assemblies
• School Districts
• School Field Trips
• School Health
• School Supplies
• School Travel
• School Vendors
• Schools Worldwide
• Special Education
• Special Needs
• Study Abroad
• Teaching Abroad
• Volunteer Programs
• Youth Sports
• Academic Standards
• Assembly Programs
• Blue Ribbon Schools Program
• Educational Accreditation
• Educational Television Channels
• Education in the United States
• History of Education in the United States
• Reading Education in the U.S.
• School Grades
• School Meal Programs
• School Types
• School Uniforms
• Special Education in the United States
• Systems of Formal Education
• U.S. Education Legislation
• Academic Dishonesty
• Childcare State Licensing Requirements
• Classroom Management
• Education Subjects
• Educational Practices
• Educational Videos
• Interdisciplinary Teaching
• Job and Interview Tips
• Lesson Plans | Grades
• State Curriculum Standards
• Substitute Teaching
• Teacher Salary
• Teacher Training Programs
• Teaching Methods
• Training and Certification
• Academic Competitions
• Admissions Testing
• Career Planning
• College Admissions
• Drivers License
• Educational Programs
• Educational Television
• High School Dropouts
• Senior Proms
• Sex Education
• Standardized Testing
• Student Financial Aid
• Student Television Stations
• Summer Learning Loss

• TEA Website
• Contact TEA
• Sign Up For Updates

Lesson Plan: Resume Writing - IT

Description.

This lesson explores the importance of and the components of resumes. Students will evaluate their existing resumes and create a new personal resume.

Download the lesson plan

Scroll to the related items section at the bottom of this page for additional resources.

• Share on Facebook
• Tweet This Resource
• Pin This Resource

Resume Writing

Eleventh graders write a personal resume on tablet paper, using their own information, but following the template of a sample resume given to them.

Start Your Free Trial

Save time and discover engaging curriculum for your classroom. Reviewed and rated by trusted, credentialed teachers.

• Collection Types
• Activities & Projects
• Assessments
• Graphics & Images
• Handouts & References
• Interactives
• Lab Resources
• Learning Games
• Lesson Plans
• Presentations
• Primary Sources
• Printables & Templates
• Professional Documents
• Study Guides
• Instructional Videos
• Performance Tasks
• Graphic Organizers
• Writing Prompts
• Constructed Response Items
• AP Test Preps
• Lesson Planet Articles
• Online Courses
• Interactive Whiteboards
• Home Letters
• Unknown Types
• Stock Footages
• All Resource Types

See similar resources:

English language arts examination: january 2018, english language arts examination: august 2017, creative writing workshop, english language arts examination: june 2017, english language arts examination: august 2016, english language arts examination: june 2016, writing sample constructed-response assignment, english language arts examination: january 2017, english language arts examination: january 2016, a+ writing prompts.

Irresistible Resume Writing Tips

Student level.

Downloads: 988

Video Length: 3:21

Updated on: 08/28/2020

Lesson Time: 1–2 hrs.

Unlocking this lesson costs 1 credit and will give you full access to the printable lesson plan, interactive lesson plan, and teacher's guide. Click here to get credits.

Lesson Description

Video description, lesson activities.

Lesson Topics

Jobs, Resumes

Lesson Preview

Similar lessons, ready to get this lesson plan.

You can get a lesson credit for $2.99 to download this lesson. We've also got other options for a better value.

Confirm Lesson Download

You can unlock the full lesson materials for Irresistible Resume Writing Tips for 1 credit. Are you sure?

Your download is ready. You can open your lesson from your device or in your browser. Enjoy your lesson!

Resume Writing Workshop

Transform your resume into a powerful tool that will help you get interviews. This course is invaluable to anyone who wants to improve their resume as it will introduce you to different formats, help you make the most of your work experience, and discover how to use reference to your advantage.

Requirements

Create an effective resume or improve the one you already have. Transform your resume into a powerful tool that will get you interviews. Learn different resume formats and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Make the most of your work experience and discover how to use references to your advantage. This course includes the use of online resumes and is invaluable for anyone who wants to create their own resume, or learn how to write resumes and cover letters for profit.

Enrollment Options:

Lesson 1 - components of a resume, lesson 2 - self-assessment, lesson 3 - rules of resumes, lesson 4 - chronological resumes, lesson 5 - functional resumes, lesson 6 - a look at your resume, lesson 7 - references, lesson 8 - work experience, lesson 9 - technical resumes, lesson 10 - online resumes, lesson 11 - cover letters, lesson 12 - formatting resumes.

Prerequisites:

Experience with any version of Microsoft Word.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

• This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

• PC: Windows 8 or later.
• Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
• Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader .
• Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
• Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Stephanie Donaldson

Stephanie Donaldson has been writing resumes for the past 20 years. Stephanie earned a bachelor's in English from St. Lawrence University and a master's in business administration from Clarkson University. She has held management positions in the hospitality, paper, and seminar industries. For several years, she was employed in the Marketing department at the American Management Association. For the past decade, she has served as Director of Continuing Education at two colleges. In addition to owning her own business, Stephanie often lectures on Marketing and Business Writing to small business owners. She has taught Resume Writing Workshop for over 10 years and has helped nearly 2,000 people in the U.S., Canada, and Australia to improve their resumes.

Instructor Interaction : The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

All the best,

Social Media

Facebook twitter.