I’ve been a recruiter as long as I can remember. Professionally, it’s been over 20 years. As a kid, I was the friend who would talk you into joining a club, volunteering for an event, or buying my choir’s candy bars. In college, I joined a sorority and there was no shortage of recruiting activity to learn from. I didn’t realize I was building a career and a lifelong passion for helping people find joy in their work and contribute the best parts of themselves to their companies and causes. Yet, my resume is littered with lessons and opportunities that helped shape me into a Talent Development Executive.
As a Mom of a teen now, I find myself trying to instill this resume-building into my 13-year old and, let’s just say, she’s not buying what I’m selling. I’m learning to change my approach to a WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) so she can buy what I’m selling for her reasons and we both win. We all want to raise kids who will be successful in whatever career they choose. Unfortunately, most of us don’t yet know what our kids will be ‘successful’ in or how they will define those future successes. For the sake of argument, let’s define success as doing work you love and being able to enjoy the life you want to lead.
Your teen may be all over the place in terms of what a future career choice will be or they may have a 15-year plan ready to go. Either way, the steps below will help teens (and adults) better define what they love doing and begin working toward building a winning resume.
Teens today have an unending list of options to learn more about the things they’re interested in. Listen to Podcasts (my favorite podcast app is Overcast), watch YouTube, read books, Google it. A really popular interview question for college & jobs is ‘what’s the last book you read?’. Be prepared and take advantage of everything at our fingertips. No AOL dial-up excuses for these kids!
- Absorb content.
Teens today have an unending list of options to learn more about the things they’re interested in. Listen to Podcasts (my favorite podcast app is Overcast), watch YouTube, read books, Google it. A really popular interview question for college & jobs is ‘what’s the last book you read?’. Be prepared and take advantage of everything at our fingertips. No AOL dial-up excuses for these kids!
- Volunteer to try new things.
If you have a skill and you need to gain experience, someone will let you gain that experience for free. If your teen is interested in web design and they’ve already built their own personal page, encourage them to reach out to a school club or a non-profit who might need some updates. The club or organization gets free labor and your teen gets to find out if they like working in that area as well as have something to list on a portfolio.
- Work in lots of roles and environments.
“Work” doesn’t have to be a job. The only way to find out if you like big or small companies/organizations or working alone or within a team is to try these things out. Volunteer within an organization, ask to observe a meeting, or attend ‘bring your teen to work’ events. If your teen already thinks they don’t want to do what Mom or Dad does, maybe you know a friend or neighbor who has a job that sounds interesting. Invite them to breakfast and learn more about what they do. We can debate whether teens should work or not all day. At a minimum, teens need to be exposed to what work is like so they can begin to form opinions about the future.
- Ask for help and recommendations.
Years of recruiting have taught me that most people don’t go out of their way to help you but when they are directly asked, they rarely say no. Encourage your teen to ask for work opportunities, ask for information from an expert, ask to volunteer to share their skills, and, most importantly, ask for feedback. My daughter (currently) wants to be a chef so she makes food, asks people to eat it, and asks what they like or don’t like about it. Granted, that’s not a tough ask but it’s teaching her what kind of chef she may want to become and whether the effort/reward is something that motivates her. If your teen finds a rewarding opportunity and gets positive feedback, encourage them to ask for a written letter of recommendation for the future or a quote to add to their personal portfolio down the road.
- Don’t take opportunity for granted.
One of my favorite quotes is from ‘Into the Woods’: Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor. It rings in my head when I’m considering turning something down or putting off moving my dreams to reality. For our teens, it’s a foreign concept. For them, life often appears as an all-you-care-to-eat restaurant with everything available. In reality, the time they have from age 12-22 to build their resume and find their passion is fleeting.
I can hear you already… they’re just kids, let them enjoy this time. I AGREE. Our teens can have both opportunities. Finding a career that brings joy is a lifetime gift.
My advice to our teens: Goof off, hang out with your friends, go to Prom, kiss a few frogs, and jump off the high dive. And… take a bit of time to find yourself, try new things, give back to your community, build something fun, and meet people along the way. If I can help your teen on their journey, encourage them to reach out to me.
recruitams@gmail.com
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